My boat sank!

[Dakota Smoll]

Hello everyone. It’s been a long time since I’ve posted here. I have a commercial pilot house 26 with a 6bta in it. On Christmas Eve a water main broke at the marina and flooded the boat all night, enough to submerge the engine. Unfortunately the scuppers were under and created a salty mix. Insurance is getting us a new engine and transmission, new wiring yada yada yada…

Anyway we are hauled out now. I was able to drive the boat the hour from the marina to the haulout with some jury rigging. We have pulled the engine and are going to put in a 6bt 220 rather than the 6bta 270. It’s coming from seaboard for a pretty penny.

My issue is the engine mounts in the boat. I can take photos later but the port forward fiberglass mount has been crushed from water intrusion/rot. Does anyone have a good idea on how to rebuild these? My gut instinct is to just fill with git rot and then weld some aluminum or steel pieces to bolt in several places but maybe I need to cut the tops off and fill with foam or wood and re-epoxy?

This is a workboat, every day we are not working we are losing money. We’re waiting on the engine so I have time now but would like to put the engine in as soon as it arrives.

 

[Ship]

If the engine bed isn't rotted too badly drill it out and fill it with epoxy colloidal mix. Then redrill pilot holes for the lags back into the bed.

 

[Mistress]

Some have cut away the cap and installed new bedding and reglassed.

Some have drilled out for hardwood dowels, epoxy in place, then drill to reinstall lags.

Some have done as Ship suggested.

I couldn't declare which is "best" and it's likely condition dependent.

At the cost of a Cummins these days, I'm kinda surprised they didn't total the boat. Perhaps because it's commercial vs. pleasure.

Unicorn of a boat. Glad you get to put it back together.

 

[coach]

I took a hole saw and cut into the stringer until I found good wood. I let Git Rot soak in for several weeks, I think it was over kill. Then I chopped up lots of fiberglass added resin and filled the holes to the original height. Pre drilled holes for lag bolts and put the longest lag bolt that I could, that would not penetrate the hull. There is/was a post on this site show this in great detail. I followed their example and it worked great.

 

[Dakota Smoll]

If the engine bed isn't rotted too badly drill it out and fill it with epoxy colloidal mix. Then redrill pilot holes for the lags back into the bed.

Yes unfortunately the top of the bed has sunk by approx 1/8” on the one side. So i think chopping the top off or drilling a large hole is what will need to happen. I really wanted to add plate to make sure it’s really beefy for next time but I can’t figure a way of attaching the mounts. It does a lot of towing so I want to make sure the engine is sitting firmly for its entire life.

Anyway, I’ll start with just repairing the beds for now, and decide what the best course is afterwards.

 

[Dakota Smoll]

Some have cut away the cap and installed new bedding and reglassed.

Some have drilled out for hardwood dowels, epoxy in place, then drill to reinstall lags.

Some have done as Ship suggested.

I couldn't declare which is "best" and it's likely condition dependent.

At the cost of a Cummins these days, I'm kinda surprised they didn't total the boat. Perhaps because it's commercial vs. pleasure.

Unicorn of a boat. Glad you get to put it back together.

There is a good chance they’ll total the boat. We are still sort of in limbo on that. The marina insurance is paying out and our insurance will cover the remainder, worst case.

We considered shopping around for something else but when it comes down to it, this boat is just made perfectly for what we do!

 

[Mistress]

There is a good chance they’ll total the boat. We are still sort of in limbo on that. The marina insurance is paying out and our insurance will cover the remainder, worst case.

We considered shopping around for something else but when it comes down to it, this boat is just made perfectly for what we do!

Ya, really nothing in this size class comparable. Gotta go bigger to compete.

 

[Fish Witch]

If they total it, you might be able to buy it back cheap and fix it up. I hope whatever works out for you for the best.

 

[Mistress]

I guess everything

If they total it, you might be able to buy it back cheap and fix it up. I hope whatever works out for you for the best.

Cost is relative, but cheap doesn't exist anymore. A lightly used engine and gear is $15k. TMK a reman 5.9 BT210 is over $20k. And you still have a business to run and bills to pay while waiting around.

 

[Dakota Smoll]

Yeah I mean I could do all the work myself, new electrics for the engine, harness, batteries. It’s not rocket science and the engine and transmission function and would probably continue to function for a long time. I’m going to keep them in storage as a backup. But since insurance is offering to pay for repower, I’m going to take them up on it