Boat stuck in the snow....

[dan_hoog]

Hello,

Last weekend on the intracoastal I had a weird experience. I'm trying to guess what happened and whether it signals an ongoing issue...

We stopped briefly to watch a handful of dolphins. The depth readouts, both the boat and garmin, showed 3' ish in the area. I never saw a reading less than 3' on either, though that's shallower than my usual reading. The water in the area is murky due to present Florida ICW conditions and drainage from various rivers. It had a strong red tint in many areas, including here.

While stopped, I tried to maneuver slightly back to change my angle. It seemed sluggish, but nothing obvious.

When I went to move on, it felt a little sticky/sluggish switching back to forward gear. When I first started to increase to low-to-moderate throttle, the throttle itself felt a little stuck/obstructed (maybe lift gate issue), and then, almost like in snow - rumbling, not moving much on throttle. It felt like getting slightly grounded might (I'm a new boater and that's never happened), so I have nothing to compare to.

I thought maybe I lost a cleanout plug, picked up weeds, etc. I first backed off throttle and then I used low-medium throttle and moved slowly for a while. Everything then seemed more normal, though I couldn't get above about 45 (bimini was up, so that may not be an issue).

I keep the boat on a lift, so I didn't get a clear look at the impellers, etc. I did look from down low and didn't see anything obviously wrong.

Is it likely I sucked up some weeds/sand, etc? Would that create such a passing issue? Is something else likely wrong?

Any thoughts on what might have happened, what to look out for, check, etc., would be helpful. Other than possibly reduced top speed, the next 40 minutes the boat ran fine, seemed to track fine, etc.

Thanks in advance, Dan

 

[Wayloncle]

Sounds like you had some cavitation to me, probably something stuck on the grate for a minute then got washed away.

 

[OCMD]

Make sure you learn the reverse clean out maneuver for clearing weeds. Basically move in reverse as fast as you can, then pull the lanyard (killing the engines) and slam the throttles forward. Repeat as necessary until the weeds are cleared out.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Sounds like you sucked up some debris to cause the rumble/cavitation. When you disturbed the bottom, sand and shells or rocks can be tossed into the space between the reverse bucket and nozzle thus causing the throttle/shifter to feel hard or even get stuck.

Be careful in the shallow areas with applying more than a touch above idle and remember that reverse shoots water downwards which can cause a debris storm that your big vacuums will eat.

 

[itsdgm]

I'll bet that you had something in the pumps. Possibly a few small fish, and that it got chewed up and spit out.

 

[dan_hoog]

Thanks for the great responses - very helpful. It sounds like I disturbed the bottom and/or sucked something up floating in shallow water.

I'll avoid reverse in shallow water going forward. I always try to stay 3+ feet, but that may not be enough of a margin.

The other takeaway seems to be there is no likely damage or long term harm. If anyone knows something I should check for or watch out for, please let me know.

All the Best,
Dan

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Welcome to the world of jet boats, in 3 feet you can suck up the bottom easily especially when in reverse. Often just shutting down the engines will allow the trash to fall out of the intake grates. in our area of Florida the sea grass is just awful I am always stopping so de weed the intake, even at speed the grass can collect and obstruct the water being pulled into the pump , the other day in the gulf I felt some cavitation so I went to shore and reached up to find a plastic bag stuck in the intake , a lot od shredding was going on When I removed it the end was all torn up . I could not believe the ski was still running fairly well and not just stopped dead in it's wake.

 

[scott1001001]

Yep, I was out near Canaveral Nation Seashore on my FXHO and hit a big patch of grass. I have never seen it so thick as I usually stick to the ICW and St John's river. Low speed I was fine, but it choked when I hit the throttle. I had to fish a large amount of grass out and when I got home, had to take the intake grate off to clean the rest. I still have something stuck in my water spout tube, but I have not taken it apart yet (or ever for that matter).

 

[GiddYupJoe]

Yep, I was out near Canaveral Nation Seashore on my FXHO and hit a big patch of grass. I have never seen it so thick as I usually stick to the ICW and St John's river. Low speed I was fine, but it choked when I hit the throttle. I had to fish a large amount of grass out and when I got home, had to take the intake grate off to clean the rest. I still have something stuck in my water spout tube, but I have not taken it apart yet (or ever for that matter).

Some one correct me if I'm wrong... but you may be able to just use some weed whacker string and shove it down the water spit tube to clean it out.

 

[scott1001001]

Some one correct me if I'm wrong... but you may be able to just use some weed whacker string and shove it down the water spit tube to clean it out.

That is a good idea. I purchased a 7mm endoscope that attaches to my Android phone so I can maybe see what the blockage is before I start pulling things apart.