Re: Drying out a boat and motor
I had bought an aluminum bass boat that had sunk with it's 35 HP motor about ten years ago, it sunk in a bad storm on a lake in about 4' of water with little to no flotation. It got swamped and was hovering just off the bottom when we go to it. The owner had pretty much said I could have it if I could move it. Being a smaller boat, I simply attached several large dock pontoons to it and towed it to the nearest ramp, I tilted the motor, drug it onto the soft beach area and pulled the plug, it had a tilt trailer and we loaded it easily from the beach.
I pulled the plugs on the spot, hand cranked the motor until the cylinders were all clear, soaked them all with WD40, I did the same with the carbs, I disonected the tank and later disposed of the water fuel mix. Once I got it home, I pulled the carbs, changed the lower end lube sprayed it well with more WD and gave it a try, it started near instantly. I ran it a while and all was well, I used it for 7 more years after that with no problems. It's still running for it's new owner, (the guy that helped me pull it out that day).
The rest of the boat was pretty much fine other than some soaked wood floors, some wet foam that was above the floor which I tossed in favor of new foam, some new carpet and about an hour drying out the inside of the controller and steering unit. It was freshwater, so there was little to no damage as far as corrosion, since all switches were off when it sank, no electrical damage was done, the only casuallty was the battery that never really recovered, but I figured that the acid had been diluted or escaped while under water.
A larger boat will mean more work, and getting to some areas may be more work, but I would certainly try simply draining it and give it some time in the sun if you can. The motor has to be gotten to imediately, once its out of the water the damage will start as soon as oxygen hits the wet parts. Lots of WD40 and fast. It may surprise you. Do not try to crank it with the starter until you are sure it's all clear of water, that means both in the plug holes and the crankase, as well as the carbs. A good shop vac can be of help too.
I had to raise an old diesel powered cabin boat years ago that sank after drifting away from the dock in a storm, it was on the bottom in about 6' of water. The motor was submerged and it had drifted into a muddy bottom area. We used the innertube trick and kept stuffing the hull and inflating them, once it was off the bottom we pulled it back across the river with a tractor to a nearby dock. Some agressive pumping and some more inner tubes got it back on top of the water. We drained the motor, pumping out all oil, removed the glow plugs, rotated the motor by hand till it turned freely, flushed the motor with cheap oil, cranked it and did another oil change and restarted the engine. being a diesel the fuel system was sealed, and only a drain off the tanks got it going. It was going to scrap anyhow, so any further damage wasn't much of a concern, it only had to make it to the hoist to get pulled from the water about 4 miles away. I was surprised at how well it ran and how well that boat handled for just being on the bottom. If the hull wasn't so badly damaged it would have been a shame to scrap it. I got involved to help a friend of a friend not get fined by the EPA for the wreck blocking the channel. Once it was pulled it was his problem. What it amounted to was that we for beer, but had use of his dock there after since he no longer had a boat tied up there.
I saved that motor but ended up giving it away to someone for parts after I got tired of storing it, but it ran fine and had good compression and oil pressure. I don't think we would have been so lucky if we had waited a day to clean and restart the engine.
It just goes to show that sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes the corrosion don't start until the air hits it, so as soon as its up, get it drained and clear of water. You may get lucky, but be super sure its clean before trying to start it, that includes opening the controller and drying it out too. The rest of the boat will depend on its construction. If it's an open boat, it may not be that bad, if not, remove and dry all that you can asap, before rot and mold set in.
Of course, if isurance says it covered, walk away and take the money, unless you have the option to buy it back real cheap. Depending on how deep the water is, a good dry suit or even chest waders may be inorder. If there's any chance you will end up keeping it, get at it fast.
happened last weekend.