I Damaged My Boat - Need Advice/Help

Hey fellas,

Let me first say that I have been quietly watching these forums for a few months now. The information I have come across on this forum alone is goingn to be extremely useful as my ownership of my '78 Martinique goes on. I have been closely following the stringer replacement threads posted by Keeganino, Okie, and Srbarnum. They have been extremely insightful

Anyway, enough with that. Today was probably one of the most unpleasant days in a long while. After a long battle of bad batteries, starters, solenoids, ignition coils, and a leaky carb, I finally got my boat running really good. We had already planned to go the lake today and burn some burgers and brats, so I figured I'd bring the boat as well and see how it ran up on the water.

After several hours of awesome cruising and trouble free performance, we headed back to the dock. I dropped my passengers off, and my father-in-law went and got the trailer. I decided to remanuever the boat to get lined up better for the loading process, and hit an underwater log that had just moved in.

Long story short:
Driver Shaft...Gone
Prop...Gone
Rudder....Gone

Mind you, this happened while I was about 1/8 from the dock. Luckily, I had purchased a paddle that very day because last time I had the boat on the water, the leaky carb left me stranded. When I first hit the log, I figured since the boat wasn't responding to throttle, I must've just lost the prop, so I began calmly paddling back to the dock. After several minutes of casual paddling, I noticed a little water on the floor. Upon opening the engine cover, I discovered, to my delight, that I was sinking. I barely managed to get my new 2,000 lb canoe to the ramp in time to load it before it totally sank.

The log tore the driveshaft completely out, with the prop still attached. The rudder was broken where its shaft enters the boat. There is no actuall hull damage, and my stabilizing fins are intact.

Basically guys, I need to know what the hell to do. I live in central Arkansas. There are no boat junkyards around here, and I totally doubt that Master Craft in Little Rock is going to be able to get me the stuff I need.

I WAS planning on replacing my stringers after this summer season, but if I can't get the parts soon, I'm going to do it now. I am going to go back to the lake with some diving equipment and find the other part of my boat. The water is only about 6 feet deep where this occured, and I figure they'll still be there. I doubt they are useable, but I know a guy around here that buys brass. I may be able to get something out of them. Do any of you have parts boats? Know of any? Is there any reason I couldn't just fabricate a driveshaft, and use an aftermarket prop and rudder? I would rather stay original if possible.

This is a damn mess. Any advice you guys can offer will be taken gratefully and humbly.

I'm gonna go drink a beer or ten,

Thanks,

Demoralized Jeff

P.S. What is the piece called that mates to the exterior of the bottom of the hull, and which the driveshaft runs through? ...That's gone, too.

The propshaft runs through the strut.

There are some boats being parted out here. You might find parts there.

Would be interesting to know where the propshaft snapped. Also, you said no hull damage. Are you sure? The stut was probably screwed into the bottom of the hull.

You are not the first to whom this has happened. It sucks, but you'll get it fixed.

BKH

Jeff,

Sorry to hear it, but you should be able to get her all fixed up. Some pictures would help. You should be able to get all those parts, no problem. New will be expensive, but is an option. Used, check the boats on here being parted out. I'm sure you will get plenty of help here on what to do and how to get everything put back together. I'm sure some assessment needs to be done to determine the next step. Pictures will definitely help a lot with that process.

Jeff,

It should bolt through the hull. If it ripped off it probably damaged the glassed in support and bolt holes. That will probably require some glassing work to fix and maybe some gelcoat work to finish it off.

Might be time to contact the insurance company. You're looking at a few thousand in repairs would be my guess (rudder, driveshaft, prop, strut, structural repairs). It may even total the boat to be honest so it would also depend on your attachment/investment to/in it.

Nautique Parts would be a good place to start for new running gear. They're the oldest dealer in the US, so they may even have your stuff in stock. Be sure to use the CCfan discount, 'cause they aren't cheap.

Good thing is pretty much anything is repairable. Good luck!

Thanks for the optimistinc advice, guys. I will try to find the SD card for my camera so I can take more than one picture at a time. I'll have them posted tonight hopefully. Please check back!!!

You are talking about the shaft log. The important part there is inside the boat. There is just a hole in the fiberglass. Somewhat of an oblong hole. The metal part is inside the boat, fiberglasses to the hull. The packing gland wraps around the log and prop shaft and prevent all except a drip or two per minute from getting into the boat.

BKH

Jeff,
Pull the gas tank and you'll see the rudder port with the packing gland on top of it. It looks just like the prop shaft packing gland.

We'll be waiting for the pictures.

Jeff,
Once you get the parts out of the lake, you'll have a better idea of what was on the boat. If the shaft is beyond measuring, you can measure the needed length off the boat.

Buck4U wrote: Is there a place where I can find information for my boat? I have no idea about the following: Driveshaft length Propeller type, size, etc Rudder type, size, etc I'm also interested in learning about the type of transmission my boat has. I have searched the forums, but am having trouble finding exact information for my '78 Martinique, w/ the 255hp 351W

Keep reading! This forum is your best resource for all of the above. Your Martinique used the same hull as the 2nd gen Ski Nautique (70-81) so all of the running gear is interchangeable. Your boat used a 50" long, 1" diameter shaft. The prop would have originally been a 13x13 Federal, but a 13x13 OJ or 13x12 Acme would really wake the boat up. The rudder is an "11A", which was used on all Ski Nautiques from 1970 forward, as well as most of the older v-hull boats (BFN, Southwind, Freeport). The fins should have been the same on any pre-1991 Correct Craft. Your tranny is a Borg Warner Velvet Drive, 1:1 ratio. I would guess a 71c based on the vintage.

Personally, I would try to find use fins, strut and rudder. If you can find your old ones and theyre not too mangled, its possible they can be straightened. I would invest in a new prop shaft (A.R.E double taper) as it will aide in installation and a new prop (Acme 540, 13x12) as it will greatly improve your performance.

I have never had to do so, but I would consider taking Eric's suggestion and following up with your insurance- if you cant find used parts easily, buying brand new will be very expensive.

I have a complete set of running gear you need, mine is off a 77 martinique in good shape. shaft strut prop rudder, you name it i got it. call me 269 506 1249 jeff. i scrapped the boat do to condition of hull. call me before friday, or ill be in florida picking up new boat    good luck!

Talked to Connors on the phone today; he can sell me replacements for whatever parts aren't salvageable

Pictures in the morning! I took them today, going to photobucket them tomorrow.

Buck4U wrote: http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w42/Bang4URBuck/SANY0327.jpg Here's the main picture. The rest are still uploading. As you can see, the rudder shaft broke off almost flush with the bottom of the hull. The strut is still very securely attached. I am going to try to pull the rear seat, tank, inspection board, etc this evening to make sure the shaft log and rudder port are alright.

Make sure you put the image tags around them for it to show up.

You type in [ img]the url[ /img], minus the spaces. You can also select the photo on photo bucket and go to the bottom and select to "generate html and img tags". Then just copy and paste that in your thread.

Then you picture shows up in the thread like this...

it could have been crakced prior to being hit. But at least the strut is still there, wonder if the coupleing is still attached to the tranny bet it is.

well I would say the odds of salvaging the prop or shaft is not going to be likely. Also looks like a fin is a little shorter than it should be or maybe it's a speedo pick-up in the shot.

Are you sure that boat is a '78? The colored hull, speedo pickup and trailer fenders make it look more like an early 70's vintage.