I put out for another day of sturgeon fishing here in Portland (Oregon) in my 1993 North River Seahawk with a 350 Chevy powered Kodiak jet. About 1/4 mile downriver, first I start losing power. I figure it's some intake junk, so I power down. Idle's o.k., so I figure it's cleared itself out. I power back up, and it starts running real jerky - shuddering and little power. I idle it back down, turn around, and the bilge is full, water's up above floor level in the back, and smoke's coming from the engine. Before I have a chance to shut down, it stalls. I start the bilge pump (obviously), and then can't get the kicker (8hp 1995 Honda 4 stroke) to fire either. A distress call gets me two tows that land me back at the dock.<br /><br />So - what failure, or series of failures, might yield those symptoms and that much engine drama in that little time? I assume that the only place for water to enter such a boat is through some aspect of the jet, but visual inspection didn't show much. Thought about bad gas as a factor(we just had three weeks of snow and ice, so the boat was sitting for awhile, though I put in a full tank of fresh gas the day after Christmas), because of the rough running. <br /><br />Any input, prior to shope delivery and preparing for the big repair check, would be appreciated.
