water in da boat - normal??

[Eaglenva]

ok, need more help.

in the seating area, under the front seats there are 2 access holes to get under the deck about 5" in diameter (i can get my hand in there). water is always in there, i can drain it and it seems to come right back. i know at some point is will stop but i have drianed it 3 times in the last 2 hours (recent rain fall and cover only stopped most of the water). how bad is it that water is in there? why does it not drain? etc...

please dont tell me i need more work on this boat, i will be in divorce court and just got married in december!

Thanks again!

 

[Diplomat82]

More than likely your floating foam (installed during construction) under the deck is filled with water. I don't think there is anyway to get rid of it unless you remove the foam, which means ripping up the deck.

I would not worry about it......yet.......enjoy the boat for now. Tackle it on the off season.

 

[brian s]

WELL THERE COMES A TIME IN EVERY MANS LIFE WHERE YOU GOTTA ASK YOUR SELF WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT BOAT OR WIFE? LOL JUST KIDDING
YOU NEED TO CHECK YOUR BILGE PLUG FIRST MAKE SURE IT IS IN TIGHT SECOND YOU SHOULD HAVE AN AUTOMATIC BILGE PUMP THE COVER WILL ONLY SLOW DOWN INCOMING WATER FROM THE RAIN THIRD I HAVE ALWAYS FOUND IT HELPFUL TO DOCK FACING BOW OUT. HOPE THIS HELPS GOOD LUCK WITH THAT WIFE THING YOU HAVE GOING ON THERE !!! LOL

 

[Eaglenva]

so the deck needs to be replaced? floor still feels solid so far. boat is stored on the trailer, usually in a garage (facing out - lol). should i leave the covers open on the floor to see if it will dry some? maybe put a small fan pulling air through the hull? thinking of parking on VERY STEEP HILL to see if water will run out the back - at least most of it.

think i will focus efforts on drying and trying to keep it that way, im pretty sure its the wet foam thing. just want to make sure waiting to replace floor should not mean needing to replace the stringers later if they are not already soaked

Thanks.

 

[Big Dave]

if you are talking about the bow area, there is a very thin plywood wall between you and the foam, it is only held in by fiberglass tabs. if it is in the floor, floor has to come up. trapped water weighs down boat a ton and usually rots stringers and floor supports.
go to a truck stop and weigh the truck, boat and trailer. put boat in water and go weigh truck and trailer
compare difference to brochure weight less fuel weight(oem was dry weight)
that will give you and idea how much water you are carrying around(8lbs per gallon)

 

[Eaglenva]

if it is in the floor, floor has to come up. trapped water weighs down boat a ton and usually rots stringers and floor supports.
go to a truck stop and weigh the truck, boat and trailer. put boat in water and go weigh truck and trailer
compare difference to brochure weight less fuel weight(oem was dry weight)
that will give you and idea how much water you are carrying around(8lbs per gallon)

I just weighted the entire package but have not removed from trailer which i estimate around 1200-1400# - tandem axle trailer and boat weigh in at 5050. that would put the boat around 3600-3800 (sundeck currently off but i added 90# to 4960 at weight station) this is with apx 50-60 gal of gas in tank) but I had just drained the hull.
1987 24' enforcer with 5.7 alpha. tongue weight is around 290#.

Brochure says dry weight is 3160# add 440 for gas is 3600. I have another 30-50 # of bs. so I am GUESSING the boat is close to dry weight and is currently holding <5 gallons (4.999 too much). feel like i drained 10-20 though but it only took a few minutes to drain. (it is almost full again)

this is directly under the front captains chairs. i can see the bottom of the boat so I would say starting at the pad going toward the edge it is about 40-50 % out from center to the stringer. then water fills towards the outer edge like a pond. bilge drains fine.

 

[Big Red]

Do you keep getting water in the boat without putting it in the lake.

 

[Boston Predictor]

Park it on a hill or jack the bow way up in the air. I dont know how the floor/stringers are constructed or if water is traped in there, but...Its always a good idea to keep the bow higher than the stearn so water can drain out ..goodluck.

 

[twright55]

I replaced the floor in my '82 Eluder.
The hull was full of water all the way up to the bottom of the floor.
There were NO drain holes to allow the water to come out! Sure, there was a drain hole through the transom to drain the bilge area, but there was no way for the rest of the hull to drain into the bilge.
I really don't understand what the designers of the boat were thinking. Did they believe they were building water-tight hulls that would never take on water...like the Titanic!

Anyway, how i solved the problem was to drill two 1/2" holes (one on each side of the keel/stringer) through the cross-member that was between the hull and the bilge, so that water in the hull could drain into the bilge area. Of course I did this when I had the floor ripped out and all the foam removed. It must have been holding at least 50 gallons of water. That water NEVER would have simply evaporated.


Good luck.
Tom

 

[Eaglenva]

yes, water is filling the hold and i have not put the boat in water this season. garage kept over the winter, had covered with a tarp during rain storm right after installing motor. i feel sure it is the foam area draining. drained today and it was about 2 gallons total that drained out.

i always keep the bow as high as the jack will take it which drains the bilge area.

yes mine was full up to the bottom of the decking.

i have a small step down area to get into the cuddy, i am thinking of drilling a hole through the side of this drop at the stringer to that area, allow to drain and then seal to prevent further moisture. would also allow hold to drain as if fills into the bilge area. would need to make certain i did not drill to low and go thru the hull.

it would help a LOT if i knew the stringer and support layout for this model. perhaps someone has that avail? like a hull floorplan?

 

[JUPITER PULSARE]

Not sure how you Mate is constructed but..if your fuel tank is under your floor in the center, there is a bulkhead that runs horizontally forward of the tank. There is supposed to be drainage under the tank (glassed in subfloor-hollow underneath)from the forward compartment to the bilge. Sometimes debris will clog the drain at that forward bulkhead (or the subfloor has rotted) and retain water. You can take a hammer and tap on the floor till you find the forward bulkhead. Using a hole-saw, install an access plate (6" pie eye) in the center of the floor just forward of the bulkhead allowing you to check the area forward of the Tank and clear any debris. The other situation that could be happening is water getting trapped to the starboard and port sides of the stingers that surround the tank. These areas are sometimes foam filled. Water is supposed to drain to the bilge but saturated foam will hold water. Put a cinder block under your trailer jack and jack it all the way up. Remove you drain plug and hope (pray) all the water drains out. Last resort....remove the floor, remove the saturated foam, inspect stringers for integrity, glass in new floor, gain mph and save weight....You'll even begin saving money.....after youf wife leaves you!!!

 

[dreamer]

whoa

Crank the front of the boat up so it is on a good angle!

Keep the ttwo prtholes open to let the air in make sure that the drain plug is out, put a fan or two in un der the cover to move the air around when you get a good sunny day take the cover off and get a better cover.

water kills boats!!!!!

 

[dreamer]

does your cover, cover the whole bow or just the cabin? It could be leaking wher the rail attatches or through the pop up window?

this boat drains right down the middle through a series of holes.

If garaged all winter now way you have that much water. how many times has it sat out in the rain and is the whole boat covered.

the simple question would be to find out where the water came from stop that problem and dry it out.

Are you sure the boat was dry when you got it?

 

[Diplomat82]

I took out a 2'X2' chunk of foam from my Diplomat...it weighed about 20lbs. I put it in my heated shop over winter...after three months the outside of the foam was dry. I cut it in half and the center was still filled with water. In my opinion once the water is in the foam it's impossible to get it out of there.

Does anyone know exactly what kind of foam this is?

 

[Eaglenva]

all good advice-

yes - center tank. yes water on each side. will consider adding new hole in floor, sounds like a good idea.

cover is not a boat cover, rather tarp from walmart or similar. covers from the outdrive about 20 of 24 ft so all but the last few feet of the bow is covered. not a bowrider so can only get water in through nav light on nose, vent windows, or rub rail (plus any that comes in through the tarp).

sure any foam is likely saturated but not carrying much if any extra weitht based on scale readings. very very close to orig dry weight.

trying to keep in garage 100% but when it goes in something has to go out, like my motorcycle. need to have a moving to the dump day and empty that thing out. LOL

 

[Eaglenva]

You'll even begin saving money.....after youf wife leaves you!!!

great, my wife just reminded me the boat is IN HER NAME - the bike in mine - LOL

 

[dreamer]

Did you figure this problem out. Where's the water comin from? My bet is under that cover and or throught the railings

 

[twright55]

One thing that I have found is that the 'el cheapo' boat covers from WalMart are in no way water proof. I know that they are supposed to breath, but these things are rediculous. I have one, and after a short, but hard rain, I can pull it off and EVERYTHING inside the boat is covered in beads of water...almost as though I had no cover at all. I am guessing that the cover probaby deflects a certain percentage of water (who knows, maybe 90%) but a cetain percentage just goes right through.
Those covers basically serve to keep the leaves out...not water.
I think I could get about the same effect from covering my boat in bed sheets!

 

[Eaglenva]

Did you figure this problem out. Where's the water comin from? My bet is under that cover and or throught the railings

no, have not tried yet, still trying to get it running right and to dry out. dont see easy way to figure it out. will try hose along rail attachment and windows, etc. plan to get small fan to try and vent the area. still trying to get old gas out of tank.

 

[brian s]

Do you keep getting water in the boat without putting it in the lake.

LOL THATS AWSOME!!!