Boat Taking Water

[Brock O]

Hello Gents,

Few weeks back i started to notice the boat struggling at take off and occasionally leaning to one side. The deck is sealed as such, have had a few floor holes previously which i roughly patched.

Silly i know but have just found the bilge does have a bung to the internal hull...i have noticed it before but never thought it was a bung, i would only worry about the external bung to the bilge. So undid this on the weekend to have water **** for 15 minutes plus, once stopped i did a drive down the hill and back up to try get any remaining water out, i then re-fitting both bilge and rear bungs. Got home last night to find some more water in the bilge...bilge bung is leaking one drop at a time so undid this to have more water **** for another 5 plus minutes....have never notice water in the bilge before especially this color after sitting. I have now jacked up the front end to let this continue as i figure the water is slowly finding its way to the rear.

Purchased a few deck hatches i wanted to install to see what the condition is like inside given the color of the water...any suggestions on were to fit would be great, ive marked out approx stringers below deck using body weight and feel but have no idea if theirs exposed wood etc below.

Enjoy my deep trips fishing and occasionally i get stuck in some choppy conditions so need to know the boat and internals are still solid.

Any help / advice appreciated.

 

[kcassells]

Well alot will be determined after you can see below with the new hatches. Welcome aboard! Nice boat.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Purchased a few deck hatches i wanted to install to see what the condition is like inside given the color of the water...any suggestions on were to fit would be great, ive marked out approx stringers below deck using body weight and feel but have no idea if theirs exposed wood etc below.

Enjoy my deep trips fishing and occasionally i get stuck in some choppy conditions so need to know the boat and internals are still solid.

the color of that water would have me cutting the deck up and replacing stringers, bulkhead, transom and deck. no need to inspect, pretty much guarantee it wont be pretty once you take a look. the brown water is from the tannin in the decaying wood staining the water. there should be no water under the deck. the fact its coffee colored means that any wood under the deck will have long since rotted to mush

 

[Brock O]

Cheers Gents, Most Appreciated.

Will post a few pics once the hatch holes are cut, going to put these over center stringer front and rear giving a view of 2 partitions for each.

The water has been gaining slowly over a 1 year period as far as i can tell.

 

[Brock O]

Cut the 1st hole last night closes to bilge and stuck the camera in, to walk on the deck its seems as solid as the day i purchased.

Not sure about stringers, either there glass or wood covered in glass so the tanning could be from under side of floor ?? would it still be recommended to fully rebuild floor as suggested ??

 

[kcassells]

Next would be to drill into any stringers or bulkheads and see if the shavings come out wet. From bottom up. Saturation starts there. 1/8" bit, check the shavings and keep your fingers crossed. I see lots of mold on the underside deck so water is definitely trapped. Glass seems penetrated on side woods.
Or just try and poke the woods with a screw driver and see what happens.
I'd say the floor a given so that lends the question.. How far do you go? Me says all da way!

 

[jbcurt00]

Yep, only change to the above I'd make is to use a 1/4 or 3/8ths bit.

And until you get all of the deck outta the way, it will be hard to say how much below deck has been compromised and needs replaced.

 

[kcassells]

ahhh yup to dat!

 

[Brock O]

Ok....I don't know if i need to drill holes to determine a few bulk heads have been saturated.

So i'm guessing its marine ply glass coated making a sandwich...once the marine play has been saturated....for a period...is it a given all its strength is gone ? do i need to go to the extend of replacing floor and bulk heads because of this ? as mentioned to walk on nothing is sagging or spongy atm...having been using it extensively over the last few years....some of this in pretty hairy conditions.

Would using this boat once dried be totally irresponsible....no i have no interest in replacing floor or bulk heads unless totally necessary.

 

[CrazyFinn]

Ok....I don't know if i need to drill holes to determine a few bulk heads have been saturated.

So i'm guessing its marine ply glass coated making a sandwich...once the marine play has been saturated....for a period...is it a given all its strength is gone ? do i need to go to the extend of replacing floor and bulk heads because of this ? as mentioned to walk on nothing is sagging or spongy atm...having been using it extensively over the last few years....some of this in pretty hairy conditions.

Would using this boat once dried be totally irresponsible....no i have no interest in replacing floor or bulk heads unless totally necessary.

It's not just saturation that is the issue, it's rot. The bulkheads and stringers are all wood core, with glass covering them. With the colour of the water you are getting out of there, my guess is that the wood cores are beyond being saturated - good chance that at least some of the wood has turned to rotten mush. For now everything still seems solid because the glass on the outside is solid. The problem is, with the encapsulated wood you can never actually get it dried out, and whatever rot is in there will continue to spread. The only way to stop the process is to surgically remove the rotten wood, and replace it with new wood. Not easy, very messy, time consuming - and completely your decision whether you want to do it. If you don't, it will only get worse over time.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Water doesn't pick up that much color from fleeting contact with wood... I hate to say it, but I'd be expecting some bad news as you start digging into this.