Gorgeous 31" sunk at the dock at Los Suenos

BillyC · Post by **BillyC** » Jan 30th, '12, 08:09

Just returned home last night from Los Suenos Signature Billfish Tourney in Costa Rica. Yesterday morning before I left for the airport, I was eating breakfast at the Hook Up and someone told us a small boat had sunk at the dock. We finished eating, walked down the dock and here was a beautiful Bertram 31' sunk, the name - Straight Up With A Twist. They had fished in the tournament. The marina crew was working to raise it before I had to leave to catch my flight. Didn't have my camera. Ugly!!

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Jan 30th, '12, 08:43

Good, glad you didn't have a camera.

I hate that gut wrenching feeling of seeing a boat underwater...even a bubble boat underneath makes me quezzy...not sure how a 31 would make me feel.

Condolences to the owners...

BillyC · Post by **BillyC** » Jan 30th, '12, 09:01

As a 31 owner, it was sickening!

Tony Meola · Post by **Tony Meola** » Jan 30th, '12, 22:53

Greg (Thumbs Up) has friends down there. Maybe he will hear what happened and fill us in.

Thums Up · Post by **Thums Up** » Jan 31st, '12, 13:17

Tony,

I'll try to find out. I believe that boat was just painted this season by Ben. Beautiful boat if it is the same one.

Thums Up · Post by **Thums Up** » Feb 2nd, '12, 16:30

Sounds like it was a problem with the livewell system. She's high and dry now.

In Memory Walter K · Post by **In Memory Walter K** » Feb 2nd, '12, 17:32

Scary!

Tony Meola · Post by **Tony Meola** » Feb 2nd, '12, 21:46

Thanks Greg.

That is scary. By the way are you doing the AC Show? Thought I would make it down but have family things that look like I will have to pass unless I can sneak down sunday.

Thums Up · Post by **Thums Up** » Feb 2nd, '12, 22:15

I was going to but I have to much going on. Maybe next year.

Rawleigh · Post by **Rawleigh** » Feb 3rd, '12, 11:00

It would be nice to know what happened so that we can all avoid a similar fate!

BillyC · Post by **BillyC** » Feb 4th, '12, 08:20

I talked to my buddy last night who had just returned from Costa Rica (he keeps his little Merritt at Los Suenos) and he said it was a Dripless Shaft Seal.

CaptPatrick · Post by **CaptPatrick** » Feb 4th, '12, 09:50

he said it was a Dripless Shaft Seal

I'd almost put big money on it being the Strong brand seal... I know personally of two near catastrophic failures thanks to Strong and heard of several others.

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » Feb 4th, '12, 16:32

capt. we have had one here on a beautiful topaz. i wonder if those guys at strong sleep at night.

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Feb 6th, '12, 17:49

CaptPatrick wrote: I'd almost put big money on it being the Strong brand seal... I know personally of two near catastrophic failures thanks to Strong and heard of several others.

What goes on them that allows so much water thru? I'm thinking the Bellow give out or let go?

Even if the seal just fell out... only a few gallons a minute or so should enter boat with normal specked clearances of gland. Strong has that standard lip seal right?

I remember hearing about the old Ceramic Dripless from Johnson that would crack...but now with the PYI all I hear about is tightening the bellows every few years...a trouble free product.

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Feb 6th, '12, 18:23

Nothing that keeps water from entering your boat should be considered anything but high maintenance.

While my choice for shaft seals is the PYI, I've seen my share of failures from both. Most all were installation errors, the rest were lack of maintenance, some were even crap that had been thrown in the bilge that moved up to the seal.

I've never seen either one where the product just failed on its own. I'm sure it happens but I never saw it on the many hundreds of seals I installed and serviced.

One of the most common issues was clogging of the cooling hose leading to overheating the seal and failure.

Because they are so hands off, people forget to check them.

Wursty · Post by **Wursty** » Feb 7th, '12, 09:02

My PYI Dripless failed in 2010. It cooked from having a clogged coolant hose caused by a piece of zinc. Had to get boat hauled within a few hours of failure because the water was coming in fast. So the boatyard replaced PYI dripless and back in I go the next day. They never checked the coolant hose but I did and found the clogged port off of the trani oil cooler.
Dripless require maintenance and when they fail they more than drip.

In Memory Walter K · Post by **In Memory Walter K** » Feb 7th, '12, 09:45

I guess I'm old fashioned and have no trust in marketing words like "dripless". My shafts and rudders are packed ones. I know the shafts are supposed to have a small degree of drip and I check the degree every time I enter the boat and after a trip. Guess I have heard too many stories of dripless failures, this one being the worst. Is the water intrusion so severe the bilge pumps couldn't handle it?

Wursty · Post by **Wursty** » Feb 7th, '12, 10:20

The forward pump was doing fine but cycling every 2 min. I was now at dockside and plugged for 4 hrs contemplating the condition and I realized that I wouldn't sleep unless it was hauled out. Of course it was Sunday afternoon so I had to pay up for an emergency haul. The lack of cooled water to the dripless made the seals cook and then the dripless spun resulting in the boot twisting & tearing.
I tried gorilla tape to stop the leak but NG.
My 80 yearold father said he would never convert from bronze and packing flax to dripless. I guess older and wiser...

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Feb 7th, '12, 11:18

Wursty wrote:The forward pump was doing fine but cycling every 2 min. I was now at dockside and plugged for 4 hrs contemplating the condition and I realized that I wouldn't sleep unless it was hauled out. Of course it was Sunday afternoon so I had to pay up for an emergency haul. The lack of cooled water to the dripless made the seals cook and then the dripless spun resulting in the boot twisting & tearing.
I tried gorilla tape to stop the leak but NG.
My 80 yearold father said he would never convert from bronze and packing flax to dripless. I guess older and wiser...

We sell PYI, recommend the PYI to all that want Dripless, have helped a few Buddies with the Dripless install...but on my boat, I have the standard Ol'packing gland with good old fashioned Flax Packing that needs to be checked and tweaked from time time to time. I may someday go with that new seal material...but for me...I don't mind a little bilge water from a few drops of shaft packing. I kind of like simple...less to check and go wrong.

Still think the PYI is a darn good system...it's the only ones we recommend.

Tony Meola · Post by **Tony Meola** » Feb 7th, '12, 22:24

At the advice of the Cummins dealer, when I repowered I put the good old bronze packing gland back in. As he said keep it simple, have you had a problem in the 35 years you owned the boat he asked. I said no, he said so keep the bronze.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Feb 8th, '12, 11:00

If it ain't broke . . .
or as Uncle Vic would say, "the enemy of good is better."

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Feb 8th, '12, 13:56

Mikey wrote:If it ain't broke . . .
or as Uncle Vic would say, "the enemy of good is better."

True...but then you have people like my Brother from Another Mother that will vacuum every drop of water out of the bilge before and after he uses the boat. Just watching all that work makes me tired...

bertram31.com

Gorgeous 31" sunk at the dock at Los Suenos

Gorgeous 31" sunk at the dock at Los Suenos

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