This feels like it is going to be expensive

davidbrooks

Had a great day today and then not so great.  We were on the Severn River just waiting on the sun to go down.  I was in the channel off to the side looking at an inlet i haven't been in literally at a standstill.  I put it in reverse to back out and about 30 seconds later i hear a clunk and felt like i hit something.  I look down at my fishfinder and it said i was in 17 ft of water.  Both engines stop.  I look around, cant see anything at all, check the depth again and still have no idea what happened.  I started up the engines and my port engine was fine but starboard wouldn't go into gear and just revved up.  Forward or Reverse, nothing.  It revs up really quick though.  So i leave the engine on to give me power to steering and start to limp home.  I was literally across the river from my marina.  By the time i got close the starboard engine warning came on.  Shut the engine down, popped the hatch and it had completely drained the gear lube reservoir.  So i limped on in with just one engine and muscling the steering.  So i am going with I hit something that either A) Spun the props and i just need to replace the props....fingers crossed.  I busted something in the transmission or C) busted something in the out drive.  Feels like i need to have the marina pull the boat out regardless to look at everything.  Advice?  Any recommendations for a mechanic in the Annapolis area?  This is gonna be one i don't try and do myself.

Liberty44140

Bravo 3 right, my b3 props do not have hubs to be spun. Definitely sounds like you hit something. If you hit something that damaged your lowers and you can see the damage insurance should cover it.

bry1429

Make a report of some kind if possible, document everything that happened. Insurance will cover an underwater unseen obstruction impact.

J3ff

I would write an email and send it over to insurance/make a claim digitally right now.  An old timer at my club told me to do that right then when I had my engine problem.. probably helped in getting it covered. 

Dream_Inn

Oh man, hopefully it isn't as expensive as it sounds like it may be.  I've had all my work done by Rhode River Marina.  Might be a little bit of a hike for you.  You could also try Hawk Yachts at Liberty Marina.  Tell them you want it fixed for Rinkervous that they are sponsoring!  (seriously, they seem like great people and may be able to help you out quickly)

davidbrooks

Contacted Insurance.  Thanks for the prodding.  Contacted the marina and a recommended mechanic.  He is going to look at it today and likely pull the boat and block it.  So far no one sounded very optimistic.  Apparently backing into a submerged object is not recommended.

J3ff

Can you show us the location on the charts? https://webapp.navionics.com/

davidbrooks

The Navionics site shows grass right about where i was.  On Google Maps it is 39.034227, -76.533087.  Simrad maps didn't show any obstructions and the Simrad and Faria depth finders were showing 17 ft.  I cant even say i was hot dogging.  I was in reverse.  When you look at that area in Google maps with the imagery on it looks like it is incredibly shallow.

Cableguy Greg

If you have Google Earth, plug in the coordinates and go back in time to see if anything has changed. BTW, I hope it isn't anything major.

J3ff

ah boy... well looking at it from the charts, looks like a sharp drop off from the main channel of the river... do you remember what time it was? Sometimes the depth gauges will say the wrong depth while backing down because of turbulence/air in the water.. 

bry1429

@davidbrooks : which company do you have your Rinker insured with? 

davidbrooks

Went out last night to look.  Not good.  I almost lost the outdrive.  I am going to need a new transom assembly, coupler, shift cable, lines for hydraulics....  The outdrive looks ok at first glance and props weren't touched.  I power washed it and then scraped off the growth and barnacles to work out some frustration.  Everything that didn't have bottom paint on it had barnacles.  For everyone that has put in underwater lights...barnacles love them.   My transponder for fish finder that is mounted between my outdrives was also covered.  I am amazed it even worked. I have about a 3" chunk missing from my skeg on my port outdrive but otherwise it looks ok.  I was in reverse when this happened.   With the damage i am seeing it feels like i really hit something hard.  Not the bottom or i would of messed up the props and outdrive.  I cant find any marks or cracks on the outdrive and the props seem to rotate ok with no noise.  So hopefully that is ok.  Insurance is United Marine and they got back to me with an adjuster the same day.  So far they have been very responsive.  They may have to send out an adjuster to review what the mechanic is reporting.

J3ff

Hope it's deemed an accident! Not mechanical failure

Handymans342

Looks like the metal just gave away

bry1429

That damage is definitely an accident impact and will be covered by insurance. Seems like the insurance is quick on the response, that will be good to help you back in the water  so you can enjoy the rest of the summer, Make sure your mechanic stays on it.

Glassguy54

Wow!

Handymans342

Same thing happened to my B2s

Cableguy Greg

Whatever you hit, it was a good one. To break the bell housing takes a lot. I hope the insurance guy is good to you and the repairs get done fast. Best of luck to you!

rasbury

   wow- even I would not want to tackle that one...thank goodness for insurance...I guess you figure the weight of that boat, the momentum and you strike something solid, something has to give- rather the outdrive than the transom.

reneechris14

Looks like the trim cylinders is the only reason the drive is still there.new tramsom assembly will have trim cylinders bellow and bellhousing. Good luck on a speedy recovery. 

Willhound

Ouch! Best of luck with the insurance and repair.

212rowboat

me being me, and having some experience with those dang bolts........... I wonder how much heat was used on them the last time those bolts were removed?  I also wonder how long the bar was used to torque them down after a gimble (sp?) or bellow service?  

that is some serious metal there.  they had to get really whalloped.  but where?  the props are good... the skeg is good... the housing doesn't appear to have been hit.  

i'd have to wager that was straight up fatigue.  

rasbury

Yeah...i was looking for a big impact area...

reneechris14

The bottom of the gimble ring also shaped not just the bellhousing,and in reverse you would think the breaks show different.

randy56

Looks painful, hope they can get you a new transom assembly soon.

Michael T

Agree 100% with 212, Ras and RC14. Doesn't look like any reverse impact I have ever seen. Looks like the metal of the bell housing failed. No matter what hope all goes well!

rasbury

Maybe the clunk you heard was when the drive broke off....maybe an impact happened going forward setting up for the fail...

davidbrooks

@Alswagg.  I had tried to raise the drive when it wouldn't go into gear.  That likely explains the extended trim cylinders. I power washed off the drives to inspect them better and took off most of the paint i put on in the winter for corrosion protection.  The mechanic said that he was going to send the drive components out for testing after he pulled it off.  It spun freely now and that was a good sign but no way to see by the naked eye if there were metal cracks without chemical testing.  I am hoping to get the estimate to insurance by Friday. The guy is pretty busy and the heat isn't helping much.  But as of right now the estimate is 6 weeks before i am back in the water again.

LaRea

@davidbrooks - have you had a hard impact or grounding in the recent past?

Like @rasbury said -- sometimes, the impact and the failure can happen weeks or months apart.  When I hit a sandbar in my 342 about ten years ago, the impact apparently made a small crack in the gimbal ring.  I thought everything was fine.  But two months later, after corrosion had time to work on the crack, I tried to get on plane and the gimbal ring broke.  

So maybe your drive was damaged earlier this season, and it didn't break until now.

212rowboat

i bet those trim cylinders extended hanging on to the drive for you... 

cheers for trim cylinders!!! those inglorious bastardos saved the day!!!

in all seriousness- i'm happy you guys got in without issue (relative to the situation), and i'm terribly sorry this happened.  if that bellow had ruptured....................

Dream_Inn

Boy, Rowboat took the words out of my mouth.  Just glad things didn't get worse.  6 weeks seems a bit long though (coming from someone that has gone thru 2 outdrives & a near catastrophe - 2 insurance claims).  Hoping you get back on the water sooner and just keep up after the insurance company to keep things moving.