took on water

We took on a ton of water over the bow yesterday. I had visions of all the pics of sunken boats that have been posted on this site. I had 11 people on the boat. Many of them are very large. Anyway.....

I immediately moved everyone to the back, began emptying front and mid ballast, and gently put it in reverse. Boat saved.......but not before my phone took a swim and possibly the amps too.

the bilge was full of water. So much water that it was darn near (that's a Texas thing) above the floor level of the rear trunks. I made the mistake of killing the engine. When I tried to restart, it would just crank. I then unhooked my 750lb bags and used those pumps to pump the bilge dry.
boat started
woo hoo!

now the stereo only plays sporadically
I am going to take a shop vac to the carpet later today

does anyone who has had this happen have any input or advice

thanks
sorry for the random unorganized post...

You had ballast full with 11"large" people in the boat?HMMMM

check your transmission fluid and make sure it's not a strawberry milkshake. if it is, change it a few times asap. good luck

^ I know man, I just don't get it. How can you even move around in a boat with 11 "large" people?

Go to church and light a candle in praise that you dont boat in salt water.

Disconnect the batteries and let everything dry as long as you can before applying power. This should have been first thing once you were safe. Trying the stero this soon may have been a death stroke.

BAITKILLER, I didn't think that the water got high enough to get the amps. The stereo worked fine at first. I dont seem to have the ability to increase volume. The mounted remote indicates volume at "0" even as you try to increase it. Sometimes it will let you increase volume and everything works fine, sometimes you can't.

Jonathan, I hear ya. Stock rear right, mid and bow were 1/4 to 1/2 filled. The 750's were empty. I only put water in the mid and front to handle the chop. I had the 2 smallest people in the bow at the time. I have taken on water over the bow in the past (I would think that everyone here has), but got caught with a roller from another boat as I was trying to avoid my roller.

It won't happen again.......

It happens to the best of them Cliff... Don't worry about it. Good luck. Some of our friends that spend more time on the water than anyone I know almost sunk their SAN about 2 weeks back. Water all the way up to the seat level inside the boat. Sometimes you just get stuck in bad situations. I've done water over the windshield before from a side roller. It happens.

Check Oil, Check transmission fluid. Starter maybe shot (someday) ... other than that, you'll probably be ok -- engines are made to be waterproof for the most part ... as far as amps and cellphones ... :\ sucks....

Pretty much everyone I know has had something bad happen at some point. It's boating.

Check all your fluids (v-drive, tranny, engine) for milkshake appearance and change repeatedly til clear. As G posted tranny is the first one to check. Starters tend to have a premature death when they get dunked so you might want to keep a watchful eye for starter problems and boat less in remote areas in case it does go. Your steering may also get stiffer quicker, especially after it sits for a while and rust forms on some bend in the cable, but you will know when it will be time to replace the steering cable.

My son dunked our boat pretty good and it got his phone, so these thing do happen. We all have pay tolls to the watergods from time to time and usually best to take these as learning experiences.

I didn't see Clayton's post, got interupted, but looks like we are on the same page.

The alternator's life is usually shortened when it takes a dunk too, so get in the habit of keeping an eye on your voltmeter.

You might want to pull the starter off and drain / WD40 it. When it does eventually die, banging on it with a wrench while someone turns the key will usually get you back to the dock.

If you have a dehumidifier put it in the boat with a drain hose into the bilge, put the cover on and run it for a week, it will mop up all the moister everywhere.

thanks for all of the comments guys!
The local Malibu deal told me to spry the starter down with corrosion x

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68AOltMu768
Now that's classic dunking. (although it was intentional, I believe)

By the way, if you take your phone and soak it in rubbing alcohol immediately you can usually save it. My iPhone spent time in the lake. The camera didn't survive it it but everything else is good. The isopropyl alcohol absorbs the water that gets into any electronics and does no harm to the components. Leave it sit for a fair while to make sure all the water can be diluted into the alcohol.
Everclear also works but rum leaves to much sugar behind.

put your phone in a bag of white rice for a couple of hours

If your start and alternator were under water they will die in a few months.

I went ahead and took it in for service. I'm pretty sure that they are going to go ahead and replace the starter and alternator. I would rather spend some money now, than be stranded with a boat load of 12 and 14 year olds........

11 people in a VLX? No problem. I had 14 people in mine over Memorial weekend with no problems. The wake was nice.