Rawson 30 sunk on the hard

[Sihaya]

So I returned to my boat on the hard at the Napa valley marina this year and it had water 20” above the bilge and the engine was submerged.
I have been paying them to pump water out of it for me and the last time they did so was late January. There had been approximately 12” of rain since then.
It seems impossible that it would have accumulated that much water from the amount of rain, of course they insist they’ve pumped it.
Does anyone know how to calculate the volume of water it’s held?
I’m weighing the pros and cons of seeking legal counsel as well if anyone can recommend a lawyer who may be able to advise on the matter.

[wyb2]

Measure length and beam at the water level.

Length x beam x height (20”) x 0.5 should get you in the ballpark.

Seems like a deck or cockpit scupper leaking horribly (disconnected?) could possibly funnel that amount of water inside. The entire cockpit x 12” of rain maybe could add up to 20” of water inside.

[Sihaya]

I did check for broken deck drain hoses, they are intact.
The formula you gave gets me to the estimate math I did already. It equates to just shy of 1500 gallons. The cockpit of the rawson is raised so none of the water on deck can get in. The cock pit is approximately 6 x 3 feet.
I typed that into a rainfall calculator and got 135 gallons 🤔
Am I missing something or did the yard miss pumping my boat?

[wyb2]

Was the water level inside (20” up from the bilge) about the same as the normal floating waterline of the boat?

To sanity check this another way, the displacement for your boat is listed as 12,000 lbs, which would be 1,440 gallons of water. That sounds like about the same number you came up with, so if the water was up to the floating waterline, that roughly checks out.

If the 12” of rain is correct, that’s just about every drop of water that fell on your boat making it inside. 30ft x 9ft x 1ft x .75 (WAG based on the visual on sailboatdata) = 202 cuft = 1510 gallons.

That doesn’t seem very likely. Sounds like more digging for clues is required to come up with a plausible explanation.

As far as what the yard did or did not do, and questions of liability, I don’t have much to offer.

[JPA Cate]

If you decide to go for a legal battle, here's a few items to consider:

What frequency did the contract with the yard specify for pumping out? after each rain?, or was it left to their discretion, or were you to ask for it to be pumped, even while it was raining? Weekends? IN what state was the automatic bilge pump left, if there was one? Could the water get out at all?

I have to say I'm really sorry your engine was submerged, what a pita! But from what I've read so far, I think you would not win a suit, so you'd be into stress, loss of even more money, and are probably better off to let that aspect go. No recommendation as to atty., sorry.

Ann

[Kettlewell]

It's amazing how much water can come in through one deck drain leaking. Back in the day almost every boat had a keel plug that was pulled when the boat was in storage, just to prevent this sort of thing. I have always left the bilge pumps hooked up and solar panels hooked up to keep the batteries charged. You need to figure out where the water is coming in. 12-inches of rain is a lot--imagine a foot of rain covering your entire deck. One possible entry point is a keel-stepped mast. I have seen rain water flowing out of such a mast just like a hose was hooked up.

[deblen]

This is a sad example of why I believe any boat stored on land should have a good quality bronze garboard drain,with the plug left out for dry storage.
Len


https://www.ebay.ca/itm/130633308483

[boatpoker]

Call your underwriter, let them figure out if its worth it to them to go after the marina.

[HankOnthewater]

Sorry to hear about your situation Sihaya.
Not sure, if or how you can hold the marina accountable for that. As Boatpoker said, insurance?

I had a slightly different sinking experience 3 days ago, not with rainwater, but from the watertanks. Boat is on the hard, replacing all the seacocks, redoing a lot of plumbing. When I went to the shops to buy more 'stuff', on my return I looked in the engine room and it was full of water, and no, no rain at all. I left the pressure waterpump on, and a leak occurred, a fitting on the accumulator, pooring out water, in the bilge, water up to the oilpan of the engine. A new 11 mm o-ring fixed the leak.

When not on the boat it pays to turn off pressured water and to leave the automatic bilgepump switched on.

I thought then the same as Deblen and Kettlewell said above: every boat should have a drain plug. But...... I can then see many YT clips of real sinking boats when owners forget to plug that hole.

[dfelsent]

I once had a boat that was under the wave of the yards big shed. Lots of water accumulation off the roof into my bilge.

[Bill Seal]

Some have suggested removing the hose off the lowest thru hull

[HankOnthewater]

Originally Posted by Bill Seal

Some have suggested removing the hose off the lowest thru hull

That is a good idea, but.... put a note om the helm, or engine starter to replace hose before boat get splashed.

[5BTM]

If the discharge hose was not attached to the discharge on the pump, the marina, not seeing any water coming out, assumed evrything was OK.

I am not a lawyer, but when it comes to my boat, I do not rely on others.