SeaDoo Speedster - Does yours flood loaded???
Larry KN4IM
I young man brought his 60+ mom and dad down to Wappoo Cut Landing for
a ride here in Charleston, SC. They were having trouble docking, so I
offered a hand. The boat was a '96 or '97 dual-engined SeaDoo
Speedster...Dual 785's, I think.
Anyways, they unloaded the boat and sidled it up to the dock with the
young man driving...mom and dad on the dock. After we got it docked,
mom and dad got into it and we heard the bilge pump "cycle" off its
float switch. With the history of floodings from shaft couplers, I
told him we'd better look inside the trunk. The water must have been
from the rain and washed back to the pump float, it looked fine.
As they sat there, I was ASTONISHED to see the cockpit was FILLING UP
WITH SEAWATER! Mom and son, sitting in the back were up to their
ankles in seawater! I alerted sonny and he said, "That water backs up
through the drain whenever I have more than one person aboard. It'll
drain back out when I get on plane."
What's dis crap? The drained cockpit is LOWER than the outside water
level?? The bilge was dry! Does anyone else know of a Speedster with
this "anomoly"?
Larry....Something ain't right....
Charles Ledbetter
It sounds like his cockpit bailer isn't working. There is the normal bilge
pump as you described, but there is also a cockpit bailer that runs from the
back right of the cockpit out through the stern. There's a "ping pong" ball
inside the end of the drain to keep water flowing out, not in. Sounds like
the ball is stuck/missing to me.
Charles
Larry KN4IM wrote in message <35394653...@news.mindspring.com>...
Larry KN4IM
"Charles Ledbetter" <char...@NOSPAMbellsouth.net> wrote:
>It sounds like his cockpit bailer isn't working. There is the normal bilge
>pump as you described, but there is also a cockpit bailer that runs from the
>back right of the cockpit out through the stern. There's a "ping pong" ball
>inside the end of the drain to keep water flowing out, not in. Sounds like
>the ball is stuck/missing to me.
>
>Charles
>
I guess he didn't know about it either. Why would anyone build a
self-bailing cockpit that was lower than the waterline?? Guess he'll
need another pump for the self bailer if it rains....(c;
Larry...
Charles Ledbetter
It's not below the waterline, Larry. It's parallel and just above. The
"ping pong" ball keeps water from flowing in when the boat is in reverse.
Charles
Larry KN4IM wrote in message <353a263...@news.mindspring.com>...
Larry KN4IM
"Charles Ledbetter" <char...@NOSPAMbellsouth.net> wrote:
>It's not below the waterline, Larry. It's parallel and just above. The
>"ping pong" ball keeps water from flowing in when the boat is in reverse.
>
>Charles
OH, but what I witnessed was the water backing up into the boat to a
depth of about 5 inches because there were 3 people sitting in the
boat AT THE DOCK WITH THE ENGINES OFF. This would indicate to me that
the water was backing up into the cockpit because the cockpit floor
was LOWER than the water level outside the hull seeking its own level,
as water has a want to do (or Doo?). The heaviest person in the boat
was Dad at about 180, Sonny was next at 145 and Mom musta weighed in
at 120 soaking wet, which is what she was becoming with water running
into her shoes. I'm simply questioning the intelligence of a design
that would put the deck BELOW the waterline, even if the damned boat
were loaded to its 750 # plate limit, which it wasn't....see?
Larry....
Charles Ledbetter
Wouldn't want you to miss an opportunity to trash talk a SeaDoo, Larry. You
asked for a possible explanation and I gave you one. I wasn't there so I
can't say for sure what the problem was. Perhaps he did leave the bilge
plug out and water was coming in faster than the pump could send it back
out.
So to answer your original question, no my SeaDoo Jet Boat does not flood
when loaded.
Charles
Larry KN4IM wrote in message <353c1f83...@news.mindspring.com>...
Larry KN4IM
"Charles Ledbetter" <char...@NOSPAMbellsouth.net> wrote:
>Wouldn't want you to miss an opportunity to trash talk a SeaDoo, Larry. You
>asked for a possible explanation and I gave you one. I wasn't there so I
>can't say for sure what the problem was. Perhaps he did leave the bilge
>plug out and water was coming in faster than the pump could send it back
>out.
Take it the way you like, I guess. The bilge was BONE DRY. The water
was seeking its own level backing up through the self-bailer in the
cockpit, not the bilge. The pump wasn't in the water at all!
>
>So to answer your original question, no my SeaDoo Jet Boat does not flood
>when loaded.
>
>Charles
Ok, thanks....