BIG oops. Sucked up lots of sand

[Mike S.]

I took my boat out 2 weeks ago to do some exploring with the new SI unit.  I decided to go into one of my absolute favorite spots, and it turned out to be a bad deal.  The water is way down, and the wind was pretty stiff that day, coming from the west.  I was going slow, but the water got so shallow that I plugged the lower unit with sand.  I have a Merc Racing lower unit with the shallow water pick up.  At least it's supposed to be the real deal, was on the boat when I got it.  Anyways, it quit pumping water, and the temp alarm sounded.  I shut it off and left it alone.  I pulled the lower unit, and it was bad.  The pickup tube was plugged all the way up.  You couldn't even see the water pump housing due to all the sand on it.  The impeller was totally buried in the housing.  The pick up on the bottom was full, as was the hose that feeds the water pump.  I cleaned it up, and changed the whole pump housing and impeller.  I had the lower unit pressure checked.  I have probably 4 or 5 hours in to flushing the motor here in the driveway.  It is all back together, and everything seems to be working properly, but I am worried still.  My worry is, did I get all the sand out of the block?  I am so worried about getting a hot spot in a cylinder.  Should I pull my heads?  On an outboard, can you see down in the water jackets with the heads off?  Could I rig up a chunk of fuel line or something to my shop vac and get it in there to vacuum out the water jackets?  Or, should I be ok?  Just looking for some thoughts, and advice.  Most of you on here have been at this longer than I have, and I'm sure somebody has had a similar mishap.  Thanks guys.