Yamaha Boats are Self Bailing - If you get water in the boat do not panic

[Bruce]

Other jet boats probably are as well but I do not have first had experience with them.

Every Yamaha boat that I have seen has a scupper drain at the stern. This drains water from the rear of the cockpit out through the scupper valve. This scupper system drains rain water or water that has splashed into the boat.

The scupper does not drain water from the bilge or engine compartment. That water is handled by the bilge pump. The bilge pump should always be on when the boat is in the water. The bilge pump will cycle every few minutes to check for water and pump out any that is found.

If you happen to take a wave over the bow or side of the boat it is important to keep going and either get on plane or keep the bow elevated. Doing so will decrease the likelihood of taking on additional water, will increase the rate of flow through the scupper and will concentrate bilge water near the pump.

Our boats handle water in the bilge or in the cockpit area very well. The engines will continue to run until water gets into the air intakes at the top of the engine. The cockpit will hold water that drains through the scupper without ever entering the bilge. Even if the cockpit and bilge fill with water the boat has sufficient flotation that it will not sink.

I have been in a poorly maintained Yamaha boat that the dealer was demonstrating when a clean out of plug blew, the bilge was filled with water and then more than half of the cockpit filled with water. The bow remained above water where @Rana, the kids and the dealer remained dry. I was at the stern holding the cleanout plug that would not lock in place. My legs were wet but I was not in any danger.

If your boat takes on water at some point please do not panic. If you get on plane or can keep the bow up you will likely be able to drain the water out. You should drive towards shore in case of the unlikely scenario of needing to abandon the boat.

Even if you forget to install the drain plug at launch the same principles apply. If you can keep the bow up you may be able to reverse the flow of water into the hull while the bilge pump does it's work. Once you believe you have reduced the volume of water in the bilge jump stop the boat, jump into the water and install the drain plug. I have experienced this issue in fishing boats and have seen the water in the floor drain out while the bow is elevated.

 

[robert843]

Great write up. I think most people panic and stop immediately when these things happen and it really is in most case best to keep moving to get the water out I have too been on a fishing boat where someone forgot to put in a drain plug and was able to watch the water drain by getting the bow up. We also have several member who can attest to the buoyancy of these boats I know we had two on the Bimini trip take serious water over the bow and both stayed a float and I can't remember who but one member had his new 2015 hit something and gash the whole underside of his and it also stayed afloat taking on heavy water.

 

[Julian]

People who do sub moves prove this every time they do it, but some water does reach the bilge and requires the bilge pump to remove it. Also, make sure if you do take a wave over the bow that your cockpit scupper drain hole is not blocked by a cooler, rag or other stuff.

 

[SCSTWG]

Good write-up and hopefully this will keep others from a panic state should they take on water. I know my first reaction would be to get everyone wearing a life jacket and head towards shore.

 

[DGap]

I got caught in a nasty storm on Lake Powell 3 years ago. 10' swells, took on roughly 12"-15" of water in the cockpit. We rounded a bend and put in on a beach in a small cove to ride it out.

The stock bilge pump moved the water out quickly (though I did upgrade after that experience) and the cockpit drained through the scupper even faster.

Damage done? We were all soaked, I destroyed my ancient map of Powell (that I had bought as a kid 30 years back) and a buddy dropped his phone into the water swirling around his knees.

Lessons learned? Laminate your map, my Yamaha performed like a champ and monsoon rains on Powell can sneak up on you in a hurry. Know where you are on the lake and mark up the map with places to hide while riding out a storm.

 

[Edgar Torres]

Thank you for the Tips.

 

[Cabbi]

Other jet boats probably are as well but I do not have first had experience with them.

Every Yamaha boat that I have seen has a scupper drain at the stern. This drains water from the rear of the cockpit out through the scupper valve. This scupper system drains rain water or water that has splashed into the boat.

The scupper does not drain water from the bilge or engine compartment. That water is handled by the bilge pump. The bilge pump should always be on when the boat is in the water. The bilge pump will cycle every few minutes to check for water and pump out any that is found.

If you happen to take a wave over the bow or side of the boat it is important to keep going and either get on plane or keep the bow elevated. Doing so will decrease the likelihood of taking on additional water, will increase the rate of flow through the scupper and will concentrate bilge water near the pump.

Our boats handle water in the bilge or in the cockpit area very well. The engines will continue to run until water gets into the air intakes at the top of the engine. The cockpit will hold water that drains through the scupper without ever entering the bilge. Even if the cockpit and bilge fill with water the boat has sufficient flotation that it will not sink.

I have been in a poorly maintained Yamaha boat that the dealer was demonstrating when a clean out of plug blew, the bilge was filled with water and then more than half of the cockpit filled with water. The bow remained above water where @Rana, the kids and the dealer remained dry. I was at the stern holding the cleanout plug that would not lock in place. My legs were wet but I was not in any danger.

If your boat takes on water at some point please do not panic. If you get on plane or can keep the bow up you will likely be able to drain the water out. You should drive towards shore in case of the unlikely scenario of needing to abandon the boat.

Even if you forget to install the drain plug at launch the same principles apply. If you can keep the bow up you may be able to reverse the flow of water into the hull while the bilge pump does it's work. Once you believe you have reduced the volume of water in the bilge jump stop the boat, jump into the water and install the drain plug. I have experienced this issue in fishing boats and have seen the water in the floor drain out while the bow is elevated.

Great write up as I am a very new Yamaha boat owner and was not aware thanks @Bruce

 

[Cade Funderburk]

Thanks for this thread, just took my ar195s out for the 4th time today. Went to Grenadier Shoals sandbar off south end of Hilton Head, we got drenched from the waves and wind, but boat stayed dry...and bilge was bone dry. Do you leave the ski locker plug in our out when running, and where does that drain to?

 

[Bruce]

@Cade Funderburk, the ski locker drains to the bilge where the bilge pump pumps it out.

I leave my plugs out.

 

[zipper]

Other jet boats probably are as well but I do not have first had experience with them.

Every Yamaha boat that I have seen has a scupper drain at the stern. This drains water from the rear of the cockpit out through the scupper valve. This scupper system drains rain water or water that has splashed into the boat.

The scupper does not drain water from the bilge or engine compartment. That water is handled by the bilge pump. The bilge pump should always be on when the boat is in the water. The bilge pump will cycle every few minutes to check for water and pump out any that is found.

If you happen to take a wave over the bow or side of the boat it is important to keep going and either get on plane or keep the bow elevated. Doing so will decrease the likelihood of taking on additional water, will increase the rate of flow through the scupper and will concentrate bilge water near the pump.

Our boats handle water in the bilge or in the cockpit area very well. The engines will continue to run until water gets into the air intakes at the top of the engine. The cockpit will hold water that drains through the scupper without ever entering the bilge. Even if the cockpit and bilge fill with water the boat has sufficient flotation that it will not sink.

I have been in a poorly maintained Yamaha boat that the dealer was demonstrating when a clean out of plug blew, the bilge was filled with water and then more than half of the cockpit filled with water. The bow remained above water where @Rana, the kids and the dealer remained dry. I was at the stern holding the cleanout plug that would not lock in place. My legs were wet but I was not in any danger.

If your boat takes on water at some point please do not panic. If you get on plane or can keep the bow up you will likely be able to drain the water out. You should drive towards shore in case of the unlikely scenario of needing to abandon the boat.

Even if you forget to install the drain plug at launch the same principles apply. If you can keep the bow up you may be able to reverse the flow of water into the hull while the bilge pump does it's work. Once you believe you have reduced the volume of water in the bilge jump stop the boat, jump into the water and install the drain plug. I have experienced this issue in fishing boats and have seen the water in the floor drain out while the bow is elevated.

I am glad they fixed the issue from the earlier M/Y boats like mine. https://jetboaters.net/threads/rain...w-floor-while-on-the-water.14264/#post-246353 The weight distribution was off a little and adding a weight on the swim platform fixed the deck/gutter pitch issue, making the deck truly self bailing without involving the bilge pump below.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I got caught in a nasty storm on Lake Powell 3 years ago. 10' swells, took on roughly 12"-15" of water in the cockpit. We rounded a bend and put in on a beach in a small cove to ride it out.

The stock bilge pump moved the water out quickly (though I did upgrade after that experience) and the cockpit drained through the scupper even faster.

Damage done? We were all soaked, I destroyed my ancient map of Powell (that I had bought as a kid 30 years back) and a buddy dropped his phone into the water swirling around his knees.

Lessons learned? Laminate your map, my Yamaha performed like a champ and monsoon rains on Powell can sneak up on you in a hurry. Know where you are on the lake and mark up the map with places to hide while riding out a storm.

Great post!

This type of scenario is something that I have thought about, and how to best prepare for it.

Sorry to hear about the loss of your map... I’ve got a couple like that for places that I had gone when I was a kid.

Does your boat have just the one cockpit drain? Mine has one amidships just behind the helm...was thinking of adding two more, one in each corner like the 190 series of FSH boats has.

You said you upgraded your bilge pump after this incident, did you just replace the OEM one with a larger one, add an additional one, or both?

Thanks!

 

[Seahorse]

Good write-up. Can I assume from this thread that, even when the boat is fully swamped, that there is enough floatation in it to keep it afloat? It is pretty important information to know about any boat you happen to be on, because it affects how you act, both if a swamping should happen from say, a hull breach, or how prepared you need to be to abandon ship when you board. Anybody have any history on any of these boats sinking to the bottom?

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Good write-up. Can I assume from this thread that, even when the boat is fully swamped, that there is enough floatation in it to keep it afloat? It is pretty important information to know about any boat you happen to be on, because it affects how you act, both if a swamping should happen from say, a hull breach, or how prepared you need to be to abandon ship when you board. Anybody have any history on any of these boats sinking to the bottom?

I can‘t say if these boats will float if fully swamped, they’re not a Boston whaler. I would think some simple things like keeping the hatches secured would keep the majority of water out of the bilge if water was taken on in the cockpit while the water drained through the cockpit drains. If the hull is breached and the bilge pump cannot remove the water faster than it is coming in I’d say you’re done.

IMHO you always need to be prepared to abandon ship.

 

[Jpace76]

Watch out for rouge water bottle caps!!! I figure this fits with this write up. I was replacing the scupper valve this winter on my used boat I just purchased in August and when I removed the white hose connected to it it was completely full of trash and sand. There was a plastic water bottle cap that got wedged at the scupper valve and wouldn't allow it to drain. Since I hadn't taken a lot of water over the sides of the boat I never noticed the problem but I will be checking the hose as a maintenance item from now on. Just wanted to share in case it happens to someone else.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Watch out for rouge water bottle caps!!! I figure this fits with this write up. I was replacing the scupper valve this winter on my used boat I just purchased in August and when I removed the white hose connected to it it was completely full of trash and sand. There was a plastic water bottle cap that got wedged at the scupper valve and wouldn't allow it to drain. Since I hadn't taken a lot of water over the sides of the boat I never noticed the problem but I will be checking the hose as a maintenance item from now on. Just wanted to share in case it happens to someone else.

That’s great you posted that ! It’s ironic as a couple of weeks ago I was washing the boat after a day on the water and noticed water pooling by the cockpit drain. Figured out that a little container of cleaner used for sunglasses dropped into the drain hole.

 

[haknslash]

You could place a piece of mesh fabric over the scupper inlet in the cockpit to keep debris from clogging up the scupper hose.

 

[Jpace76]

You could place a piece of mesh fabric over the scupper inlet in the cockpit to keep debris from clogging up the scupper hose.

But then the dirt wouldn't wash out either.

 

[haknslash]

But then the dirt wouldn't wash out either.

How dirty is your boat or waters you boat in lol? I’m not saying use closed cell foam or anything too restrictive. Panty hose would probably work great imo. Heck you could use SS wire mesh if you want to keep large debris out from clogging but allow dirt and silt to pass through.

In the end would you rather clean out the inlet and easily free up any debris or have it get get clogged with no easy way to deal with in on the water?

 

[Bruce]

Good write-up. Can I assume from this thread that, even when the boat is fully swamped, that there is enough floatation in it to keep it afloat? It is pretty important information to know about any boat you happen to be on, because it affects how you act, both if a swamping should happen from say, a hull breach, or how prepared you need to be to abandon ship when you board. Anybody have any history on any of these boats sinking to the bottom?

I have seen three Yamahas that were swamped to above the engine intakes with a crew in the boat. None were at any risk of sinking. Two had stuffed their bows then taken multiple waves into the boat on a Bimini crossing. The third blew a cleanout plug on a lake when my family was on board for a prepurchase test drive.

I have seen other similar situations on video.

In each instance the boat continued to have some freeboard. There was not risk of sinking.

 

[Jpace76]

How dirty is your boat or waters you boat in lol? I’m not saying use closed cell foam or anything too restrictive. Panty hose would probably work great imo. Heck you could use SS wire mesh if you want to keep large debris out from clogging but allow dirt and silt to pass through.

In the end would you rather clean out the inlet and easily free up any debris or have it get get clogged with no easy way to deal with in on the water?

We beach a lot here so there is always sand after each outing but I get your point. I was thinking of a fine mesh but just something to keep the large object out would work well.