97 Monterey, standing water in ski storage compartment

[gt2003]

My gf just bought a 97 Montery Montura 186. After it rains, there is always standing water in the ski compartment that is built into the floor. There is a hole in the bottom of the compartment but it's simply a hole in the fiberglass, not a drain or anything that I can clean out. There has to be a drain hole somewhere underneath but I can't find it and it's not visible to me. Any ideas on how to fix this issue? I've got a high speed air pump for innertubes and have tried blowing air into the hole to see if I can give a little pressure to blow out the clog. No luck, I just see air bubbles coming up through the carpet. I've tried going thru the main "plug" but it appears to just be an opening into the HUGE hull of the boat. So, if you have any ideas, let me know. Thanks, Greg

 

[Utahboatnut]

Re: 97 Monterey, standing water in ski storage compartment

It should drain down to the keel of the boat from there it should drain thru a pipe into the bilge. See if there is a piece of pvc pipe that comes out of the bulkhead and is stubbed off into the bilge, if so take a fish tape and run it thru the pipe a number of times. Have someone with a good flashlight look down the hole in the ski locker and see if they can see the end of the fish tape. If no pipe then all that water is sitting in there and rotting out the boat from the bottom up. Best advise is to keep it covered ALWAYS and use some kind of a frame inside under the cover to assure that the water doesn't pool on the cover and leak thru into the boat. A guy on here just finished his monterey rebuild that was all rotted out under the floor from the same reasons as you have now.

 

[gt2003]

Re: 97 Monterey, standing water in ski storage compartment

Thank you so much. I'm just becoming familiar with the boat so want to get these little issues lined out as quickly as possible. The boat has been stored under a metal building when not in use for the last several years so hopefully no damage has been done. I'll post results once I get it figured out. Thanks again for the help.

 

[convergent]

Re: 97 Monterey, standing water in ski storage compartment

Just be careful working on that because the bottom of the ski compartment may actually be the hull. That is the case on my boat and I had some water standing there and didn't like the way the drain was done so for a brief thought, I contemplated drilling a hole to make it drain easier. Thankfully that thought didn't go to action or I would have had a very big hole in the bottom of the boat. The way my boat is designed, it traps a bit of water in there that takes a while to drain if I get caught in the rain or we have a lot of wet people in the boat draining. If its standing, I use a shop vac to get it all out and then leave the boat out on a warm day with the locker door open and it dries out. I keep the boat in a garage normally.

For testing your situation, you may want to crank the trailer jack up to get the bow up as high as you can (make sure your motor is trimmed up), and then use a garden hose to spray water in the ski locker and see if and when it comes out. It may just be that the way the boat is positioned on the trailer that the ski locker is down hill to the drain.

 

[MTribe08]

Re: 97 Monterey, standing water in ski storage compartment

A guy on here just finished his monterey rebuild that was all rotted out under the floor from the same reasons as you have now.

haha, I wonder who that was?

 

[MTribe08]

Re: 97 Monterey, standing water in ski storage compartment

My gf just bought a 97 Montery Montura 186. After it rains, there is always standing water in the ski compartment that is built into the floor. There is a hole in the bottom of the compartment but it's simply a hole in the fiberglass, not a drain or anything that I can clean out. There has to be a drain hole somewhere underneath but I can't find it and it's not visible to me. Any ideas on how to fix this issue? I've got a high speed air pump for innertubes and have tried blowing air into the hole to see if I can give a little pressure to blow out the clog. No luck, I just see air bubbles coming up through the carpet. I've tried going thru the main "plug" but it appears to just be an opening into the HUGE hull of the boat. So, if you have any ideas, let me know. Thanks, Greg

I'm the "guy" who just finished a deck/stringer replacement. My boat is a 1995 Monterey Montura 210. Have a look at these pictures. If you want to look through my whole restore thread, its in my signature.

In this picture..you can see the back of the ski locker has a drain hole. Is this the same hole that you have??

Or, do you have a hole in the bottom of the ski locker like these 2? The previous owner of my boat, put these holes here...who knows why. I have a built in ice chest under one of the the bow seats..it drains into the ski locker. The water should drain through the hole in the first picture..then under the gas tank, and back to the bilge. But after he drilled the hole in the bottom of the ski locker, it drained down to the keel and had no where to go. Stupid.

I"m not positive, but I would bet your boat was designed pretty similar to mine as far as drainage.

 

[gt2003]

Re: 97 Monterey, standing water in ski storage compartment

Thanks! The ski hole at the back of our ski locker, for some reason, is on the floor of the locker. The same location as yours but on the floor instead of on the "wall". I can put my index finger down the hole but there is no sort of drain tube or anything that I can feel, just water that is backed up. As mentioned, it does drain but drains very slowly. We are going out today so I'll get down into the engine compartment and figure out if there is some type of drain tube that is all clogged up. I'll stop in and give an update this evening or tomorrow morning. Thanks.

 

[tractoman]

Re: 97 Monterey, standing water in ski storage compartment

Try blowing some compressed air in the hole. It's probably plugged. My guess is it should be draining to the bilge.

 

[gt2003]

Re: 97 Monterey, standing water in ski storage compartment

I used our electric "tube" air pump to try to "blow it out". It's not compressed air but puts out a very good air flow. All I ended up with was water coming up through the carpet around the "outline" of the ski locker.

 

[Lrider]

Re: 97 Monterey, standing water in ski storage compartment

Try a shopVac

 

[gt2003]

Re: 97 Monterey, standing water in ski storage compartment

That will be my next option. I'd really like to get it unclogged if at all possible. But, I'll do just about anything so I don't have to go thru a total rebuild!

 

[MTribe08]

Re: 97 Monterey, standing water in ski storage compartment

That will be my next option. I'd really like to get it unclogged if at all possible. But, I'll do just about anything so I don't have to go thru a total rebuild!

In your bilge, is there a drain hole at the bottom of the bulkhead located where the arrow is?
Sorry for the fuzzy picture.

 

[gt2003]

Re: 97 Monterey, standing water in ski storage compartment

Just so happens the boat is sitting in my driveway right now, lemme check......

Yes, as a matter of fact there is! Can I assume this is the drain hole?

If so, I guess my next step is to get a fish tape and get after it!

 

[tractoman]

Re: 97 Monterey, standing water in ski storage compartment

You got it. My locker has a pipe that carries water fr0m the locker to the bilge area. It also has a plug I can put in the locker end of the pipe to keep bilge water from sloshing into the ski locker. I leave this and the garbord drain plug out when on the trailer, and both in when it's in the water.

 

[gt2003]

Re: 97 Monterey, standing water in ski storage compartment

Maybe you can help me then Mike. The inside of the ski locker is carpeted and there is a drain hole at the bottom with no pipe at all connected. I can stick my index finger in that hole and that's where the water is. I was looking closer yesterday and there is what appears to be a off white colored cap in the fiberglass below the ski locker but I can't tell if it's removable or not. Nope, upon taking a closer feel, lol, it feels like it's simply a "hump" in the fiberglass. There is no edge or lip on it. Let me run take a picture real quick and see if it helps. Ok, here it is. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

Pics are blurry but you'll get the idea

This is the narrow end of the ski locker, closer to the stern. The white you see inside the hole is simply fiberglass

Don't know if this helps but it's a close up of the hole in the carpet/locker bottom

 

[MTribe08]

Re: 97 Monterey, standing water in ski storage compartment

Just so happens the boat is sitting in my driveway right now, lemme check......

Yes, as a matter of fact there is! Can I assume this is the drain hole?

If so, I guess my next step is to get a fish tape and get after it!

Yes. That is a drain hole. In your boat, is there a removable gas tank cover? Or is your deck one solid piece?
Can you shine a flashlight into that hole in the ski locker and get a look at the bulkhead a few inches past that? Can you see another drain hole, where the water should be going?

 

[gt2003]

Re: 97 Monterey, standing water in ski storage compartment

Directly underneath the hole in the carpet/ski locker, maybe 5 inches is what appears to be a whitish looking "cap" but I don't feel any edges to it where I could pry it off to remove it. That's about all I've been able to see though.

I don't know if my deck is one solid piece or not. I'm headed to the boat right now to see what I can come up with.

Any thoughts on the drain hole "cap"

 

[scbackpacker]

Re: 97 Monterey, standing water in ski storage compartment

This must be common with these boats. My 1995 196 does the same thing. When I put the boat in the water the ski locker gets wet. I pulled the carpet out of the ski locker all it does it act like sponge to hold water. When I get home I open the locker door and let it dry out. My question is where is the water coming from? I think it may be coming in the drain for the anchor hold or the drain for the ice chest under the bow seat. These are the only openings that I can see that would let water in.

 

[MTribe08]

Re: 97 Monterey, standing water in ski storage compartment

I pulled the carpet out of the ski locker all it does it act like sponge to hold water.

Yea, I pulled mine out too..bought some rubber liner from Harbor Freight and put that in there.

My question is where is the water coming from? I think it may be coming in the drain for the anchor hold or the drain for the ice chest under the bow seat. These are the only openings that I can see that would let water in.

If you are using your ice chest under the bow seat, and filling it with Ice, then yes that drains into your ski locker.

On my boat, the anchor locker has a drain off the bow of the boat, it does not drain into the ski locker.

Where is the drain in your ski locker? On the floor like his, or on the bulkhead like mine?

 

[MTribe08]

Re: 97 Monterey, standing water in ski storage compartment

Directly underneath the hole in the carpet/ski locker, maybe 5 inches is what appears to be a whitish looking "cap" but I don't feel any edges to it where I could pry it off to remove it. That's about all I've been able to see though.

I don't know if my deck is one solid piece or not. I'm headed to the boat right now to see what I can come up with.

Any thoughts on the drain hole "cap"

Mine, did not have this "cap" you are referring to. But then again, your drain hole in the locker is in a different spot than mine.

Since you have a hole in your bilge..you have to have a hole somwwhere else.

If you are having a tough time seeing into that hole to figure out what is going on..Just drill a bigger hole. Take a 1" or a 1.5" hole cutter and drill it out. Since it appears that is your drain hole, then it won't matter how big the hole is.

Another thing, like Packer said..lose the carpet. Just promotes rot.