One of the worst days for me

[Swampcreek]

WOAH

I got a 20' CC and have not taken it to the coast yet. I wanna feel more confident as a "captain" before I get into something I don't quite understand.

How did you capsize and what did ya'll do when it happened? Were you able to get to the life jackets and stuff ?

[Salty Gator]

WOAH

I got a 20' CC and have not taken it to the coast yet. I wanna feel more confident as a "captain" before I get into something I don't quite understand.

How did you capsize and what did ya'll do when it happened? Were you able to get to the life jackets and stuff ?

I do know they were using a buddy boat. If they hadn't, it would have been something we read about in the paper. From what he told me, it happened in seconds, scary stuff.

[xXLoneBowmanXx]

That sucks sorry to hear. Did you tow it close to shore,then leave it overnight, and come back on Sunday to try to flip it? How deep did you leave it? Sorry again, this would be a great ad for sea tow

Drug it into 30+ ft of water on Saturday, about 3 miles from the island. On Sunday we drug it further in to about 15-20 ft and tried to flip it there, but the current made it impossible. So we drug it into 4-5 ft (Fatal mistake) and tried to flip it. We almost had it at one point but the boat we were using wasn't quite strong enough.

Fortunately I was able to get it home and thoroughly pickled the motor.

Moral to the story, flippin' boats is hard and should only be attempted by professionals, and sea tow membership is worth every penny.

[xXLoneBowmanXx]

WOAH

I got a 20' CC and have not taken it to the coast yet. I wanna feel more confident as a "captain" before I get into something I don't quite understand.

How did you capsize and what did ya'll do when it happened? Were you able to get to the life jackets and stuff ?

We got to our spot and I checked the bilge like I usually do. It was full of water (which happens from time to time, but usually I just pump it out and it doesn't happen again). I flipped on the bilge and it wouldn't turn on. So, in a hurry to start fishing, I decided to reroute the live well pump and use it to bail the water. Disconnected the output hose from the bilge and tried to connect it to the live well pump, but the hose was too big. So I set it aside and went to work trying something else. A few seconds later I noticed we were taking on more water, and it dawned on me that the bilge outlet was below the water line at that point and water was back flowing into the boat. I told my wife to get the bucket and start bailing, but it was too late. So, she radioed to my buddy that we were going down, I told my 8 year old to grab the rest of the life jackets from the front hold, but before he could, the stern went under and the boat flipped. As soon as I came up, I grabbed the cooler for flotation and was just about to go under the boat to get my son, when he and my wife popped up from underneath. We put my son up on the bow of the boat and about that time I looked up to see my buddy flying WOT across the water.

We were EXTREMELY fortunate that he was there. We were outside of cell phone range and there were no other boats within eye-shot. Had he not been there, I would most likely not be here to write about it.

Another moral to the story: Never underestimate the value of a good bilge pump. I had checked it when we left the ramp and it was working just fine. Not sure what happened in between.

[doomtrpr_z71]

I can second that, the first boat I ever took into the salt of my own was a 16ft bass boat that I stripped down and pulled the carpet out of and redid the floors to be more salt water friendly. I took it on a two day trip with my wife to the GA coast and on the second day I noticed water in the bilge after eating lunch on Cumberland Island, when we left I just flipped the pump on because I knew the livewell hose had a leak and didn't worry about it. A few minutes later as we were cruising about I noticed my battery gauge was showing 10.8v and the water level was not any lower. So WOT and I kept my mouth shut as I watched the water level rise through the center floor drain. My wife notices this and is understandably concerned but I was in the process of beaching us on a sandbar so it wasn't that big of a deal. In my case the bilge pump sucked up a stick and burnt up and I had to bail the boat out for an hour with my bait bucket while my wife caught blue crabs with a dip net. To top it off I had brought a second bilge pump but it was in the truck. Glad everything worked out and no one got hurt with y'all.

[xXLoneBowmanXx]

I wouldn't say by any means that I am a "boating expert", but I've been on and around the water most of my life. I've never been one of the "that can never happen to me" types of people either. But what caught me off guard was how quickly it all happened. It couldn't have been more than 30 seconds between the time that I noticed we were in trouble, to the moment we were all in the water. It certainly could have been a lot worse. It was only by a chance of fate that my 4 year old wasn't with us, as he usually accompanies us on these trips.

Had I not gotten in a hurry and removed that hose from the bilge pump, the outcome would have been completely different and we would probably still be fishing today. That decision is one that will haunt me for a long time.

After the shock had worn off of what had happened I was mostly just embarrassed that it happened. Thanking the good Lord that we all made it out ok, but now I'm itching to get back out on the water.

Also, my apologies to swampcreek. I didn't mean to hijack your post.

[Swampcreek]

No hijacking here man.. This kind of stuff I like to know, so maybe I won't do the same in that situation.

My new to me CC has a bilge, I took it off for the first time over here in the flint, and rookie mistake, forgot to put the plug in. I didnt even think about it because my tilt trim switch went out. I was more worried about stripping the wires and forcing that to work. We got to the sand bar and swam for a while, noticed water coming from my gas tank port hole. I went to turn the bilge on and nothing happened. So i straight wired that too. It almost killed the battery cause there was so much water in it. I doubt I could have gotten on a plane to drain it that time. Finally after an hour of bailing out with a gatoraid cup. I learned my lesson that day too.. Don't get in a hurry and go through the checklist.

I'm totally rewiring the boat so I know where and how everything is. I don't trust any one else's work anymore.

I have 8 and 4 yr old girls and they usually both go. They are not very good swimmers, and always wear life vests. I hear you on that. SCARY stuff there buddy. Glad you all made it !

Be safe, don't get in a hurry!