Smoke on the Water

Well you'll never believe what happened ...That's right, the boat broke down. This time it was a little scary due to flooding and smoke. We were approaching marker 44 (our favorite local anchorage) and received an alarm on the smart craft system. The starboard engine was overheating and causing some flooding in the engine compartment. I immediately turned off the engine and dropped anchor to assess the situation. I opened the engine compartment hatch and discovered approximately 1/2' of water in the bilge and a significant drip coming from the aft end of the starboard engine. I asked Rebekah to look at the thru-hull port and let me know if water was being pumped over board and was pleased to hear that there was a small stream of water flowing. At this point, I felt as though everything was alright and we had only lost the cooling due to a hose rupture or something. I closed the hatch and decided to let everyone enjoy the day boating and we would leave just a little earlier than planned since it would take longer to return to the dock on one engine. As I closed the hatch, I detected a small hint of smoke...that's right...smoke...I immediately started scanning all compartments of the boat and discovered the air conditioner circuit breaker in the tripped position and realized that the water in the bilge may have caused the AC seawater pump to short...And that's exactly what it was...So, we continued having a good family outing and returned to our dock right on time.



I contacted MarineMax and they dispatched a technician to investigate and he discovered a clamp on a raw water line on the starboard engine had failed and caused the flooding. He also verified that the water caused the AC pump short. The good news is that everything was covered by our warranty. We were back in business by Friday.



This was a very valuable experience for me because even though I knew what could cause the problem, I didn't think of how many questions would be asked by the passengers while I was trying to discover the source of problems. I must say that overall, the girls and my wife reacted appropriately but I've learned that I must brief all passengers on emergency procedures including the need to follow directions immediately...Also I need to let them know that the captain will brief them on the status as soon as the problem is under control or an abandon ship order is commanded.



Until next time,





M