Boat leans to port side

bojango541

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 27, 2009
Messages
128
Hello,

I have a 1990 19.5' Spectrum aluminum boat. The boat sits in the water tilted to the port side, and when it gets on a plane, it leans heavily to the port side. At first I thought maybe it was just from the weight of the gear/batteries I have in the boat, but I have determined that not to be the case. I put a new (used) motor on the boat when I purchased it, and it is mounted perfectly in the center on the boat, so that is not causing the lean. The boat doesn't take on water. There is no water is the ski well. We also took out the livewell to see under the floor of the boat and could not see any signs of water.

I was wondering if there is possibly foam (for flotation) under the floor that could possible be waterlogged and retaining water/weight? OR there is water trapped somewhere on one side of the boat that I can't see.

I am tempted to drill a hole in the bottom of the boat to see if water drains out, but I'm not crazy about that idea.



Any ideas????
-Nick
 

Lyle29464

Lieutenant
Joined
Mar 10, 2009
Messages
1,261
Re: Boat leans to port side

A very small amount of weight off center will cause your problem. It could be equipment and or like you said water. When under way the prop torque will increase your problem. A good setup would be the helm on the right and most movable equipment. If it is a water problem only a person that knows that hull can help much. I would call the factory.
 

bojango541

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 27, 2009
Messages
128
Re: Boat leans to port side

The helm is on the starboard side of the boat. I have moved all of my gear to the starboard side as well and it still leaned to the port side. I will try calling the manufacturer.
 

ziggy

Admiral
Joined
Jun 30, 2004
Messages
7,473
Re: Boat leans to port side

i think i'd try taking everything out of the boat. then see how it floats static. if it's still listing to port, imho, there's gotta be water in it somewhere on the port side...
 

5150abf

Vice Admiral
Joined
Aug 12, 2007
Messages
5,808
Re: Boat leans to port side

Has it always done this or is it something new and have you added anything to the boat?

To see if it is water lift the engine and jack the trailer all the way up, maybe set it on a brick and pull the plug and see what comes out.

If it continues to drain for more than a couple minutes I would suspect waterlogged foam.

If it is waterlogged it will continue to drain a little bit for a long time, it is funny it is only on one side though.
 

Evinbuck

Seaman
Joined
Oct 12, 2010
Messages
70
Re: Boat leans to port side

The only other wild guess is the boat at some time has encountered a slight racking or twisting of the entire hull. Unlikely.....however if someone has ever beached the boat hard it could do something like this. Your theory of water logged foam could definitely do it although why just in the port side? Seems if it were water logged on only the port side you would find evidence of moisture along a seam, rivet, weld or something on the port side. If water got in there then it's gotta also come out the same way......slowly maybe but some evidence would eventually be apparent.
 

bojango541

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 27, 2009
Messages
128
Re: Boat leans to port side

Has it always done this or is it something new and have you added anything to the boat?

To see if it is water lift the engine and jack the trailer all the way up, maybe set it on a brick and pull the plug and see what comes out.

If it continues to drain for more than a couple minutes I would suspect waterlogged foam.

If it is waterlogged it will continue to drain a little bit for a long time, it is funny it is only on one side though.

I will try jacking it up when I get a chance, but I cant do much right now because it is buried under 3 feet of snow!
I've never noticed water pouring out when I use the trailer jack, but perhaps it doesn't get high enough up.

It has been like this since i bought it 2 years ago, and ive just been dealing with it. It would just be nice to have a nice level ride, plus I suspect I'm carrying around a lot of extra weight which cant help my fuel economy.
 
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