very VERY sad day.... :-(

[WakingMeHappy]

The op has been very silent since posting. I would like to hear from him about his ballast weight at the time. Also, could a ballast tank have been leaking already filling up with water?

[Timmay]

NOTE TO SELF...Do not ride in or ever buy a Malibu 2002 SSLXI, or 03-06 Response LXI, or 03-06 RLXI

The SSLXI is not in the same category as those boats. I've been in some rough conditions on Clearlake, took a few over the bow trying to put put home against the waves and then got the bow up and took a ton of spray into the boat. Everybody got soaked but the boat was never in danger. My friend was in the boat with me, said it would have likely sunk his Echelon which is similar to the Response. The bow on the SS looks really low but it's 6-8" higher than my buddies Echelon.

[thethrillofspeed]

Yikes! I've taken a few over the bow, generally from wakeboard boats in tight conditions when you can't give it throttle. The drainage from the front of the Lxi to the back is not really good if several rollers hit you pretty quick you could have a lot of water in the bow. That's a scary sight. I'm rethinking having adults in the bow of my boat.

[rennis]

Balls. That's a real bummer. I don't care if driver error was involved or not, that's just s*** luck and I feel terrible for you man.

I hope the insurance proceeds gets you back on the water soon.

[Levi900RR]

And we don't know what kind of jetski either. My dad has a 3 person Yamaha jetski that is more boat than ski. It is big.

Sea Doo LRV??

[rcuadro]

Maybe I see thing and think about things differently.

I think it was a great day... and here is why.

1. You were smart enough to take quick action when the boat started taking in water.

2. You were smart enough and fast enough to make the tough choice in telling the kids to jump ship so they can be safe.

3. You did all you could safely do to save the boat.

4. You were smart enough to have full coverage on the boat.

It is nothing more than a stupid boat and it can be replaced, the important thing is that we are getting a story about a boat sinking and not about a loved one losing his or her life. I don't care about how much ballast you had or how many jet skis were running around.

The boat is irrelevant, you and the kids are safe and that is what matters

Let the insurance and the sheriff's office do their thing and I hope you are back in the water soon!

-Rob

[Afun]

I think it's more about learning what happened and not repeating history.

[DIE2SURF]

My friend was in the boat with me, said it would have likely sunk his Echelon which is similar to the Response. The bow on the SS looks really low but it's 6-8" higher than my buddies Echelon.

Paging Bretski... we need another high res picture of your chilli-dip as discused here:

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?/topic/30354-what-is-this-on-my-echelon/?hl=bretski

[Lance B. Johnson]

Should or can are two different things. I'm not saying under all circumstances a jet ski wave will swamp an lxi (just talking 03-06 btw), but it wouldn't be hard to do so. If you had 300#s in the bow it wouldn't take much of a wave at all and its coming in.

And just because a jet ski was in the area doesn't mean the wave came from a jetski. I mean I can think of numerous times when I've had to react to a roller and had no idea where it came from.

[REHinH20]

I know this is how you felt, and me some too! Thankfully you only have to use the comprehensive portion of your insurance, not the medical!

[Frog]

Good morning everyone,

Thank you all for all the support and concerns..

Now to answer most questions that I've read..

-Ballast = 0. we had none.

-Weight on bow- 2 kids aprox 170lbs-200max ttl weight.

-Total weight on boat i had myself (180), my cousin helping (170), 1 kid on passenger (about 80lbs) and 3 kids on bench (about 250lbs ttl)

-gas was a tad bit over E

- Lake had very little chop due to it being a little windy.

-Jet ski that was doing donuts in the area was a 08 Yamaha VX Deluxe (i knew the kid :-/), and again I'm assuming his wake was the one that flipped over the bow since it came from the right (where he was) but it's not 100% sure it was his itcould have just been a coincidence he was there.

-the Reason "why" I didn't bring it to shore was because currently where it's at in the pictures it was beached sitting on the fins of the boat. We tried to tug it to shore so we can try to get water out but once it hit those fins were stuck and she wasn't moving.

-She is currently still at the bottom of the lake until a salvage yard comes out to recover or till sheriff gets a diving team to air bags it. (in 2-3days)

-the lake sheriff who knows a lot about boats thinks one of my hoses may have busted off which made it take on so much water so fast he was surprised how quickly it all happened as well. he said once she took on water the bilge wouldn't have shot it out faster then we took on water esp after 2nd wave hit us (which was a little to no wave)

I'm still surprised how fast and how much water came over the bow in the situation that happened, I can't wait till boat is out to figure out why it did what it did.. the day before i took adults for a cruise around the lake, Gas was at about 3/4,i had about 400lbs in the bow and an additional 1200 lbs or so in the back between a total of 8 ppl and didn't have any problems at all in no wake zone or even when there was bigger chop.

I think i answered all questions? if i missed any let me know I'll be glad to answer.... time to start calling my insurance and getting this taken care of :-/

[Malibuzer]

Good luck. That is a scary event for any boat owner. It must have been terrifying for the little ones. I am glad that everyone is ok.

[RTS]

Curious, at what point did you lose the engine? Did you shut it down yourself, or did it quit on you due to flooding? Not judging or second guessing, I am just curious if the engine ran for a while after the swamping.

And again, I am glad eveyone is Ok and I wish you well dealing with the insurance company.

[shawndoggy]

I've had this nightmare (literally) of the boat going down with my kids and their friends in the boat. Scary! Glad everyone is OK. Stuff is just stuff.

[jetskipro550]

Did you notice the boat riding lower then normal before taking on water over the bow? Maybe you already had water in the boat before taking on the first wave....?

[Frog]

@RTS engine was running until i realized we were going down. as soon as i told everyone to get off the boat I turned it off to make sure no one would hit a prop or anything.

Talked to a mechanic he said I was pretty screwed if I was taking on water in Bow since bilge wouldn't keep up and the pump is towards rear so it wouldn't activate until it hit that point

[Frog]

@jetskipro it seemed to ride the same. it always seems low to me due to the way she sits on the water but nothing out of the ordinary

[bamabonners]

Holy cow, glad we are ok. I couldn't imagine how this would feel.

Shawndoggy, tell us about your experience...

[shawndoggy]

Holy cow, glad we are ok. I couldn't imagine how this would feel.

Shawndoggy, tell us about your experience...

No I'm saying I've dreamed about this in a bad way. Hasn't actually happened. Thank goodness!

[Skier007]

I find it hard to believe a jetski can produce a wave big enough to do that. As per numerous previous posts - was there a lot of ballast?

yea, especially if he was inside the no wake zone like he stated....just glad evry0ne is ok...should be able to get it going again, hopefully!

Edited July 29, 2013 by Skier007

[Afun]

@RTS engine was running until i realized we were going down. as soon as i told everyone to get off the boat I turned it off to make sure no one would hit a prop or anything.

Talked to a mechanic he said I was pretty screwed if I was taking on water in Bow since bilge wouldn't keep up and the pump is towards rear so it wouldn't activate until it hit that point

Turning off the engine sounds like it was a good idea! Never thought about dangers of a running prop when the boat is going down. I hope this experience has not ruined boating for you.

[Frog]

yea, especially if he was inside the no wake zone like he stated....

unfortunantly i cant take a picture of where it happend maybe when i pick it up ill see if i can take a pic. the wake hit about 5ft from where the no wake buoy is. if you look where sheriff is tugging the boat you will see the bouys that is where the innital wave hit and we were able to drag the boat after it started going down to where she was sitting in the pics. if we didnt drag her as quick as we did she would have been about 20-30ft farther out fully sumburged and you would only be able to see tower

[jk13]

Best of luck Frog and sorry for the sunk boat. Glad all involved are not injured. Doing some quick math though for what you bought the boat for and what you said total loss coverage was, sounds like you'll be fine. Was this your first outing with it? Couldn't have had too many trips in that short time.

If that boat is a total loss pull that tower and mounting feet off. That thing is like gold at the moment.

Edit: and good job dealing with the speculation. Hopefully once it's risen we'll have more of an idea as to what exactly happened--if there was a failed hose or whatnot. Until then the speculation is just that.

Edited July 29, 2013 by jk13

[Frog]

Turning off the engine sounds like it was a good idea! Never thought about dangers of a running prop when the boat is going down. I hope this experience has not ruined boating for you.

i love the water i dont think it ruined boating for me as long as i can get answers to why it happend. because if they have no answers of why it happend i might be afraid of the boat after they fix it thinking "it might happend again".. i would end up having to sell it and get newer. i still have my sea-doo rxtx ski, but its only fun for a little while.. the boat was fun all day.

[Levi900RR]

If that boat is a total loss pull that tower and mounting feet off. That thing is like gold at the moment.

I almost said that in my first post