flipped my 17 1/2 ft xpress with 90hp motor last weekend

[nofish]

This happened at priest in front of the cliffs close to elm hill marina that are still open. By the time i realized water was coming in my girlfriend tried to climb in the back and then it rolled. F$*k!!!! The bilge pump failed which probably would've saved the day. We were close enough to the cliffs that the boat rolled over the underwater ledge so we were able to get alot of the stuff that fell out. The rest of the stuff dropped 60-80 feet to the bottom. This happened as it was getting dark so help was scarce. Multiple cell phonez, wallets with cash in them, purses, etc swallowed by priest. Someone called twra for us and they came to our aid. They were none to happy that i was still diving under the boat trying to get valuables. They threatened to take me and my girlfriend to jail. I don't blame them. It was a dangerous situation and they didn't want to be fishing bodies out. They helped me tie the boat off to some trees and took us all back to the dock.

I called a friend in columbia at around midnight and he came straight away to save my noat. He has a big bumble bee with a 225 motor. We hooked a strap with a hook to the opposite side of the boat and we were able to get it rolled back over right away. We hand bailed water with a cup for about 30 minutes and he towed me to my trailer.

WOW!!!! WHAT A NIGHT!!!

[nofish]

I'm pretty sure my gas tank doesn't have a vent so i pulled the plugs a few days ago, turned it over, it wouldn't turn so i smacked the starter with a wrench and it started turnyover. Put the plugs bag in and cranked it, it ran like a champ. Took it to the lake and it wouldn't fire, but i had spark. I disconnected the fuel line where it goes into the fuel pump and gave it a squeeze and the gas was milky. I'm on my way to drain the tank now, put new gas in, and try it again at the lake.

[Travis C.]

Wow...:eek:

Glad you guys made it out okay.

[nofish]

Also after the first restart on dry land the starter froze, but luckily i had another one.

[nofish]

Wow...:eek:

Glad you guys made it out okay.

Thanks! When the boat rolled my girlfriend and i got momentarily pinned between a rock and my boat. Luckily i was on my hands and knees with the boat on my back so i could push of the rock ledge just enough.


We got very very very lucky.

[nofish]

I also bought a new 800gph bilge pump. My brand new hb 597 is dead.

[bd-]

Scary! Why did the water start coming into the boat in the first place?

bd

[nofish]

Scary! Why did the water start coming into the boat in the first place?

bd

I'm not sure. I'm working on finding out. I thought maybe a bad livewell hose, but all hoses are good. No holes in the hull.

[j19bill]

Glad you made it. Scary stuff

[nomad60]

Wow, that'll be a tale for the grandkids, eh? Glad to hear everyone was ok.

[ALANRAYG2]

Glad to hear you made it safely ashore. When I started to read your post I thought you sold your boat.....not turn it over!!!! I take it you were not underway. Be sure to look for cracked welds. I heard there were some problems with them. That was several years ago I heard that. Again Glad you and your girlfriend are unharmed.

[nofish]

Glad to hear you made it safely ashore. When I started to read your post I thought you sold your boat.....not turn it over!!!! I take it you were not underway. Be sure to look for cracked welds. I heard there were some problems with them. That was several years ago I heard that. Again Glad you and your girlfriend are unharmed.

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I still can't find anywhere that water could get in! To see some of the welds I'd have to get it hoisted off the trailer. That may be the problem though.

I got all of the bad gas out and with my old starter it's running great on land. I'll see how it does tomorrow in the water. I'll keep a very close eye on the bilge tomorrow. When i arrived at where i store my boat wouldn't ya know i had a flat tire. I'm on my way to buy a new one now.

[ALANRAYG2]

[QUOTE=nofish;23701]Thanks everyone for the kind words. I still can't find anywhere that water could get in! To see some of the welds I'd have to get it hoisted off the trailer. That may be the problem though.

I got all of the bad gas out and with my old starter it's running great on land. I'll see how it does tomorrow in the water. I'll keep a very close eye on the bilge tomorrow. When i arrived at where i store my boat wouldn't ya know i had a flat tire. I'm on my way to buy a new one now.[/

Nofish, while the boat is on trailer you can add a couple inches of water with a hose. Let it set for a while to see if it leaks out. If no leaks are detected add a few more inches. See if it is leaking then. I would do this all the way to the waterline where the boat sits at rest. You should be able to see something. You might have a hole under a bunk. If so the bunk will be wet. Keep us posted on your findings. Good Luck !!!!

[robhal11]

Man alive that had to have been scary and madding at the same time, glad you guys are alright and got the boat back too. I have never had one break or come off but what about the hose on the aerator.

[bd-]

Nofish, while the boat is on trailer you can add a couple inches of water with a hose. Let it set for a while to see if it leaks out. If no leaks are detected add a few more inches. See if it is leaking then. I would do this all the way to the waterline where the boat sits at rest.

That's a good idea!

bd

[nofish]

[QUOTE=nofish;23701]Thanks everyone for the kind words. I still can't find anywhere that water could get in! To see some of the welds I'd have to get it hoisted off the trailer. That may be the problem though.

I got all of the bad gas out and with my old starter it's running great on land. I'll see how it does tomorrow in the water. I'll keep a very close eye on the bilge tomorrow. When i arrived at where i store my boat wouldn't ya know i had a flat tire. I'm on my way to buy a new one now.[/

Nofish, while the boat is on trailer you can add a couple inches of water with a hose. Let it set for a while to see if it leaks out. If no leaks are detected add a few more inches. See if it is leaking then. I would do this all the way to the waterline where the boat sits at rest. You should be able to see something. You might have a hole under a bunk. If so the bunk will be wet. Keep us posted on your findings. Good Luck !!!!



That's a good idea i need to revisit. I ve done that in the past and saw no water leakage. Will do again for sure. The hoses are all good, but i'll replace them anyway. I didn't make it to the lake today due to lack of funds for a darn tire. $69 for the tire by itself. $79 for the tire and wheel at walmart. If I'm going to do the tire and wheel i'll replace both. My tire size on the good tire is 175/80d13. I'm not sure what that translates to, but the biggest trailer tires walmart has will fit.

[nofish]

[QUOTE=ALANRAYG2;23704]



That's a good idea i need to revisit. I ve done that in the past and saw no water leakage. Will do again for sure. The hoses are all good, but i'll replace them anyway. I didn't make it to the lake today due to lack of funds for a darn tire. $69 for the tire by itself. $79 for the tire and wheel at walmart. If I'm going to do the tire and wheel i'll replace both. My tire size on the good tire is 175/80d13. I'm not sure what that translates to, but the biggest trailer tires walmart has will fit.

Same lug pattern. It's slways something, i swear it never ends!

[Buccaneer]

nofish - I had a Skeeter aluminum with 90 hp Yamaha and the hull was made by G3, 2001 vintage. One day on Old Hickory the bilge pump kept kicking on and it was driving me nuts. Turned out to be a cracked weld along the chine, almost 2/3's forward of the transom. Only way I found it was filling the boat from a hose on my driveway. The crack was a hairline right thru the middle of the weld about 6" long. I got a new hull out of that problem.

[ALANRAYG2]

[QUOTE=ALANRAYG2;23704]



That's a good idea i need to revisit. I ve done that in the past and saw no water leakage. Will do again for sure. The hoses are all good, but i'll replace them anyway. I didn't make it to the lake today due to lack of funds for a darn tire. $69 for the tire by itself. $79 for the tire and wheel at walmart. If I'm going to do the tire and wheel i'll replace both. My tire size on the good tire is 175/80d13. I'm not sure what that translates to, but the biggest trailer tires walmart has will fit.

Nofish, I have had another thought.... If you were using your livewell the "day" the boat flipped you might have to try these tests. Put a plug or cork stopper in the drain for the livewell on the outside the hull. Fill the livewell with water and let her set for a while. If you have a drain valve keep it closed for a while and check for a leak into the hull. If you don't see a leak then open the valve and wait for a while again. Keep checking for water to show up in the hull. Make sure the bow is higher than the stern so all water will run to the back. Check the livewell timer. If it stays on all the time water can fill the livewell faster than it can drain out. Water can overflow the top of the livewell between the top of the well and the underside of the deck. You could have a stopped up drain line if that turns out to be the case. I have seen a cracked drain valve leak into the hull when they were closed. I have seen plugged drains cause water to overflow the well and into the hull. sometimes a barfed up shad can do that. last year a friend was filling his well on the manual position and forgot that it was on. Water filled the well and was spilling into the hull under the deck. It was running out the lids too. Had water all over and the automatic bilge had kicked on to let us know we had a problem. I am interested in what you find. Hope this helps.

[nofish]

[QUOTE=nofish;23737]

Nofish, I have had another thought.... If you were using your livewell the "day" the boat flipped you might have to try these tests. Put a plug or cork stopper in the drain for the livewell on the outside the hull. Fill the livewell with water and let her set for a while. If you have a drain valve keep it closed for a while and check for a leak into the hull. If you don't see a leak then open the valve and wait for a while again. Keep checking for water to show up in the hull. Make sure the bow is higher than the stern so all water will run to the back. Check the livewell timer. If it stays on all the time water can fill the livewell faster than it can drain out. Water can overflow the top of the livewell between the top of the well and the underside of the deck. You could have a stopped up drain line if that turns out to be the case. I have seen a cracked drain valve leak into the hull when they were closed. I have seen plugged drains cause water to overflow the well and into the hull. sometimes a barfed up shad can do that. last year a friend was filling his well on the manual position and forgot that it was on. Water filled the well and was spilling into the hull under the deck. It was running out the lids too. Had water all over and the automatic bilge had kicked on to let us know we had a problem. I am interested in what you find. Hope this helps.

I'll check everything you've said next Saturday and i'll let you know the outcome. Thanks for the advice.

[Travis C.]

The livewell hose was how water kept getting in mine. It was coming in through a crack along the livewell fill hose under the gas tank causing it impossible to see. After troubleshooting all the connections, we closed off that hole on the outside put it in the water and that is what it ended up being. Bad part was the tank had to come out to fix it.

Also yesterday talked to dad and asked him about it. His buddy had a similiar problem with the same boat you have and it was a bad weld. They replaced his boat with a little better model.

Just becareful if you fill the boat on the trailer to check for leaks that you don't exceed the trailer weight limits.

[nofish]

The livewell hose was how water kept getting in mine. It was coming in through a crack along the livewell fill hose under the gas tank causing it impossible to see. After troubleshooting all the connections, we closed off that hole on the outside put it in the water and that is what it ended up being. Bad part was the tank had to come out to fix it.

Also yesterday talked to dad and asked him about it. His buddy had a similiar problem with the same boat you have and it was a bad weld. They replaced his boat with a little better model.

Just becareful if you fill the boat on the trailer to check for leaks that you don't exceed the trailer weight limits.

If it ends up being a weld it seems like that wouldn't be a big deal to fix if you know someone or a shop that is good at welding aluminum. Am i right?

[nofish]

nofish - I had a Skeeter aluminum with 90 hp Yamaha and the hull was made by G3, 2001 vintage. One day on Old Hickory the bilge pump kept kicking on and it was driving me nuts. Turned out to be a cracked weld along the chine, almost 2/3's forward of the transom. Only way I found it was filling the boat from a hose on my driveway. The crack was a hairline right thru the middle of the weld about 6" long. I got a new hull out of that problem.

Were you the original owner?

[Buccaneer]

Sorry for the late reply I just got back from east Texas on a business trip. Yes I was the original owner of that hull. I thought about having it welded but contacted my dealer and discovered this was not the first issue for cracks in that area. I'm glad they warranted the hull, but to your point I believe it could be welded rather easily.

[nofish]

Last weekend i checked all of the welds on the boat and they're ok. I filled my livewell to the top and plugged the fill and drain and it held with no leaks. I filled the hull with water and no leaks.

The back of my boat sits low in the water so i think what happened is i stopped abruptly and my wave went over the back of my boat filling it instantly. Ive always been aware that can happen so i usually slow down easy or let off the throttle and give it a little gas. If my bilge pump hadn't failed and i had noticed it sooner i wouldn't have flipped over. I spent about 4 hours on the lake Sunday with no problems.

Operator error!!!