Hello .i am very devastated today .after a nice ride with my boat i went swimming and when i return found it with the bilge pumps on .after the ride i discovered that during the last treilering i hited the sonar and both scews were out . I closed the holes with sikaflex and screws and i got on the water again .then i discovered that water was coming drop by drop from the bottom of the hull in the bilge.i dont know what to do! I never hited the boat and my hull doesnt have something to understand from where the water came inside.please help
Water inside the hull
- Thread starter Arc
- Start date
Hello Arc. I understand - not a "good feeling"!
Can you elaborate on what you said? If I'm understanding you correctly, you hit something and knocked the transducer off the transom which you have temporarily fixed with sealant and screws. However, I do not understand the part I quoted above.
boatrboy
Well-Known Member
Drain plug?
jmcdboater
Well-Known Member
- May 28, 2022
- 574
- Boat Info
- 1988 300 DA Sundancer
Vessel JIM’N’I IV
- Engines
- Twin 5.7L Mercs w/Alpha One Drives
Koehler KVA 4 Genset
Still not following….water coming from hull, but no holes? Seeping out of cracks in the fiberglass? Water would be trapped inside if no holes or cracks….I like what @boatrboy suggested…drain plug loose?
I’d bet you have water trapped under the false floor that holds your bilge pumps and such. It is a piece of plywood typically glassed in between the inboard stringers over the V of the hull. Searay did a rather poor job of sealing the components that were mounted to these ‘shelves’ so they let water underneath and it has nowhere to go. The good news is that piece is not structural and can easily be cutout then replaced and re-glassed. It is also independent of the stringer so the risk for major damage is minimal. Here is the repair on my 1998 290 for the same thing.
you can verify this is your issue by cutting a hold into the plywood, I’d bet there’s water underneath it. Ours held about 2-3 gallons
you can verify this is your issue by cutting a hold into the plywood, I’d bet there’s water underneath it. Ours held about 2-3 gallons
You're hull bottom is solid. It is not cored, so the structure is good. HOWEVER, if you have a FLAT area, that is not part of the structure. As Ryan noted, it's just a false floor. Luckily, Ryan was nice enough to post some pics that explain it well. At this point, haul the boat and start your investigation as where the water came from. Depending on where that transducer is compared to the false floor, that could be the ingress area. Remove the screws you put in to seal the holes and drill out the sealant with a larger drill bit. Make sure the bow is tilted up.
