URGENT! Boat Sunk, Help Please!

[j_martin]

Re: URGENT! Boat Sunk, Help Please!

A couple of truck inner tubes, tied together when flat with a piece of rope under the boat so they are submerged, then inflated (either a little bit alternately, or both at the same time) would float the gunwales above the surface. It would be a gentle lift, and if the boat is sound you could then bail it out with the method of your choice.

good luck. Let us know how you do.

 

[Bilgamesh]

Re: URGENT! Boat Sunk, Help Please!

How about strapping an inflatable raft inside with tie-downs or some such, then inflating the raft? I saw Transporter 3 last week, and Jason Statham did something similar with a car...

 

[Wee Hooker]

Re: URGENT! Boat Sunk, Help Please!

Our family lake boat (also a 14' 60's vintage runabout) used to sink yearly for one reason or another. 6-7 time at minimum ;-) You need to get the gunnel's up just over the surface so you can bail/pump it out. The stern will be the worse part due to the weight of the motor. We used to drag it up on the beach stern first them bail it with buckets. If you can't do that, improvise with all those people. .
FWIW, we always dried out the motor head good with a blow drier and got it turning over/started within hours with no apparent damage.

 

[gstanton]

Re: URGENT! Boat Sunk, Help Please!

A neighbor had his twin engine Wellcraft sink at his dock several years ago. One of the marinas had a 1 1/2" pipe set up that straddled over the top (stern & bow) of the sunk boat with a winch strap at the stern and bow that went under the sunk boat. As they winched it up, they pumped the water out.
A boat full of water will be extremely heavy!

 

[mntbiker2008]

Re: URGENT! Boat Sunk, Help Please!

good luck!

 

[pinecrestwoods]

Re: URGENT! Boat Sunk, Help Please!

So what are you doing? Have you worked on it yet, or are you waiting for a team of iboats volunteers to do it for you? I'm assuming it won't be as big of a deal as you're thinking.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: URGENT! Boat Sunk, Help Please!

keep the motor underwater until you are ready to work on it. You have 3 hours.
After you get it up add floatation, even blocks of styrofoam under the seats will help.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: URGENT! Boat Sunk, Help Please!

I wonder how many ping pong balls it would take to fill this ...

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: URGENT! Boat Sunk, Help Please!

Ask Mr. Moose

 

[slongholio]

Re: URGENT! Boat Sunk, Help Please!

There's no way it'll be coming up the shore unless I want rocks to penetrate the hull.
My father likes bailing the water out of the boat by hand. I don't have a pump.
I will have about 10 people at my disposal this weekend, and a bottle jack i could use as well.

It's amazing what you can accomplish with 10 people and a bottle of jack. I was going to comment on the mythbusters thing too, but someone beat me to it.

Something that floats on either side and tied together, with lines under the boat, sounds like the most plausible. Enough to get it high enough to pump it out the rest of the way.

If it were me I'd be getting a pump though, even if it was just a small sump pump from Home Depot or something. I have one that I use for a 16 foot John boat that sits in my lake and gets water in it when it rains, and it takes a good long time to pump what looks like just a little bit of water from it with that little pump.

Good luck, I hope all works out well for you.