Boat Sank at Dock

[feklar]

My uncle owned several slips on flathead. After a storm he usually had to call a few people to tell them their boat was trying to sink.

He put shore stations in for his boats...very nice things, I got to use them a couple of times and WOW.

[pantherdev]

Originally Posted by Hot Runr Guy

here's a tip I got from my Lund dealer. You can easily add a float switch like shown below to your existing pump, using a Scotchlock or similar connector to "T" into the switch-side of your pump. 1 lead of the float switch gets attached to the pump, the other lead from the switch goes directly to your battery positive, with a fuse inline. This way, even if you turn off the master power switch, the pump still runs if the float tells it to. No need to replace the pump, or even add the 3-way auto/off/on switch.

HRG

This is the only way to hook up your automatic float switch and trust it to work. And like REW said, always point the bow out toward wind and waves when docking. I get a lot of traffic past my dock during weekends and the waves can come over the rear of a boat if tied too tight to the dock with the transom facing the traffic.

[Winnie]

Originally Posted by bcmss396

We ALWAYS dock our boats with the bow into the wind. It may take some extra effort to dock the boat, but the bow is desinged to take wind and waves. The stern is not.

Just be sure that you have a high quality rope to tie the boat up and that your boat bumpers are positioned correctly.

Blair

Ditto the docking with the bow out suggestion. A lodge we stayed at a couple years ago insisted that everyone tie up that way at their dock for the express reason of taking on wind and waves. I've always done it that way ever since. When I'm at my family's cabin in No. MN, my boat is usually tied up to their doc for a week plus at a time with no cover. The wind can really whip up too. I've never had an issue. Knock on wood.

[mudpuppy]

Originally Posted by bcmss396

We ALWAYS dock our boats with the bow into the wind. It may take some extra effort to dock the boat, but the bow is desinged to take wind and waves. The stern is not.

Just be sure that you have a high quality rope to tie the boat up and that your boat bumpers are positioned correctly.

Blair

Gotta agree there. One time up on Black Lake MI one of those historic cold fronts moved through and in the night gusts hit 60+mph and sustained was at 50 for awhile. Many and I mean MANY boats got sunk that night.