Bad Day At Put-In-Bay :(

[Carl C]

The water was great, the day was great so we decided to head for PIB from north Lake St. Clair. About an 80 mile cruise. Everything went well I blasted across St. Clair, navigated the Detroit River and made the run across the end of Lake Erie. Then I did something really stupid:bonk::bonk::bonk:. I did not use my charts or plotter and headed into the harbor from the wrong direction. I found myself in 3' water with weeds, I slowed to idle raised the drive and tried to navigate through the shallow water when suddenly there is a rock and gravel shoal. No time to stop. I raised the drive and killed the motor and the boat grounded on the unmarked shoal. We got out and lifted the stern and pushed the boat off the shoal and, embarassed, proceeded through the anchorage to deep water where I could jump in and assess the damage. The prop was dinged and I felt a couple scratches on the bottom. Not too bad. Decided to run on plane and check for vibration when the overheat alarm sounded. I pulled the hoses at the pump and heat exchanger and the water flow looked good but I was getting minimal water out the exhaust and the port header was sizzling hot. Called TowBoatU.S. and got $3,000 worth of towing free. We docked the boat at Gibralter and got a ride back up to get my truck. I got home by midnight. I post my accomplishments here and just thought I'd share my really dumb move yesterday:bonk:. As soon as I have some coffee I will tear into the motor. I'll start by taking apart the raw water pump. I apparently sucked up some gravel. I should probably pressure test the port header too. I'll need to send the prop back to Brett and put on the spare. The only damage to the boat is two small scratches on the bottom. Not asking for help (yet) just sharing a story. I am soooo STUPID!! It was all my fault:bonk:.

BTW, I see a sea strainer in my future.

Also, kudos to TowBoatU.S. for fantastic service.

And the gps, vhf and cell phones all came in very handy!

Oh and there are two tow boats because the larger one towed us to the mouth of the Detroit River and handed us off to the smaller boat

[gold-n-rod]

Yikes! :shocking: It could have been worse. Glad you are getting things straightened out!!

[jvcobra]

Sorry to hear about the experience, don't beat yourself up too bad at least you get out there and enjoy new surroundings. I always fear running a ground in the bay and that's just mud.

Good to know towboat came through, I switched to them this summer from Sea tow.

[Ghost]

Bummer, but really glad you were covered for the tow.

[cherry82482]

Carl,

I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience. I want to go down to put-in bay from lake St. Clair. I launch at Selfridge Air Base (Hall RD and Jefferson). I haven't made the trip yet because I've heard about shallow spots around put-in bay. The next time you go, I want to go with you. Send me a PM or call me at (810)333-1357

[Ranman]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I hope you get everything back in order Sounds like a costly mistake.

Haven't we discussed GPS routes before? I don't understand why so many people have GPS, but don't use routes It makes navigation and cruising so much easier and more comfortable (and cheaper).

For me, I can run in the day with confidence. I can run at night with confidence (at least knowing I am on course). I just wouldn't be willing to venture into unfamiliar waters without a preestablished route set up in my GPS. I keep a chart as backup if the GPS fails, but I've been running on these lakes for over 6 years and have yet to run aground since I started plotting routes. (Don't ask me about my pre GPS route days :rolleyes:)

[Ranman]

Carl,

I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience. I want to go down to put-in bay from lake St. Clair. I launch at Selfridge Air Base (Hall RD and Jefferson). I haven't made the trip yet because I've heard about shallow spots around put-in bay. The next time you go, I want to go with you. Send me a PM or call me at (810)333-1357

Cherry,

If you have a Garmin GPS and use routes (see post above) I have one established to go from Belle Maer Harbor to PIB. I can send you the file to upload to your unit.

[BigGrizzly]

I have been there, sorry. sea strainer is a good thing ask Catch22. Bet you got reeds in it. Good luck. hope you saved the engine.

[HOWARD O]

Bummer Carl, hoping for minimal damage.....sounds like that's the case. :crossfing: Can happen to anyone, sure has to me and the tow service was used well!

Good luck!

[gcarter]

Carl, hope everything is OK.
Sea strainer is an imperitive.....
Then comes the transom pickup!:yes:

[cherry82482]

Ranman,

Where can I purchase current charts of Lake Erie and the south part of the Detroit river?. I have old charts of Lake St. Clair (1960's) from when my Dad was boating. I need to upgrade ASAP!!

[Rootsy]

(Don't ask me about my pre GPS route days :rolleyes:)

And never play follow the leader... :doh:

[Ranman]

And never play follow the leader... :doh:

I figured you would chime in. :shades:


For charts, you can go to your friendly neighborhood West Marine Store or you can find them here:

http://www.waterproofcharts.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=21

[Ghost]

Also, this takes some getting used to, but actually works pretty well once you get the hang of it.

http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/OnLineViewer.html

Quick, free, no trip to the store.

And with a screen dump pasted into MS Paint and printed (and a ziploc to keep it dry), you can take a hardcopy of part of the chart with you, at whatever zoom level you want. I really like this because the chart books don't usually have the full zoom perspective that the real charts have. This does, if you zoom in. And I usually need details in a spot or two, like a harbor approach, and don't usually need the whole thing. (And hey, who takes a full chart onboard a Donzi anyhow?)

Even now that I have the Northstar charplotting GPS, I can do some planning at home beforehand this way, without buying more charts.

[f_inscreenname]

Ouch.

Here in the bay it is mostly soft bottom and very forgiving except for the embarrassment. When I lived in Maine the bottom was granite and the embarrassment was a distance second on the thoughts of what it would cost to fix. I can feel your pain.

[chip w]

Yup, been there. Fortunately most of the shallow stuff in the Tampa area is pretty soft. Did have one bad experience in the bay with the family boat once. Anchored off an island about 3/4 mile off the shipping channel. A loaded freighter came through and about 15 minutes later the wake came in. about 20 feet in front of the bow the bottom comes up rapidly and the wave grew right in front of us. The boats on either side weren't evected at all, just a small breaker that lifted our boat and set the hull on the beach. Now we anchor on the other side of the island. Live and learn... sigh! Hope that everything's OK and you're back on the water soon!

[Carl C]

Well I've been working on the boat all day. The prop isn't too bad so I filed down the small dings and I think it will get me through the season. I pulled the water pump off and it all looked good. I pulled the hose off the fuel cooler, where the raw water goes first, and found lots of sand, crushed mussel shells and impeller parts from a previous impeller failure before I purchased this motor. I methodically went through and back flushed the entire raw water system; fuel cooler, p/s cooler, oil cooler and heat exchanger. I got a whole lot of crap out of there. I pulled the plugs and cranked the motor in case there was water in a cyld. No problem there. Put it all together and ran it on the hose and water out the exhaust seems to be normal but might still be a little light on the port side. Two of the port tubes got too hot to touch. I did not back flush the headers for fear of getting water in the engine. I suppose I should remove them and flush and pressure test them. The only damage to the hull are two small scratches and the lower unit shows no damage at all.

Thanks for all of the support. I do use my charts and chartplotter but I just made a dumb mistake when I got to PIB. I've only been there once and I thought I remembered the way into the marina. With all of the boat traffic around there I think this shoal should be marked but I will take the blame.

Cherry, we will be going back soon; Probably within two weeks if my boat is OK. It will be on a week-day though. I put in at the Clinton River mouth just north of Metro Beach. It is 80 miles each way. It is an awesome cruise that you will love. The Detroit River can get you in trouble too if you stray from the channels. I will not make this mistake again. PIB was so happening and we didn't even get to go ashore. I am so bummed. I will try and contact you before we go. Keep a sick day handy.:)

[BigGrizzly]

Thats good news Carl. I hope everything is fine. Not to make you feel better I hit two sand bars with RT and Jill abord, talk about being embarrassed. I still think if I had been above 70 I could have cleared number 3.:yes:

[Mr X]

Carl,
you should pull all of the drain plugs and flush the block too.
I got a 5 gallon bucket of sand and mud out of my old HP 500 when that
happened to me at Mt. Dora.
If you dont do it you are risking hot spots in the block where the crud has settled.......at trust me, it is in there.

[Carl C]

Carl,
you should pull all of the drain plugs and flush the block too.
I got a 5 gallon bucket of sand and mud out of my old HP 500 when that
happened to me at Mt. Dora.
If you dont do it you are risking hot spots in the block where the crud has settled.......at trust me, it is in there.

It has a closed cooling system. How can stuff get into the engine? Does the HP 500 have closed cooling?

[Carl C]

HP500 was open cooling.. I'd pull the exhaust and backflush though, not liking the two pipes to hot to touch syndrome there...

OK thanks. Did I catch Mr.X in a brain fade:eek:?

OMG the chartplotter even says "rock":bonk::bonk::bonk:.

[Air 22]

Carl...Sorry to hear of your grounding....with boating...there are those who have run a ground...and those will...:nilly:

Did you happen to notice how hot ur engine temp was? Im guessing w the closed cooling ur gonna be ok but the CMI's you may wanna test as u mentioned....

Get that darn sea strainer!...Im posting a not so great pic of mine but you'll get the idea:wink:

Teague has some great pices on them...:pimp:

http://teaguecustommarine.com//store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0&products_id=2989

[FISHIN SUCKS]

I know exactly where that shoal is, I was over there the last two weekends. 2 years ago, 2 fisherman (of all people) actually were fishing around the shoal forewarned me that I will not make it, and so I went around to the proper entry. Talk about luck. So far, sounds like you may have dodged some major bullets, let's hope your luck continues.

[Carl C]

So, was the plotter on when ya bumped?? :yes: :yes:

Plotter was on but I didn't zoom in at that time. I thought I was coming into the marina the right way and when I noticed my screw up I thought I could get through....didn't know about the rocks:bonk:.


Carl...Sorry to hear of your grounding....with boating...there are those who have run a ground...and those will...:nilly:

Did you happen to notice how hot ur engine temp was? Im guessing w the closed cooling ur gonna be ok but the CMI's you may wanna test as u mentioned....

Get that darn sea strainer!...Im posting a not so great pic of mine but you'll get the idea:wink:

Teague has some great pices on them...:pimp:

http://teaguecustommarine.com//store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0&products_id=2989

Sea strainer will be coming. I might look into those with a water take off for a drive shower. No temp guage yet. I still have wiring issues. I'm relying on built in safegards and, this time, the warning horn.

I will get out monday for a good test run. Could try PIB as soon as next week:yippie:.

[LKSD]

Carl, Sorry to hear of your bad day, good to hear you are ok tho..

Actually Im comin out your way next week. How far are you from Spring lake/ Grand Haven? I am supposed to close on a boat out there.. :) Jamie

[Mr X]

OK thanks. Did I catch Mr.X in a brain fade:eek:?

OMG the chartplotter even says "rock":bonk::bonk::bonk:.

Yes. Must be the early altzhimers kicking in! :frown:

[Mr X]

Eau de horse dung will do that to ya :boggled: :boggled:
LOL! http://smilies.vidahost.com/ups/pezhed/jackass.gif

[Carl C]

Carl, Sorry to hear of your bad day, good to hear you are ok tho..

Actually Im comin out your way next week. How far are you from Spring lake/ Grand Haven? I am supposed to close on a boat out there.. :) Jamie

Not too close, I'm on the other side of the state.

After thinking this over I can flush the headers without danger of water entering the motor if I do the header only and not the tail. I will do that and get this thing on Lake Oakland for a test run monday. Could try the big lake again as soon as Tuesday. I should pressure test at least the port header though and might drain it after each run until I do that. It has a drain plug; I just need to bring a little bucket. We are just now getting some hot weather after the third coldest July on record. It would suck to have the boat down now. That shoal should be marked and other boaters were watching us and didn't yell out a warning :(. Maybe they think it's funny to watch newbies ground their boats there. :(

[hot shot]

Carl let me know when you go, i might meet you at gibraltar and run down there with you give me a day or so notice if you can... Mick

[Sweet Cheekz]

Carl, Sorry to hear of your bad day, good to hear you are ok tho..

Actually Im comin out your way next week. How far are you from Spring lake/ Grand Haven? I am supposed to close on a boat out there.. :) Jamie

If he leaves Lake St Clair with some notice and good weather he could make the trip in about 15 hours :eek:

3 by car

SC

[Carl C]

Carl let me know when you go, i might meet you at gibraltar and run down there with you give me a day or so notice if you can... Mick

Mick, I might try again as soon as Tuesday.


If he leaves Lake St Clair with some notice and good weather he could make the trip in about 15 hours :eek:

3 by car

SC

Ha, you've never "cruised" with me! Conditions permitting, it's 65-70 mph all the way baby! :)

[Sweet Cheekz]

Conditions permitting on Lake Michigan is the key here. I am guessing about 450 miles and a few gas stops at 70 It would be fun :shades:
Parnell

[Carl C]

Conditions permitting on Lake Michigan is the key here. I am guessing about 450 miles and a few gas stops at 70 It would be fun :shades:
Parnell

Oh, gotcha, yeah that would be a long ass cruise but I'd do it in a lot less than 15 hours if the water wasn't acting up! (lotsa luck on Lake Michigan!)

[Sweet Cheekz]

Running around on Lake Oakland again Sunday If you are around say hi
Parnell

[Carl C]

Running around on Lake Oakland again Sunday If you are around say hi
Parnell

I might be out there sunday evening. Watch for my boat. (pic below) It would be about 7 pm if I do.

[Carl C]

Got the boat out tonight and the motor and headers are running nice and cool:yippie:. I might be taking on water though so I will check everything out for leaks. Maybe it was just water left from when I flushed the headers:crossfing:. If it checks out OK tomorrow I will try again for PIB this week.
I will be putting in a sea strainer ASAP, right now I'm going boating. Summer is finally here:).

[Carl C]

I just had a couple of hose clamps not tight enough. The boat is ready to go now.