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Sunken Sanger


-BS-

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So Sunday we went out for a quick surf session. Towards the end of our day an Airport Rescue boat came flying by us, continued about 200yds upstream and stopped. We wondered what had happened but figured it was nothing as we occasionally see AR responding to minor incidents. About 10 minutes later, a Marine Assistance boat did the same thing: flew by us and stopped about 200 yds upstream. There was only a couple boats in the area and didn't seem to be much commotion so we kept riding. 5 minutes later a Sheriff boat did the same thing so we knew something must be up..... We emptied all our ballast and went to take a look. When we got there the AR boat left and there was only a Sheriff boat idling around, a Wakesetter with 10 people on it, and a Marine Assistance boat flying a 'diver down' flag. All of us were scratching our heads as to what they could be looking for as a drowning would involve the Sheriff, not Marine Assistance. We sat there for 5 minutes pondering what the heck they were doing when we saw a tiny little piece of chrome break the surface...... We all sat there staring thinking 'what the heck is that?'....... About 30 seconds later the chrome piece became bigger and bigger and we realized what we were looking at was the tower of a wakeboard boat! About 2 minutes later, the whole tower was visible and about 4" of the hull as well. Anyway, thought it was pretty crazy and I'd share the story and couple crappy pics I snapped with The Crew.

We didn't want to bug the people on the Wakesetter (obviously half the people on it were the owners of the sunken boat and figured they'd been through enough) for the full story, but it was pretty obvious what had happened: It looked like the boat had been traveling outside the navigational markers, hit a rock (there is a TON in that area) and punctured the hull. The boat was resting about 200-300 yds downstream of the rocks, in about 20 ft of water and was on the non-navigable side of the river. There was debris (lifejackets, etc) washed ashore from where I'm guessing they hit the rock down to where they finally sunk. Because Marine Assistance didn't pump the remaining water out of the boat, and instead towed it for about 3 miles as shown, I'm assuming there was a pretty big hole in the hull. Anyway, crazy stuff eh?

**those tan color bags shown in the picture are the float bags the diver attached to the bow and stern eyes to bring it up.....

boatsink.jpg

boatsink-1.jpg

Edited by bs001
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Weird. Had a Sanger sink on our lake this year too. Right to the bottom. When the guy came out to his boat the next morning for his normal 6 am footing run, only the bright orange tower was visible. He had some lead weight and the 8.1 in that sucker so I doubt it had a chance.

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The Marine assistance service is awesome... we have nothing that even closely resembles it. If you need assistance you need to phone 911 and you get the police or fire response. If you sink... you need to call a dive service and anytime in the next few weeks they refloat your boat... if they have the gear.... either way I would do everything in my power to write off it off but with the value of these boats alot of work can be done... even if it shouldn't

Edited by G-Mack
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I wonder if that boat had lead in it or not enough floatation?

My first call would be to my insurance company telling them the boat is at the bottom of the river and that I left the trailer in the parking lot for them...then I would drive home crying :lol:

Edited by jetskipro550
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Weird that all 3 of the boats mentioned in this thread were Sangers. I have literally NO experience with them. Always thought they were decent boats. I wish we had specifics on what kind of weight and how much weight was in the boat. Also total number of passengers and an honest explanation from the driver on what he/she would have done different if anything would be really useful info........

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Weird that all 3 of the boats mentioned in this thread were Sangers.

You would think that we would here about sunken Malibu's or even sunken Mastercrafts, but it must be rare that a boat sinks to the bottom, but if its rare, then why are the Sangers sinkers even if they are misused?

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I don't think a Malibu would be any different. I know that my boat does not have any foam in it for positive floating. In fact I think by law only boats under 20 ft are requiered to have it. Anyone know for sure?

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In the case of the one on my lake, it was tied up at the guy's dock and it sunk in place. The rumor on the lake is the shaft came loose somehow and started taking water through the packing. Bilge pump float switch was broken. Still haven't heard for sure, but she was sitting on the bottom still tied to his dock when he came out in the morning. When they bailed enough to get it to the surface, the owner hit the switch for the bilge pump and it started pumping like normal.

I was surprised too when I heard it was on the bottom completely. Usually they'll bob.

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So I did some digginging, and was right... According to the coast guard boats under 20 feets are only required to have positive floation.

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2002/julqtr/pdf/33cfr183.105.pdf

Hence, any malibu 20 feet and over when swamping will technically sink. Why wouldn't it? There is zero positive bouyancy except the air in the gas tank/ballast tanks. Everything else including the hull in the fiberglass will have negative bouyancy.

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MORE INFO on the boat retrieval we saw. Just as I suspected.........wrong side of the navigational markers.

I absolutely feel sorry for the family aboard the boat. It must have been a pretty scary deal especially if children were involved. That said, I can't tell you how many people we've warned not to travel outside the buoys in this area. Unfortunately about 1 in 10 says 'thanks for the info'. The other 9 roll their eyes and tell us how experienced they are.........

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MORE INFO on the boat retrieval we saw. Just as I suspected.........wrong side of the navigational markers.

I absolutely feel sorry for the family aboard the boat. It must have been a pretty scary deal especially if children were involved. That said, I can't tell you how many people we've warned not to travel outside the buoys in this area. Unfortunately about 1 in 10 says 'thanks for the info'. The other 9 roll their eyes and tell us how experienced they are.........

Wow, those last 3-4 pics....that had to be a nasty hit to do that to the prop and rudder. Lucky no one was hurt. Great job by the Marine Assistance group...

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Great job for sure. And glad no injuries.

I am amazed how many people ignore those Nav markers in the slough....and BS001 isn't exagerating when he says many people will ignore your advice not to go over there.

A lot of times people will absolutly rip through that section of river....30 plus mph.

The last comment on the marine assistance page.....the one about going back to the shop for repairs?? Just gotta say the boats a total....don't wast time taking it to the shop.

Edited by Ruffdog
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