Water through scupper hole - 18 ft Sea Cat

[unrealisticdreamer]

Any owners of an 18 ft Sea Cat out there? I was trying out a 2005 18 foot Sea Cat with a 115 hp Suzuki the other day. There were two people in the boat - myself (260 pounds) and another fellow (a "normal" weight) - no other appreciable weight. I noticed that when one person moved to the back of the boat while at idle or slow no-wake speed, that water came in through the self-bailing cockpit scupper holes. If I moved to the back, the water would be upwards of an inch deep. Also, the boat is equipped with trim tabs and when I leaned over the back of the boat to look at them (at the dock), it sure looked like the tabs were a long ways underwater. Is this normal for this boat? I'm beginning to wonder if there was a lot of water in the bilge or if some of the foam insulation is wet (is there foam in the back of these boats)? When running at 4500 rpm we were doing about 20-22 mph - seems a little low, also.

 

[lprizman]

Re: Water through scupper hole - 18 ft Sea Cat

I think you may be one of the first Cat questions I have seen here.
I have heard this is a common problem w/ them,,scuppers sitting low.
Yoiu should try going on thehullthruth.com,,many more users of this kind of vessel there.
And I am 6' 2" @ 255 lbs and consider myself normal weight

 

[unrealisticdreamer]

Re: Water through scupper hole - 18 ft Sea Cat

Sorry, didn't mean to insult anyone. I am only 6 ft even so I am a little overweight. Thanks for the suggestion re: thehulltruth. I have also posted there.

 

[lprizman]

Re: Water through scupper hole - 18 ft Sea Cat

no insult at all,,just kiddin around
and I could afford a few more sit ups than cold one

 

[scoutabout]

Re: Water through scupper hole - 18 ft Sea Cat

I definitely get a little water sloshing back through the ball valves if the boat is at rest and there's some weight at the back. I don't mind in the summer and I can plug em in the colder parts of the season. Under way or at rest empty and everything empties right out.

So many factors affect speed but I agree that sounds a bit low. The Scout (17 feet, 90 hp) cruises bang on 25 mph indicated at 4000 with my wife, me and one kid.

Then again, I'm only 5' 10" and a relatively delicate 175... My wife's weight is top secret.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Water through scupper hole - 18 ft Sea Cat

very common problem with tail heavy boats with scuppers.

 

[bamboodave]

Regarding the scupper problem on Sea Cats, I have a terrible story about our 1997 Seacat 22'. We always had trouble with the "self bailing" feature of the Seacat. We just got used to wearing rubber boots in the 2"-3" of water that the boat would take on. One day, my kids had the boat out on the San Francisco Bay in some rough weather. The took a few waves over the side, so my son gunned the boat to drain the water. Unfortunately, both the scuppers and the new bilge pumps failed simultaneously. They barely made it back to the dock where the boat immediately flipped over and submerged, along with the new twin Evinrude 90's. So sad. The important thing is that everyone was fine. The insurance surveyor focused on the failed scupper as the primary cause.