rain in boat

daveywonder

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Feb 21, 2012
Messages
38
Wanted to ask about water getting in ski-boat without a cover on it. Boat is on a silp that I can't get to for a couple of days. Left cover off. What will I have to do once I get to the boat? Do I have to take her out of the water to drain the plug? Pls. let me know, as I'am ignorant to this? tks. I'am not worried about stuff in the boat, just what to do to get water out.....daveywonder...wondering
 
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alldodge

Moderator
Staff member
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Mar 8, 2009
Messages
40,581
If you have a built in bilge pump and a fully charged battery, probably don't have to do anything. Now if you do not have a bilge pump and there is a lot of rain, it will be sitting on the bottom.

If the water isn't to bad, you could scoop it out, or put it on the trailer and let it drain.
 

GA_Boater

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
May 24, 2011
Messages
49,038
If you are in Texas around Houston, a single bilge pump may not keep up and the battery is probably dead now.

Hope you have a covered slip, which could help keep some of the water out.
 

rallyart

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Jun 7, 2008
Messages
1,175
You probably have an automatic bilge pump and that will work fine. If you don't then get a float and switch to make yours automatic or install one. You can get a small solar charger to leave under the windscreen and that should help the battery life. Other than that, you just take the time to lift seats and open compartments to let it dry out.
Mine sits for a couple months on a buoy without a cover. It gets used most days but I never worry about a couple days of rain where it will stay by itself. I don't expect that you are going to get 10" of rain everyday so you likely don't have an issue.
 

sphelps

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Messages
11,429
If no bilge pump then bail bucket first then run it out while on plane if the plug is removable from the inside .... Just don,t drop it overboard while running .. :eek:
Helps to have someone else in the boat with you to run it out ...
 

hemi rt

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 1, 2010
Messages
321
Why not just leave the transom plug out when it's on the lift; set your lift so the bow is a little nose high and the water will drain out the open transom hole.
 

redneck joe

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 18, 2009
Messages
10,198
Call the marina to go check and drain. A few buck but you will sleep. Then, make friends with someone that works at the marina. Danny would do about half hour worth of work for us and long as we fed hom as he passed by on our weekends at the hoat.
 

BigDfromTN

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 16, 2013
Messages
268
Call the marina to go check and drain. A few buck but you will sleep. Then, make friends with someone that works at the marina. Danny would do about half hour worth of work for us and long as we fed hom as he passed by on our weekends at the hoat.

+1 Amazing how much a cold drink, hot plate and kind word will get you!
 

roffey

Commander
Joined
Nov 22, 2012
Messages
2,184
As I was once told, boats are "water resistant". As stated above, call the marina and ask them to check the boat and call if it not looking promising. Most boats these days have automatic bilge pumps.
 

redneck joe

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 18, 2009
Messages
10,198
+1 Amazing how much a cold drink, hot plate and kind word will get you!




wow I really butchered up the spelling on my post. I hate tablets.

Yeah - it helped that he was a liveaboard at the marina, but worked for a couple folks that didn't as well.
 
Joined
Mar 1, 2005
Messages
923
It doesn't sound like you know all the ins and outs of your boat. To summarize:

1) You likely have a bilge pump.

....a) If it's a manual electric pump like mine was on my 2008 boat, you'll need to flip the switch and let it run for a while. One year after a big overnight rainstorm, I ran my 500gph (gallons per hour) pump for more than 45 minutes to get all of the water out of my boat. I caught a lot of fish off of my dock while waiting...

....b) If it's an automatic electric pump which utilizes a float (which I've since added), your boat will either be dry when you get there or the battery will be dead. Either way, the battery will need a recharge. Assuming the pump runs off of your starting battery, take your boat out for a long ride on plane. You want the alternator on your motor to recharge the battery which takes a while. If the pump is running off of a separate deep-cycle battery, you'll need to charge it with either an on-board charger or another method.

2) If you don't have a bilge pump on-board, you can bail out the water using a bucket or cup. You can also buy hand-held bilge pumps that look like stand-up bicycle tire pumps. It's a handy thing to have on board in emergency situations. Quint had one on the Orca at the end of Jaws, but he really needed some of Batman's Shark Repellent Bat Spray.
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3) If you do have a plug on the inside of your boat, you can pull it after you are already up on plane. It's a common way of getting lots of water out of a boat. Just make sure that your motor is strong enough to get on plane with the extra water weight, you aren't doing this in choppy seas, and you can safely do this while operating the boat at high speed (i.e. don't hit any other boats or objects).

4) Put your boat on a boat lift and let it drain.

5) Put your boat on a trailer and let it drain.
 
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fhhuber

Lieutenant
Joined
Jun 19, 2014
Messages
1,365
Auto bilge pump is a good reason to install a 25 watt or bigger solar panel.

That will generally keep the battery topped up and when it rains the bilge pump works.

************************

I had a Kawasaki "Jetmate" which is a strange cross between a boat and jet ski (and does neither well)
The engine well is BELOW the drain. It would fill to the cab intake before water went out the drain.
Yes, we can say that was stupid on the part of the designer.

So I put in the float operated bilge pump to get the water out before it covered the engine.

I had a solar panel to keep the battery topped up.

When I sold it I warned the new owner to ensure the bilge pump always worked, check it after any rain... or keep it in a garage.
 

daveywonder

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Feb 21, 2012
Messages
38
Tks. for all comments......Got to boat and there was 10 to 15 gal. of water, all near rear of boat. Scooped out most, moved to trailer and pulled out. Taking home to install pump. Park ranger gave me the curosity call to warn me of exsisting water. Good man....tks. all
 

roffey

Commander
Joined
Nov 22, 2012
Messages
2,184
... and you can buy a cover for the boat. The best ones are the custom made ones as they will keep the water from pooling on the cover and of course a bilge pump. What do they say about boats, LOL

Break Out Another Thousand or just a hole in the water to put your money into. LOL. but if they were worth it we would not be here.
 
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