Thought I was about to die in a brand new boat 2 months ago, I really
believe this is an accident just waiting to happen again and again. I
called Tracker and the Dealer but got mostly silence and excuses

(maybe i'm just extraordinarily stupid and overly trusting of authority
expertise too, it's all quite possible ....)

3 months ago we bought a new Tracker Tahoe Q4-L and got a general
walk around when we went to pick it up. This Q4-L has an inboard. The
salesman points to the brass drain plug which was inserted and screwed
in tight,mentioning the obvious caution to be certain its always
screwed back in tight.

He points to a second plug screwed in place directly to the left of the
drain plug and seems really proud of what I thought was a pretty
standard feature on inboards ..... unscrew that plug he says, and a
hose pulls out from that hole and you can drain your motoroil.

He then points to a 3rd loosely hanging drainplug attached to a thin
wire and says .... " ummm .. yea, a spare there ... and we continue the
walkaround.

A week later I'm in San Pablo Bay in Northern Ca. on the maiden run and
after about 30 minutes I really feel heavy ... turned on the bilge and
pumped water for about 10 minutes, so I thought I'd better trailer up
and check what was up ..... Drainplug was tight and its twin plug for
the engine oil was in place as well on my visual check

Went home and called the dealer and explained the problem. .... I
guesstimated that I had pumped a scary amount of water , as 8 to 10
minutes from a 1in. diameter bilge hose seemed to me to be a lot of
water that shouldn't be there.

He apologized profusely stating that all new boats are prepped , engine
tested in a tapering outdoor pool type area, and lastly hosed down

This was obviously water that entered then as workers don't always
insert the drainplug for this motor testing startup in this tapered
'pond ' (only the prop and drainplug area is in the water, not the boat
at that time)

He offered to forward the call to a 'tekky' for further discussion.

The tekky thinks a verbal walkthru is in order especially because none
of the supplied manuals even pictures the rear drainplug area.

I end the call with a second walkaround concerning the bilge, the
drainplug, the oil drain
plug and the 'spare' on the wire .... (his term) and the second
assurance that this is the prep water and washdown only.

What occurs next is all my own stupidity, to not just tie up dockside
and be sure there was no more incoming water was unthinkable
foolishness on my part, but after 2 identical runthroughs about the
drainplugs and the statements from both men that the prep crew often
leaves washdown water in the bilge, I felt assured .

I motor out about 2000 yards or so , and anchor to begin enjoying my
first real on the water "look -see" at everything on my new luxury
investment plus playing and setting up the added electronic options I
had installed . Im retired and I must admit its been years since my last
2 boats.

Trailering up, the drive to the launch, launching alone , and the
general excitement of the second (but the more official) 'maiden' launch
had drained me. I sipped coffee, stretched out at one of the rear seats
and fell asleep.

I think it was a gull but whatever the cause I snapped straight up and
alert .... my feet rested in water, and 3 inches of water surrounded the
engine cowl ,covering the carpet and running into the ski locker floor
lid. the bow looked like we were ready for main booster launch to the
moon.

I'd like to pretend I was calm and professional . I was petrified numb.
Amazing how many things go through your mind ... " a real thriller of a
movie situation here but Im really here not on the sofa munching popcorn
"

Oh God I cant swim 2000 yards !!! "my PDF !! where the hell is my PDF
!! ..... no wonder they tell you to have positioning hooks, racks, or
areas where each item goes every time out .... hell, I had all of it but
panic still strips your ability to remember that you even have those
things let alone where they are.

That a boat of this type only sinks to the waterline (I believe )
doesn't even occur as a thought .... hearts pumping, adrenalin racing
.... a nightmare and I'm wide awake.

I finally remember I have a bilge pump but as I switched it on I had
little faith that 500 gph was going to catch up to water with 19 foot 6
inches of boat length plus a fully flooded stern.

I'm too panicked to even want to stay there waiting for the bilge pump
so I start the engine with the thought of slowly trying to move closer
to shore .... BIG TERRIFYING MISTAKE .... water shifts rearward and the
bow responds exactly like improper use of trim tabs .... I ease it off
and am frozen in terror .....


500 gph can (I'll be damned) catch up to that much water ... weak,
shaken, pale, nauseous and finally back on solid Terra Firma, several
boaters and fishermen help me re-trailer and we all armchair quarterback
what the hell is the problem. Funny how respectful we men are of other
mens new boats, shotguns, golf clubs , they all just stared from a
respectful 3 feet away

..... until one fisherman reached out and applied pressure to the
drainplug. It was tight, firmly in place.

I watched his hand reach for the other and knew we were on the wrong
track ... you could even see the plug was exactly the same height as the
other , obviousely tight .... he twists, the cap pops into the boat and
disappears !

"what the hell ? he says " ... we all stand there stupidly as he fishes
with 2 fingers to retrieve the plug. "I got it" .... it feels like its
attached to something " "yea," I say , " to about 2 feet of hose,
.... thats the motor oil drainplug " out it comes, trailing rubber
entrails of oil hose.

" Hell, where are the threads to hold this to the boat?" he says while
pulling it closer to his nose to inspect it . As he does the "spare
plug' on the wire (tekkys and original walkaround guy's words) pops off
a small clip .... we all see the situation clearly now .... you drain
your oil .... you attach the plug to the oil hose, you push the hose AND
the plug all the way into the boat, and the wire and 'spare' plug follow
all the way so you can screw the REAL plug into the boat. The Tahoe and
probably a lot of others has 2 drainplugs so to speak, and there is NO
SPARE .

Water entered around the oil hose where the hose enters the boat , with
the oil hose plug looking so perfectly matched to the boat threaded
coller it looked like a solid seal .

Even water coming in never changed the plugs 'screwed down tight' look
and level position against the boat hole threads.

"oh yea, says the dealer later on the phone .... we like to level it to
the boat for a finished look"

" Bull****!" I yell, "both of you said the plug was "a spare" because
by leveling the oil line plug you yourself didnt even realize what the
'spare on a wire' was really for ... "

"why cant you see you need to either pull all 2 feet of hose out, or
push the hose and plug all the way in so its obvious the boat needs a
second plug ,or wisest of all is to simply push the hose and hose plug
inside, and properly tighten the finishing real plug.

To call it a spare is total lack of knowledge on your part and
dangerously misleading

..... after 20 minutes more of excuses I hung up and complained to
Tracker Boat Corporation , but I got more politeness than I did
understandig

I think this is new type technology, nobody I talked to has seen this
... be careful when you buy ...

If there is a 2nd drain plug on a wire it is not to be sure ..... 'a
spare', no matter what the Dealers and Tekkies say .... If I'm just a
moron then they need to address we morons, because it took 6 spectators
dock side 10 minute to see the problem, all of these plugs look
identical and if the dealer has leveled it exactly flush with the
surface it becomes an illusion worthy of
Blackstone because there is absolutly no reason to doubt that what you
are seeing is a screwed down drainplug unless you touch it firmly.

~~~~ Surfbored ~~~~