[C320-list] WARNING - My boat almost sunk!!

[Jeff Hare]

While this doesn't address the lower panel and the drain hose, we removed
the extra fiberglass behind the upper panel so that we could work on the
windlass and replace the water tank vent hoses easier.
https://c320.org/mediagallery/media.php?s=20081116153535423

-Jeff Hare
#809

-----Original Message-----
From: C320-list <c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com> On Behalf Of Doug
Treff
Sent: Tuesday, October 15, 2019 2:52 PM
To: c320-list at lists.catalina320.com
Subject: Re: [C320-list] WARNING - My boat almost sunk!!

Thanks for the warning... I'll be sure to pour some anti-freeze down there
this fall. I wonder if there's a possibility of water being trapped in
there, it could freeze and damage the hose.

--
Doug Treff
doug at treff.us

On Mon, Oct 14, 2019, at 8:23 PM, Harry Juris wrote:
> Polar Star is a 1998 C320, hull number 541 which I have owned since 
> the late spring of 2014. She is kept on a mooring at the Nyack Boat 
> Club in the Hudson River just north of the Tappan Zee Bridge. Last 
> Saturday morning, 10/12/19, I received a phone call from one of my 
> fellow club members saying that Polar Star was way down by the bow and 
> they were on their way to  bring it to one of our docks. I got to the 
> club about 45 minutes later just as they were securing her at the dock 
> (having barged her in with one of our work boats) She was indeed down 
> by the bow with the water about halfway to the deck. Going aboard I 
> found that the water in the main cabin was halfway up the back rests of
the settees.
> 
>  
> 
> We have several high capacity pumps at the club and immediately 
> started to pump her out. It took a number of hours to get the water 
> below the cabin sole so we could start investigating what happened. 
> After eliminating all other possibilities, we went to the V-berth and 
> removed the paneling to get access to the anchor locker.  We found 
> that the drain hose had split. The thru hull drain on the starboard 
> side is just above the boot stripe and as the boat bobbed on a windy 
> night, water started to back flow into the hose and then start 
> accumulating in the bow at a rate greater than the limber holes could 
> transfer it aft. This of course lowered the bow which accelerated the
water intrusion.
> 
>  
> 
> I will follow up later with a description and some pictures of the 
> damage which appears to be extensive. The only good news so far is 
> that because she was so far down by the bow, a preliminary inspection 
> appears to show no water intrusion in the engine. It does appear that 
> water did get in the transmission and I have already taken steps to try to
protect that.
> 
>  
> 
> It is a royal pain to get at access to that hose but I strongly advise 
> anyone with an older boat to periodically inspect it. I am considering 
> installing inspection access and possibly plugging that overboard 
> discharge and running the drain further aft.
> 
>  
> 
> Harry
> 
>