Not sure if anyone has ever had an experience with a sunken boat, but let me be the first to tell you that it's possibly the most devastating/nerve wracking thing ever. I have a 2006 Nautique and have put right around 710 hours on it since we got it (it was brand new, 0 hours). Literally never had a problem with it in all these years then one morning I got a phone call saying get home the boat is underwater. Turns out the bilge pump malfunctioned and after a good rain, water got high enough to sink the stern and allow water to enter through the blower holes. The whole back of the boat was underwater with the nose just poking straight up in the air. Took right at around 3 hours to get it floating again and on the trailer and to the marina. Luckily, after an entire fall (sunk August 13th 2010, got it back Saturday March 13th 2011) insurance decided to cover most of the costs leaving us with minimal payments.
All that being said, just figured I would help keep some of you from having to experience such a thing. If you have a fairly newer nautique then you know that there is a switch under the steering wheel that turns to either all on, bilge only, or all off. I used to just leave it on bilge only and turn one battery on while it was either on the dock or on the trailer. If you've ever been around the boat when it was on the bilge only setting, then you have heard the bilge turn on from time to time. From what the dealers and marina told me, the bilge can sometimes mistake movement or different angles (when it's sitting on a trailer) as water build up and turn the bilge on. If it continues to run like this, the motor in the bilge can fry and leave you with a pretty much worthless boat. So for all of you who have Nautiques, be careful about the bilge only, and only use it when necessary!!!!
Good Ridin!
-Peace
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