WATER OVER THE TRANSOM

[CAN'T PARKER]

I HAVE A 23DV CENTER CONSOLE, I LOVE THIS BOAT!! I HAVE ONLY 1 ISSUE WITH IT, IT HAS A NOTCHED/ OPEN TRANSOM ON IT. WHEN I ANCHOR UP IN ROUGH SEAS THE DECK ALWAYS HAS ANKLE DEEP WATER IN IT. I MODIFIED THE SPLASH BOARD AND IT HELPED OUT A LOT,BUT THIS WEEKEND I NEEDED TO PULL THE SPLASH BOARD TO ACCESS THE BILGE AND THE BOAT WAS LITERALLY FILLING WITH WATER OVER THE TRANSOM. MY BUDDIES AND MY WIFE WERE FREAKING OUT, HAS ANYONE ELSE HAD THIS PROBLEM? WHAT CAN I DO TO FIX THIS PROBLEM, IF I HAD TO JUMP THE BATTERIES THE BOAT WOULD SINK BEFORE I COULD START THE ENGINE,HELP. THANKS

 

[Megabyte]

One question...
Were you using an anchor deployed off the stern?

 

[CAN'T PARKER]

NO I WAS ANCHORED OFF THE BOW. WE HAD HIGH WINDS AND WAVES WERE COMING ON THE STERN,UNTIL THE TIDE CHANGED.

 

[DaleH]

Per Boat/US files, 20% of the boats that sink offshore are open or cutout transom boats.

I had one, my old Pro-Line. I made up a custom splashboard that was far enough ahead of the motor to allow the OB to trim up. I made up fixed STOPs so once UP it was a vertical 'wall' - it could not be pushed down further into the cockpit. But there was nothing but a bungee holding it in the UP position the other way (towards the motor), so if I took a HUGE wave over the gunnel and my motor was running, I could give it the gas and the force of the boat moving foward would hit that 'wall' and stretch the bungee, folding the splashboard down (towards the motor) to empty the cockpit FAST.

I never had to try it for 'real', but in some created test by filling the cockpit with water - it worked well . It was also removable, as the bottom 'hinge', adjacent to the floor on each side, were SS barrel bolts that could be retracted for easy removal. The bolt part just went into a drilled hole through the glass liner on each side. I never even put a reinforcement bushing around the hole, as in reality - there wasn't any load on them.

If/when anchored with any seas and wind, one should put their anchor rode to an anchor ball so the boat could drop off the anchor in SECONDS. And I'd either keep the OB running, if things were getting nasty ... don't wait until they're serious, as I would have been LONG GONE by then.

One needs to be cautious with cutout transom boats, the head Moderator of the Reel-Time website had such a boat, took one wave wrong (through the stern) whilst cod fishing, and the boat went down in seconds ... it had floatation, turned over turtle and rose back to the surface. Everyone survived, they lost some fishing gear, and the boat was totaled.

I myself once plucked 4 guys out of the rough seas one day when a smaller boat had a wave run right over it from the stern and sunk her. They would have died if I wasn't there; the water temps were in the mid 50s, and once they were in the water, they only had time to clutch whatever floated, as only 1 had a preserver on. When I went to pick them up, they were so cold they couldn't use their arms and legs and swim. One guy literally sank :shock: next to my boat and I pulled him up from 4' down underwater and going down ... by using a heavy rod with a jig attached, as I managed to hook it onto his jacket!

Still gives the chills to this day ...

 

[CAN'T PARKER]

I WONDER IF LARGER SCUPPERS WOULD HELP ANY? THIS IS A GREAT BOAT,WITH AN AWESOME RIDE. IF ONLY I COULD FIX THIS ISSUE,I THOUGHT I HAD A HANDLE ON IT;UNTIL LAST SUNDAY.

 

[DaleH]

I'd use the largest BALL scuppers you could, but whereas 1 wave could dumps hundreds of gallons into your boat in a second and saltwater weights 7.X pounds per gallon ... even 100 gallons adds 700-pounds to the stern. Biggest this is, NO scupper alive will be able to drain that out in less than 5-10 minutes ... you might only have seconds.

 

[Brent]

How many persons were onboard?
Was the boat overloaded?

 

[CAN'T PARKER]

THERE WERE FOUR ON BOARD,NOT EVEN CLOSE TO OVER LOADED,GRANTED IT WAS A LITTLE SPORTY OUT THERE. THIS IS THE FIRST NOTCHED TRANSOM BOAT THAT I'VE OWNED. THIS TAKES A LITTLE GETTING USED TO.

 

[Parker23]

There comes a time when the seas can sink any vessel on it, maybe your boat was a little out its league that day. Why be fishing when you got passengers pooping their pants. PLEASE don't think I'm being nasty but sometimes you got to look at it a different way, no fish is worth injury or worse.

 

[Brent]

thanks
You did the best you could

How many bilge pumps do you have? Maybe you should add more with a higher pump capacity and larger diameter discharge hose.

 

[Megabyte]

How many bilge pumps do you have? Maybe you should add more with a higher pump capacity and larger diameter discharge hose.

Search the "Projects" section for other owners who have documented and posted this upgrade.

 

[jacksdad]

The notch was an issue for me in my boat search but not enough to keep me from my 23se. My solution is I'm not anchoring in anything but the best conditions with other boats around.

 

[jacksdad]

Btw there is a great vid out there of a couple photogs in an old mako getting near swamped on a beach and powering out after taking a LOT of water. Deep cut saved the boat in that situation.

 

[jrannestad]

I have a 2004 2320 with a yamaha 225 four stroke and notched transom. It came with a splashguard which separates the engine well from the cockpit. First time out with it I took a wave through the notch and over the splashguard while drifting/fishing which filled the cockpit with at least 6" of water. Now that I think about it, the wave was even over the entire transom. The bait bucket was knocked over and live eels were swimming all over the place in the boat. All my buddy cared about was not letting the eels get away because we had been catching big fish. The wave went into the cabin and floated the cushions. I started the motor and we got going and the water eventually drained out through the scuppers. We must have been pretty close to being screwed, maybe one more wave.

I have water in engine well all the time while anchored from wave action. The access hatches to the bilge are in the engine well. The racor fuel filter is in there. If I opened them up to access the the bilge pump or filter the boat would fill. There is no way I could work on something down there. I cant figure out how they could design a boat like this, after so many years of experience. When I see the water splashing around in there, I make myself feel better by remembering that the boat can take alot more.

 

[Megabyte]

A good reason to practice good preventive maintenance, and make sure that the hatch seals are in good condition.
Another good practice is to install a backup bilge pump (wired to the opposite battery from the primary pump) and add a high water alarm.
The primary bilge pump can also be activated manually from the helm if you suspect a failure of your float switch.

WaterWitch makes some excellent electronic switches, bilge pump cycle counters, and high water alarms.
Check them out here: http://www.waterwitchinc.com/

Also do a search in the "Projects" area where other CP members have installed and documented these upgrades. :wink:

 

[Parker23]

I have a 2004 2320 with a yamaha 225 four stroke and notched transom. It came with a splashguard which separates the engine well from the cockpit. First time out with it I took a wave through the notch and over the splashguard while drifting/fishing which filled the cockpit with at least 6" of water. Now that I think about it, the wave was even over the entire transom. The bait bucket was knocked over and live eels were swimming all over the place in the boat. All my buddy cared about was not letting the eels get away because we had been catching big fish. The wave went into the cabin and floated the cushions. I started the motor and we got going and the water eventually drained out through the scuppers. We must have been pretty close to being screwed, maybe one more wave.

I have water in engine well all the time while anchored from wave action. The access hatches to the bilge are in the engine well. The racor fuel filter is in there. If I opened them up to access the the bilge pump or filter the boat would fill. There is no way I could work on something down there. I cant figure out how they could design a boat like this, after so many years of experience. When I see the water splashing around in there, I make myself feel better by remembering that the boat can take alot more.

You can move the racor up to inside under those transom boxes, against the motor well wall, it will clear.

 

[CAN'T PARKER]

THE BOAT HANDLED THE SEAS JUST FINE, WE WERN'T OUT OF OUR LEAGUE. THE BILGE WAS BONE DRY WHEN WE GOT IN, THE WATER WAS ONLY ON THE DECK. IT IS MORE AGGRAVATING THEN IT WAS A SAFETY ISSUE.

 

[pmeggers]

I take water over the back all the time when fishing. Generally, I do not worry about it, as Dale mentioned, due to my engine running.

You have to be sure when the water does come over the back not to take it likely, and make sure it is draining out quickly, otherwise you need to act. Once the water is back there, more water follows.

I do not have the ball skuppers, I got the "flap" ones. Upgrading this is not a priority of mine, I am not that worried about it.

 

[Bob M]

I have a 2310 with DV and notched transom. The boat came with a curved fiberglass splash guard that rises to about half way up the distance to the top of the transom. I ordered a second splashguard, turned it upside own, and fastened them together like a clam shell. They are fastened by stainless steel hinges that allow the top of the "clamshell" to be folded forward away from the engine so that the engine can be fully trimmed out of the water at the dock. When running I have bungee cords holding the top rearward. The motor can still be trimmed adequately for running or anchoring in shallow water even without moving the top half forward.

I used this to reduce noise from the original 2 stroke engine. Have never had a problem taking on water but have not anchored offshore. You could improve on this by using metal latches rather than bungees to help it stand up to the force of a wave, and adding some additional scupper holes near the deck on the lower half of the "clamshell" in case a wave went over the entire transom. Might work.

 

[DaleH]

... and adding some additional scupper holes near the deck on the lower half of the "clamshell" in case a wave went over the entire transom. Might work.

Great idea!