if you own a Hurston moored at Cheanuh your waterlogged

[Dave S]

I've never moored in a marina before, but isn't there a contract or document you sign waiving the marina of all liability? I wonder if there is spot where you check a box that says you allow the marina and/or it's patron's to attempt to save your boat and prevent oil and gas spills if it is filling with water? Then, if the marina is notified of a boat in danger of going down, they could do something about it.

Or, have a marina require everyone who wants to moor there sign something that allows a private salvage company to come in and deal with the boat before it sinks and leaks oil and gas everywhere. Then boat owner picks up the bill.

But, if this all happened during the night, I guess there is nothing anyone can do.

Ps, has anyone ever placed a water alarm in their boat to try and prevent this from happening?

 

[Pippen]

Ya....fair enough. But to make the assumptions about what is going on, what happened and ALL of the circumstances from a couple of photos is also a bit "jumping the proverbial gun". Who knows....maybe the 3rd party guy who actually took the photos WAS in fact getting ready to get things into action but took some photos for insurance purposes for the marina AND the owner?

Let's just say a picture was posted up of a vehicle that was parked on a hill....it's e-brake failed at some point and it rolled down a hill and ended up lodged against the car parked 10 feet behind with a bit of visible damage. For me to make a blanket statement based on a few pictures as to what all is happening at the time of the photo and after is a bit presumptuous.

Let's not rip apart society based on assumptions of what is going on surrounding a boat that is no longer afloat.

 

[pescador]

Wow, since when did Cheanuh get such a spectacular boulevard to drive in to??? All I ever recall the last 40 years was pot holes, gravel, dust and derelict boats lying around and usually no place to park........

 

[KV1]

of course we have no idea how fast or slow it sank, or who saw it, or what happened after. I am saying that things that letting things get to that point and no one has done anything to help makes us as a whole look like crap as people. now having said that yes maybe it did happen over night and yes the owner is to blame but to many things happen everyday that people ignore, rather than help. and I,m not saying we all are like that. maybe "you" are not, but it seems we are more and more all about the "ME" than we ever were before.

You keep making the reference to "before". Before what? Before suing people started, before a simple "thank you" became irrelevant. When did that seem not appropriate. No one is saying its all about "me" but given the option of not knowing who said owner was I think the majority of people would walk away and phone or try to contact the marina first.
If you saw the owner and offered assistance that is an entirely different story like I said. Have you ever righted a sunken object? Let me assure you it is a chore and one not taken lightly. Gas driven pumps, buoys and a lot of time. You don't just walk up with a bucket and a couple of rule bilge pumps and give er.

 

[scott craven]

Wow, since when did Cheanuh get such a spectacular boulevard to drive in to??? All I ever recall the last 40 years was pot holes, gravel, dust and derelict boats lying around and usually no place to park........

Spirit Bay Development

http://spiritbay.ca/

 

[dougthefisher]

You keep making the reference to "before". Before what? Before suing people started, before a simple "thank you" became irrelevant. When did that seem not appropriate. No one is saying its all about "me" but given the option of not knowing who said owner was I think the majority of people would walk away and phone or try to contact the marina first.
If you saw the owner and offered assistance that is an entirely different story like I said. Have you ever righted a sunken object? Let me assure you it is a chore and one not taken lightly. Gas driven pumps, buoys and a lot of time. You don't just walk up with a bucket and a couple of rule bilge pumps and give er.

Before some people became assholes and yes I have bailed out others boats I also in a big snow storm in Nanaimo when no one could get out was on the dock shovelling others boats off to keep them afloat. I never asked for a thank you never thought of myself only helped. some people I,m sure to this day do not know that we saved their boat. god I,m glad I moved away from the city!

 

[Wiseguy]

If I was there at that Marina and noticed buddys boat in danger of sinking. I would of jumped in and pumped it out for him. I couldn't just stand around and do nothing. A few yrs ago I towed a boat into shore that was drifting down the Fraser unattended. The owner didn't even thank me, thought I had something to do with his boat floating down the river. But you know what? I would do it again, cause it was the right thing to do.

 

[dougthefisher]

If I was there at that Marina and noticed buddys boat in danger of sinking. I would of jumped in and pumped it out for him. I couldn't just stand around and do nothing. A few yrs ago I towed a boat into shore that was drifting down the Fraser unattended. The owner didn't even thank me, thought I had something to do with his boat floating down the river. But you know what? I would do it again, cause it was the right thing to do.

see there used to be more people like this around. people who do the right thing not because they want something but because it is the right thing to do!

 

[Aces]

see there used to be more people like this around. people who do the right thing not because they want something but because it is the right thing to do!

The same thing happened to me last spring. I went to Nanaimo for an overnight trip, there was a huge rainstorm hit right after i left. At the time i didn't know one of my scuppers was plugged with some plastic wrap and my auto bilge pump wasn't working (an extra manual one was). In the morning it was starting to list. 2 of my buddies pumped it out with a manual pump and using my manual electric pump and kept an eye on it all day until i got back that evening.

I'm with you Doug. I have always believed that karma will come back to you. I've paid those guys back several times with favours since then.

 

[spring fever]

I like to believe that's how it works as in Fishtofinos case and I'm pretty confident that is what happens as I have done stuff like that and seen it done numerous times. When a boat is totally sunk like this one was -then it is a totally different kettle of fish. Huge costs, lots of damage- is there insurance etc etc.-this is a totally owner run operation now-has nothing to do with helping out-that is long past a helping hand. A boat like that can go down in a couple of hours if it's raining hard and the batteries /bilge pump are dead. Night time just compounds the problem. IMHO

 

[GDW]

Yes cheanuh has a new driveway and it's great. However now when you pull out there's not really an area to park and do your straps etc. if your going up that road without blocking half the ramp or the road to all the other users.

I'm not sure what their plan is but it's going to be chaos in the summer if they leave it as is with the old goat trail coming down one side and that road down the other with everyone meeting in the middle trying to turn around, launch, retrieve, and park their rigs.

I bet it will only be the new road for boats at some point in the future - but like I said they left no area to pull over and secure your load/clean your fish etc. so that part might be a hassel when it's busy.

As for people not helping? I don't think anyone expects a bystander to take action when the boat is sunk like in the picture. It's the guy who saw it sitting low and half full of water that had the oppurtunity to make a difference. If anyone even saw it before it happened - who knows

 

[Team Black Dog]

I also know the marina well and if others saw this happening it would have never got to that point.
Im shocked to read someone would walk away in fear of being sued. Cmon guys a high majority of us would
have helped this guy out i think its pretty obvious this happened in the middle of the night. Turns my
guts to see that boat in that spot they have a real nightmare on there hands to get that onto a trailer
or floating again. Good luck to them

 

[fshnfnatic]

Same thing happened to me many years ago at Sunny Shores Marina.Left my 17 ft. fiberform moored around this time of year.Had a bilge pump,but it either failed or wasn't able to keep up to the rain that fell in buckets the evening
before I showed up for trip.Salvaged the hull but the 100 Merc was a right off.Made me sick to my stomach!I no longer
trust leaving my boat moored in the fall/winter months.Wouldn't be able to sleep at night.Feel sorry for the guy.Nothing
worse than showing up at the crack of dawn all excited about getting out there,and seeing your baby upside down at
the dock!

 

[Peahead]

This should be obvious but in some of the posts it seems it might not be :
Never never rely on bilge pumps to take care of rainwater for a boat without self bailing cockpit scuppers and no cockpit canvas - cover the whole boat including the cockpit with a well/properly fitted canvas so little or no rain water enters boat. Bilge pumps WILL eventually kill battery if running constantly to keep up with rain water in an open boat that is not self bailing. For self bailing cockpit you can also run into problem if scuppers aren't kept clear of debris. I always check regularly that my scuppers aren't blocked with needles/leaves/garbage and check bilge pumps and battery level often. Scuppers need special attention when heavy rain comes right after a freeze/snow as scuppers can stay blocked with ice during the temp transition especially if covered in rain soaked snow.

 

[Beaudog]

I was at the marina yesterday and talked to the site guys about the boat as I noticed it too. The owner is aware of what has happened and is working on a plan to have it removed/re-floated. Just some bad luck/bad planning combination, apparently went down in one night after a failure of bilge pumps and an owner that didn't check in after a big rain. Bad luck, I've almost ended up the same way but managed to get her pumped out before any serious damage occurred. Never forgot it, and now check my pumps before I get out of the boat every time.

 

[seadna]

If you are moored and are counting on bilge pumps, it's also worth springing for shore power and a battery charger.

 

[Canso]

I wonder how much water it takes to make a boat that size unstable? Maybe a ft deep on the floor?

I've had the bilge full and a few inches on the floor during bad weather prawning. Small piece of fishing line jammed the bilge pump. Alt. and starter under water, managed to get the pump going again before coming in the north arm where the waves were standing well above my roof line. Crazy day but the 19' boat never felt unstable.

 

[wolf]

I have 2 bilge pumps both on switches and TEST them very often .....
Boat sunk earlier this year at jocks a wellcraft with side scuppers sometimes scuppers are the culprit as well too much water and the boat is heavy the scuppers stay open and down it goes as well case in point the wellcraft at Jocks.

A bilge wont drain the battery completely it only draws about .5 of an amp if you leave it for a week well then maybe, but for the price of 2 bilges in stalled WELL above the water line maybe a couple of hundred bucks I think Well worth the money and use quality bilges..the outcome is going to cost you WAY more as seen from the pictures.
Seems to happen more and more comes down to just plain lack of preventive maintenance.

 

[Peahead]

Yes scuppers certainly do have their issues for sure - just yesterday in advance of last nights rain I was back out at my marina and sure enough the starboard stern floor scupper had some leaf debris partially blocking the rain water flowing out. Drives me crazy that even with new flappers water still can leak up back through them. I think ball scuppers may do a better job. I check and change the flappers quite regularly as part of maintenance .

Of course good points about having quality bilge pumps and testing/checking them out regularly as wolf describes above, absolutely. However with these runabouts I feel an overlooked culprit is allowing the rain to enter the boat in the first place - preventative should be first plan especially when its so simple. I am at a loss why anyone without self bailing/scuppers, as a typical runabout is, would leave the cockpit open to take on 'tons' of rainwater ? Why rely on the pump/s working hard continuously (even if they were tested as working ok) when they can fail if a float switch gets jammed, a unit clogs, breaks or battery dies ?... and as far as shore pwr goes , it is usually not an option for a runabout. I don't know if this particular boat that sank was properly covered but I suspect that it likely wasn't. As fshnfnatic mentions above he had a boat go down by relying on a pump that failed or couldn't keep up to the heavy rainfall entering the boat. I see lots of runabouts sitting uncovered in marinas and its a sinking waiting to happen as I see it.

 

[TobyDexter]

I was in cheanuh today and noticed a older grady half sunk. The motors were still out of the water so we bailed for about 45 and finally started gaining on it. We at least got it to a point where it wasn't gonna totally sink and the marina called the owner . If you keep your boat at that marina make sure you have your **** together because there was absolutely zero hustle coming from the staff there. They don't have any pumps etc out there either.