boat sinks 30 minutes ago at chesapeake light!!!!!

[Kracker Jack]

As of 30 minutes ago a 23 ft wellcraft with Honda 4 stroke sunk at the chesapeake light tower. My brother is in the tower at cape Henry as we speak and heard the whole deal go down the radio.

[Kracker Jack]

Was just updated that she sunk stern first,the crew was unable to call coast guard due to electrical failure. Bilges shut down and they started hand pumping and could not keep up.she went down stern and rolled over. Im a pretty firm believer in keeping them batteries up high so water doesn't short out circuits causing failure. And always have a ditch bag.

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by Kracker Jack

Was just updated that she sunk stern first,the crew was unable to call coast guard due to electrical failure. Bilges shut down and they started hand pumping and could not keep up.she went down stern and rolled over. Im a pretty firm believer in keeping them batteries up high so water doesn't short out circuits causing failure. And always have a ditch bag.

I totally agree that a ditch bag is necessary. And truthfully, for a number of reasons, moving the batteries forward is not a bad idea. But the bilge pump probably shut down for reasons other than the battery getting wet. Fact is, you can submerge the battery and it will continue to deliver power as though it was high and dry. Electricity will always follow the path of least resistance. Water has a higher resistance than copper wire, so the electricity from the battery will continue to flow through the wires. Since they couldn't call the Coast Guard due to electrical failure that means they probably suffered a short or blew a fuse in their electrical panel that knocked everything out. Yet another reason why you should always direct wire your bilge pump(s) without going through your electrical distribution panel.

Why were they taking on water....any reasons given?

[Kracker Jack]

No given reason for the accident at this time. The boat owner did say once he was on the boat that rescued them that he just repowered with a Honda( he said this on open vhf). I speculate maybe rotted transom heavier motor? Who knows? We will probally never find out.

[randlemanboater]

Glad everyone is ok...sucks to lose a brand new Honda, hope he had insurance.

[Redneck]