launching woes

[rooferdave]

well got both trojans launched and a few things are not right,

#1 launched the trifly and when I pulled the floor covers there was a little water spout coming up from the center of the boat just in front of the genny, looks like someone put too long of a screw in it at one time and it rusted out, of course my bilge pump crapped out and I had a marine store stay open till I could get there. Kudo's to THE RIGGING SHOP in Toronto for their compassion in a bit of a worrisome time for me, they stayed open an extra hour on a saturday to help. after 2 hrs the leak slowed and stopped but now I worry about wood damage in the hull, I am going to put dive gear on in afew weeks and patch it with epoxy for the summer an hopefully it dries out. On edit the hole size is about 3/16 of an inch (but still enough to worry me with no bilge at the time)

#2 launched my 25 ft trojan (heres some forshadowing I paid some one to winterise this boat as I was busy) when I started it water sprayed out from between the engine and the drive, it would seem through an inspection port in the drive, on start it is a hard spray for 2 secs then a steady dribble.

Any thoughts? is there water in the drive of a single screw 25'? I see two lines from the front going into it the engine and the manifolds are fine, AND IS MY WIFE PISSED!!!! I am not allowed to have anyone winterize my boats again. Having said that it was not done by a marina so there is no recourse to who did the work, however they will certainly do right when I tell them what has happened. I was moving my shop and really busy and thought I should delegate some of my work load

On above being said this brings the story of my friend who had a young electrican work on his 47 ft boat, the one I posted pics of at the club sinking in flames this winter. I turns out the electrician is being blamed by the insurance company but had no insurance of his own, he is reportedly just going to file for bankruptcy over the $120,000 debt, now I have heard whispers that the boat insurance company is coming after the clubs insurance for allowing the electrician to work on their property with out the correct coverages, also there is quite a bit of damage to the boat next to it, this may be why we have a notice from the club obout only qualified, insured and licensed workers are allowed in club inluding workers compensation as they may have exposure from the fire claim.

Thats somthing to think about isn't it?

[1967 seavoyager]

You may get lucky & it might only be a softplug on the back of the block, That's where I'd look first.

[gordd]

I imagine most launches have some sort of issues. I have f25 as well and new to all this so will be interesting when I finnaly launch. Still looking for marina with slips in Toronto arae and hard to locate , seems most are booked well in advance. Congrot on getting it in water even with cpl setbacks !

[rooferdave]

I imagine most launches have some sort of issues. I have f25 as well and new to all this so will be interesting when I finnaly launch. Still looking for marina with slips in Toronto arae and hard to locate , seems most are booked well in advance. Congrot on getting it in water even with cpl setbacks !

we have room in our club for a 25 ft boat,( 3 slips left) pm me and I will show you around! Brimley rd and the lake

[blair]

Sorry to hear your woes.
I was pretty lucky this year...launched with very few issues. Afterwards, I told my wife that my recurring nightmare from October to April was that I had missed something during winterization and the engines were cracked or something equally expensive, as this was the first time I had ever winterized something this large. From my slip on Lake Sturgeon I watched several boats splash yesterday...several were "no starts", and these owners were experienced boaters who just happened to have engine issues. One slipmate had 1) transmission failure, 2)Leaks and 3)Mice...I only learned his name because his wife was screaming it, from below deck when she found the mouse babies.
While my launch was pretty good, I did have some minor issues that I can relate to rooferdave on...after filling the on board water tanks, and leaving the house water turned on, my wife noticed an odd sound, which I dismissed. Should have listened...the PO had bypassed the water heater when he last winterized, by installing a hose to loop from the cold water inlet to the hot water outlet. He saved $1.50 by using only single clamps on each end. With no barbs, the bypass hose slipped off, filling my forward bilge to the floorboards with the house water.Like rooferdave, my bilge pump didn't kick in .I bypassed the electrical with a direct connection to the house batteries and pumped all that water out, which went well. When all was dry, I checked the electrical connection...the "hot" side was corroded in the terminal, which was a common marret terminal, not a crimped marine-style.
So, some lessons learned...never trust the P.O.'s work and always listened to your wife

[Big D]

....water sprayed out from between the engine and the drive....

Do you mean the bellhousing? Suspect one or both frost plugs at back of block.

...insurance company is coming after the clubs insurance for allowing the electrician to work on their property with out the correct coverages.....we have a notice from the club obout only qualified, insured and licensed workers are allowed in club inluding workers compensation......

It's about time IMO. More and more marinas are taking this route and I don't blame them for the sake of the boat they are working on and all the rest in the marina. A real pro will have proper coverage. Proper coverage is expensive. That's part of why a real pro is expensive! If you think that's tough, there's a growing trend to not allow boaters to do work on thier own vessels for the same liabily reasons. While this trend is extreme, I kind of understand it given the work I've seen done by some folks on thier own vessels. I wouldn't want my boat docked in the next slip.

[Commissionpoint]

...insurance company is coming after the clubs insurance for allowing the electrician to work on their property with out the correct coverages.....we have a notice from the club obout only qualified, insured and licensed workers are allowed in club inluding workers compensation......

It's about time IMO. More and more marinas are taking this route and I don't blame them for the sake of the boat they are working on and all the rest in the marina. A real pro will have proper coverage. Proper coverage is expensive. That's part of why a real pro is expensive! If you think that's tough, there's a growing trend to not allow boaters to do work on thier own vessels for the same liabily reasons. While this trend is extreme, I kind of understand it given the work I've seen done by some folks on thier own vessels. I wouldn't want my boat docked in the next slip.

Yeh. For sure. I'm lucky. I have known the guys at the Y/C where I store since I was about 4 yrs old, and the 18 year old assistant mecahanic at the time is the head engineer over there now. They let me do whatever I want on my own boat when its over there, but most folks are made to hire a pro. Its definately not public info that they let me do that as I am not a year-round member (I bring my boat to my house after they put it in for me), but its really cool they do it just the same. I hope I don't explode anything and make them regret it. I can definately see where lots of places are putting the yards on lockdown though and only allowing certain folks in to do work. Lord knows, more than half the boaters and 'professionals' I have met certainly make me wonder if they should be doing the things they try to do.

[rooferdave]

....water sprayed out from between the engine and the drive....

Do you mean the bellhousing? Suspect one or both frost plugs at back of block.

Yes I meant bellhousing, I am not aware of frost plugs at back of block, but I pray you are correct, I have a few engines in my shop and will have a look in the morning. It would be a dream if that was the issue, back in 1988 my 500hp 1969 ss camaro blew a rad hose and I put water in to get home and being a 25 yr old kid forgot till Jan when it was minus 21, poped the frost plugs (which are really drains for the mold sand) changed them but it was the block, 25 years later I am finally going to tear down the 14 thousand dollar race engine I killed all those years ago.

What I am trying to say is if it was not for bad luck I would have no luck!