Wildfire
11-13-2002, 09:04 PM
A few days ago, I posted about going swimming for my Arneson. Well, here's the whole story behind that. These are my posts from OSO.
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We launched the "new to us" boat (1985 Crusader, BBC & Arneson) for the first time today. About 1 mile from the marina the engine stopped and we observed smoke/steam. Looked under the hatch and water was halfway up the engine. 10-15 minutes later all that was sticking up was the front 6'. 5 minutes later, it went to the bottom in ~80' of water.
Don't know if there are any lessons to learn from this yet. Still kind of in shock. The Missus and I were the only ones aboard and we got our jackets on at the first sign of trouble. We managed to save our wallets, keys, GPS and shoes. The water jug, paddle and rear seat surfaced later and those were collected.
We have insurance and the water patrol has made their report. I guess I have to call the insurance company tomorrow morning. I know some divers that can salvage it for me, but don't know at this point if I am interested. We'll see how easy State Farm is.
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Drain plug was verified twice by me and at least once by the Missus. The best I can figure is that we lost a water line or exhaust tube.
My diver buddy will be back from vacation next week, he'll probably get a couple of his buddies to go down and refloat it with air bags, maybe we will find out for sure. Maybe it will be permanent fish attractor. The bad part is that the BBC and Arneson were going to go in the Magnum this winter. Now I have to start all over. Plus the Missus said no more project boats - new or like new only! Maybe that is a good, but expensive thing.
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Talked to the insurance company today. We are covered and the claim was filed. All I have to do is sign the back of the registration over to them and they will cut me a check for the insured value minus the deductible.
I have not yet heard whether or not the boat must be recovered for EPA reasons. I will probably wait for them to contact me rather than ask and open up a can of worms.
I have a feeling that the engine may be toast and who knows if the drive is serviceable. It all depends upon how the boat landed and what the bottom structure is like. It sank nose up, so it probably hit drive first. If it went in the mud, the drive may be ok. If it hit rock, which is highly likely, the drive is probably bent, spindled or mutilated beyond repair (or at least interest).
Other than a nice bomar hatch and Gaffrig flame arrestor, the fish can keep it. Besides, at this point, I'm not real interested in seeing that thing again.
Haven't gotten the photos yet, but they will be posted for your viewing pleasure.
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Never did get the photos. That's the real shame. Insurance paid off and I put the new aluminum trailer under the Magnum. All's well that ends well.
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We launched the "new to us" boat (1985 Crusader, BBC & Arneson) for the first time today. About 1 mile from the marina the engine stopped and we observed smoke/steam. Looked under the hatch and water was halfway up the engine. 10-15 minutes later all that was sticking up was the front 6'. 5 minutes later, it went to the bottom in ~80' of water.
Don't know if there are any lessons to learn from this yet. Still kind of in shock. The Missus and I were the only ones aboard and we got our jackets on at the first sign of trouble. We managed to save our wallets, keys, GPS and shoes. The water jug, paddle and rear seat surfaced later and those were collected.
We have insurance and the water patrol has made their report. I guess I have to call the insurance company tomorrow morning. I know some divers that can salvage it for me, but don't know at this point if I am interested. We'll see how easy State Farm is.
-------
Drain plug was verified twice by me and at least once by the Missus. The best I can figure is that we lost a water line or exhaust tube.
My diver buddy will be back from vacation next week, he'll probably get a couple of his buddies to go down and refloat it with air bags, maybe we will find out for sure. Maybe it will be permanent fish attractor. The bad part is that the BBC and Arneson were going to go in the Magnum this winter. Now I have to start all over. Plus the Missus said no more project boats - new or like new only! Maybe that is a good, but expensive thing.
-------
Talked to the insurance company today. We are covered and the claim was filed. All I have to do is sign the back of the registration over to them and they will cut me a check for the insured value minus the deductible.
I have not yet heard whether or not the boat must be recovered for EPA reasons. I will probably wait for them to contact me rather than ask and open up a can of worms.
I have a feeling that the engine may be toast and who knows if the drive is serviceable. It all depends upon how the boat landed and what the bottom structure is like. It sank nose up, so it probably hit drive first. If it went in the mud, the drive may be ok. If it hit rock, which is highly likely, the drive is probably bent, spindled or mutilated beyond repair (or at least interest).
Other than a nice bomar hatch and Gaffrig flame arrestor, the fish can keep it. Besides, at this point, I'm not real interested in seeing that thing again.
Haven't gotten the photos yet, but they will be posted for your viewing pleasure.
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Never did get the photos. That's the real shame. Insurance paid off and I put the new aluminum trailer under the Magnum. All's well that ends well.