1998 SeaRay Bowrider 210 Signature- water below fiberglass floor insert/ ski locker

I was cleaning out my boat and emptied out the in-floor ski locker to wipe it down. Lining the bottom of the ski locker is factory snap in carpet. Upon removing the snap in carpet, i noticed a water stain (now completely dry) that was coming from a small spider web crack at the port side of the ski locker well forward of where the lid is. I have no idea how water got behind the locker tub- but i want to be able to dry it out or remove it if there is any standing water there. I contacted SeaRay customer service, give them my HIN and asked how i would be able to remove or dry out any standing water from that area and that if there was any standing water in that area, does it would spell trouble in the future. I asked about the boats construction, how water could have gotten there, and if the stringers were at risk from any water getting behind the locker.

To this they replied " We don't have a brochure showing the construction of the boat but I can tell you that this boat has a fiberglass Liner instead of Stringers. It also is foam filled under the Liner for floatation.
The only wood would be in the center of the Transom , bilge for support of the Engine, and anywhere else that needs extra support like behind cleats & seats". "If water is in this area, there isn't any other way to get it out than to drill a hole to let it drain out. We would suggest having a surveyor take a look at the boat to determine how much water it may have in it. With this being foam filled, the foam should dry out once the water has been drained."

The ski locker itself has an aft drain tube the routes under the fuel tank and into the floor of the bilge. With this being the case, that would mean any water under the ski locker or under the fiberglass liner would have no way of draining out as the bilge appears to be part of the fiberglass liner. There are plastic plugs at each side of the ski locker that i removed to check behind it. Behind it is foam- all the way up to the plug hole. The foam feels dry. I tried lowering the front of the boat so the bow is down- to see if i can get any water underneath to come forward to seep out of the crack. I left it in that position for at least 12 hours and didn't get a thing out of it. Should i just leave this alone or should i actually drill a hole where the crack is to see if there's anything back there?

Re: 1998 SeaRay Bowrider 210 Signature- water below fiberglass floor insert/ ski lock

Welcome to iBoats!

Are you the original owner? If not do you know the history of the boat as far as how she was cared for and stored in the past? Is she stored inside now? Have you inspected the hull for damage? Any idea how water could have gotten below deck?

Re: 1998 SeaRay Bowrider 210 Signature- water below fiberglass floor insert/ ski lock

Woodonglass said:

Welcome to iBoats!

Are you the original owner? If not do you know the history of the boat as far as how she was cared for and stored in the past? Is she stored inside now? Have you inspected the hull for damage? Any idea how water could have gotten below deck?

Click to expand...

No sir, i am the 3rd owner. The second owner had it stored sideways in his garage for the term of his ownership. I have paperwork of its previous services from both the original and second owner. It appears to be very well cared for. I have no idea how any water could have gotten down there at least during my ownership. The water stain is well set and won't clean off with normal elbow grease so that seepage must have been from long ago.

Joel

Re: 1998 SeaRay Bowrider 210 Signature- water below fiberglass floor insert/ ski lock

If there's no apparent hull damage where water could be penetrating the hull then I'd just keep and eye on it and not worry about it until water showed up again if and when it does.

Re: 1998 SeaRay Bowrider 210 Signature- water below fiberglass floor insert/ ski lock

Woodonglass said:

If there's no apparent hull damage where water could be penetrating the hull then I'd just keep and eye on it and not worry about it until water showed up again if and when it does.

Click to expand...

I dropped off my boat to a SeaRay affiliated shop and the owner, who is very familiar with my boat said that since its in such an inconspicuous area, I should just go ahead and drill a perfect hole just to let out any water that might be behind it- then either plug the hole, or repair it. Im thinking I will probably go that route just to be sure and get out any standing water that might be trapped there. Thanks for all of your thoughts and input.

Joel

Re: 1998 SeaRay Bowrider 210 Signature- water below fiberglass floor insert/ ski lock

Its been a while, but i've been doing some more investigating about the water stain in my ski locker that appears to be coming from moisture that is under the fiberglass liner. From inside the ski locker, i was able to sneak a flexible inspection camera from the hole where the plastic cover was- all the way to the area just behind the crack of the ski locker. I'm happy to report that the area behind/under the ski locker is completely dry. No water or moisture to be found. What i found is that foam that is between the hull and liner has pulled away from the locker, allowing a 1/2" void from the wall of foam lining the hull to the back side of the ski locker. I was able to slide the flexible camera along this void until i reached the spiderweb crack. It took many attempts, but i found the exact spot where the crack is, but by using a pencil beam flashlight and shining it at the exact point of the crack from inside the locker, i was able to find the glow from light with the inspection camera from the backside of the locker.
My forensics might be completely off, but It appears that the crack was caused by a random stainless steel screw that was imbedded into the foam. Searay says that there are no stringers in this boat. Only a fiberglass liner, with foam in between it and the hull. Well somehow (i'm assuming during the boats assembly), 3 stainless steel screws were dropped and wedged itself right at the point where the ski locker and hull comes close together. When the void between the hull and liner was filled with foam, the screws were forever trapped in that position. I suppose over the course of many years, the flexing of the hull while under way, was pushing these screws into the backside of the ski locker causing a fine spiderweb crack. Also, i never saw any actual water there, but there is brown staining inside the ski locker where the crack is indicating that some moisture from between the hull and liner was making its way through this crack and into the ski locker.

My question is.. what do i do now? The screws seem to be roughly 1/2" away from making any contact with the backside of the ski locker. If i were to refill this void with foam, will that be sufficient in keeping the screws from ever making contact again? OR- should i cut a hole in the ski locker, fish out the screws, repair the hole- THEN refill the void with foam? I posted some pictures taken by the inspection camera. Visible are the 3 screws. The red dot indicates the exact point of the spiderweb crack and the red circle indicates the glowing area from where i shined my pencil beam flashlight from inside the locker. Im a complete newb and inexperienced, but i have been lurking for quite a while and have watched many video's so my confidence is high. I just need some opinions.



J

Re: 1998 SeaRay Bowrider 210 Signature- water below fiberglass floor insert/ ski lock

How long is the structural warranty offered by Sea ray on this boat? If there is ANY manufacturers warranty left on it, then IMHO there is scope for a claim based on these screws being left there during manufacture.
If there isn't and you are left to your own devices, then you could 1) pay someone to fix it, 2) fix it yourself, or 3) Do nothing and live with it.
If the screws are reachable and movable, then why not try some 'non-invasive surgery' to remove the screws. You have already got your inspection camera in there. Could you not attach some very strong magnets (you can buy super strength magnets - my lads have used them on school projects) to the inspection camera and try and remove the screws with the magnets.
If you can't do that and you are insistent on removing them, then 'invasive surgery' is called for and you'll need to cut a hole where you can extricate the screws from. Then inject some cavity foam in the small area and then finally seal up the hole you drilled. You may also want to repair the spider crack.
Very finally, personally I would not put the carpet back ion the ski locker. Whilst I am not against carpet in boats unlike many, I cannot for the life of me see the point of carpet in what would normally be a wet area.
I am sure you will get many opinions on this.

Re: 1998 SeaRay Bowrider 210 Signature- water below fiberglass floor insert/ ski lock

I'm with britisher on the idea of leaving out carpet from the bottom of a ski locker. Lot's of non-absorbent things you put in the floor of the locker to deaden sound. Trapping water in a piece of carpet is a great recipe for mold, if nothing else.

I'm rather puzzled by the foam "pulling away" a half inch. Any idea what that's about? If foam was poured with the locker in place, I'd be surprised if a gap opened up unless something moved. I don't recall seeing many people talking about their foam shrinking...

I'd be wanting to look at the foam right were it hits the hull; if water is getting in there an pooling, that's were the foam might be soaked.

Re: 1998 SeaRay Bowrider 210 Signature- water below fiberglass floor insert/ ski lock

I'm rather puzzled by the foam "pulling away" a half inch. Any idea what that's about? If foam was poured with the locker in place, I'd be surprised if a gap opened up unless something moved. I don't recall seeing many people talking about their foam shrinking...

Click to expand...

Yes I wasn't sure about that came about either as far as the foam pulling away. What i do know is that the foam that pulled away from the locker is still in the exact shape of the locker all the say down to where they come close together at the hull. Since the locker itself is beneath the fiberglass liner,and the liner is part of the cap, I can't imagine how anything could have moved. I've poked my finger into the foam from as far deep as i could reach though the hole in top left side of the ski locker and from what i can feel, the foam is dry. From what i can see deep from behind the locker with the camera- that area appears to be dry as well. The camera itself has poked into the foam as i'm working it down there and the lens stays completely clear.

You have already got your inspection camera in there. Could you not attach some very strong magnets (you can buy super strength magnets - my lads have used them on school projects) to the inspection camera and try and remove the screws with the magnets.
If you can't do that and you are insistent on removing them, then 'invasive surgery' is called for and you'll need to cut a hole where you can extricate the screws from. Then inject some cavity foam in the small area and then finally seal up the hole you drilled. You may also want to repair the spider crack.

Click to expand...

I had the exact same thoughts and attached a very small rare earth magnet to the inspection camera and tried to work my way in there. I could not get the screws to move at all as either the ss screws are not magnetic, or they are just embedded too deep into the foam to pull away. I will give it one last shot with a specific extraction while leaving the camera in place, but the location of the screws are pretty far away from where my access hole is (slightly less than 2 feet)... it might just be impossible to do. If I cant remove them in a non invasive way, I will probably end up drilling a small 1" hole in the locker just to extract the screws as you mentioned.


The black arrows indicate my point of access with the camera. These holes were there from the factory with glued in plastic plugs. The circle indicates the location of the spiderweb crack. There's another smaller crack between it and the carpet snap- which happens to coincide with the location of the other screws beneath it.


Thanks for the input guys... this ordeal may forever remain a mystery. One of my coworkers playfully suggested that my boat was assembled on a Friday and one of the guys or gals at the assembly plant was just too excited to get his weekend started...dropped a handful screws- picking up most of them then thought " eh.. there's no harm in leaving them there....

J