Houseboat Sinking Problems - Flooded, Frozen, and Sunken House Boat Hull

by Chuck
(Louisville, KY)

I have problems with a sunken flooded, and frozen houseboat hull. My hull is flooded and full of water that is frozen. I caught it just in time as the houseboat was about to sink. Not a good day :(

What type of problems am I looking at, and how much will it cost to repair.

Thanks, Chuck.

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Reply - Answer
Well Chuck, very sorry to hear about your sunken houseboat problems. I know the feeling since I had a boat sink when I was just a young adult, and the image still flashes back in my mind.

Since you didn't give me many details, I will presume that you have called your insurance agent or company?

They would be my first telephone call to see how they want to handle it, and a digital camera would definitely be an asset at this point to document the situation.

Now depending on how deep the water it is in, you may need a salvage or crane barge to lift the houseboat out the water.

Or depending on how thick the ice is, you may be able to use lifting balloons to lift the boat enough to start pumping out some water.

As to what kinds of salvage repair recovery work involved, well they will have to "pickle the engines", and start drying, removing, any interior damage. Depending on the water infiltration, all the tanks will have to be drained.

It is not easy work, nor is it quick, but many flooded boats have been totally and successfully recovered.

As to the cost involved, well that depends on the procedure that will right the boat, so I can't really quote prices. It most likely will not be cheap, and I hope your insurance deductible is not too high.

Again, I am sorry to hear about your troubles, and I recommend to anybody reading this to verify the fittings, hoses, bilge pumps, batteries, charger, and electrical system. This is not a pleasant situation to be in.

On a positive note, everything can be taken care of, just one day at a time, and before you know it, your boat will be back in business...



Lastly, hopefully some of our readers will share and post comments about their sunken, frozen, flooded, houseboat sinking problems and experiences. Feel free to use the "Click here to post comments." link found near the bottom of this page.


Thanks again for sharing, IAN from all-about-houseboats

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