why can't I surface the boat?

Originally Posted by krashkart

Huh. I think I'll take a few test boats out and see if there is an element of randomness. Reminds me, are you using SH3Commander? If so do you have the 'Random Crush Depth" setting ticked in the options? I'm leaving that one off until I get my sea fangs honed to a goodly semi-expert level.

No SH3 Commander. That install was completely mod-free.