At least twice a season, inspect any fittings above or below the waterline that could be letting water into the boat. All too often, skippers rely on bilge pumps to bail them out when they can t visit their boats. The pump fails and the boat sinks. If you can t visit your boat regularly, consider using a buddy system with other boat owners to watch each other s boats. Another alternative is to ask your marina manager to keep an eye on the boat.
Many marinas offer routine inspections, but usually at an extra cost.
In addition to studying why boats sink at the dock, BoatU.S. Marine Insurance examined 50 claim files for boats that sank underway, ranging from a tiny personal watercraft to a 54 ocean going sailboat. None of the 50 sinking claims involved fatalities, although that is always a possibility when a boat sinks with passengers aboard. While Thirty four percent of the boats in the study sank because of leaks at thru-hulls, outdrive boots, or the raw water cooling system, all of which are routinely implicated when boats sink at the dock. There are many other reasons that boats sink underway, however, which have nothing to do with loose hose clamps or broken fittings. There were claims for careless skippers who forgot to install drain plugs.