Holes in the bilge area under the deck?

[blackwaterstout]

I'm new to boats and just aquired my first one last month. It's an old MFG bass boat that I got cheap. The floor of the boat is a little soft in places and is probably rotted out. I can walk on it but it feel like someday I might fall through. I plan on tearing that floor out this winter and putting in new stringers and flooring. <br /><br />I was having a look at the boat and noticed that in the bilge area there are 3 small holes about the size of a dime that drain the area under the floor. Obvisouly water has gotten in there over the years and caused the floor to rot. My question is why does the boat have these? I would think that if the floor was placed on the boat and fiberglassed in then the area would've been water tight and would never of had a chance to rot. With the current setup if I take on a bit of water it can actually flow into one of those holes and get under the floor. I don't really understand this concept. I'd think it would be better to have the floor put in without holes and maybe some boyancy foam to help it float better. <br /><br />Can someone explain why those holes are put there?

 

[bigboy]

Re: Holes in the bilge area under the deck?

Hmmm, i would always put drain holes. You never know. Imagine you close it all and there is a little crack in your hull of a hole. The wather comes in but cant escape. When you've got drain holes it is also closed but you have at least the chance of take them out and you'll never know maybe one day there can be wather in a room under the floor. I'm currently restoring a fletcher but i'm going to make also a few holes so i can drain the area. If it's completely closed forget about attach your chairs with screws or something else....

 

[crab bait]

Re: Holes in the bilge area under the deck?

B-BOY is right.. gotta have drain holes water does a will get in.. via bolt holes(seats) or any floor penetrations,ect..<br /><br />i prefer to make 'mouse holes'/3 sided holes in the stringers instead of holes as a hole always has 'meat' left next to hull .. even if'n its a 1/16 inch,, that's 1/16 inch water still left behind..<br /><br />USCG says any boat under 21 foot ( ? ) must have level floation .. <br /><br />floation / foam does not provide boat bouyancy.. only when swamped.. to 'provide bouyancy' the foam would have to be outside the hull under the boat..

 

[Mark42]

Re: Holes in the bilge area under the deck?

BWS,<br /><br />What year and model MFG? I ask because some of the '60s models have fiberglass floors and stringers. If the floor is soft, it could be rotted wood, or just stressed out fiberglass. Drill a hole in the floor and you'll know. Most of the 70's and later boats have traditional wood stringers and floors. <br /><br />I also haven't seen or heard about the three holes you speak of. MFG made the floor water tight with drain plugs on the back of the transom. If the floor has holes, they may have been put there by someone else.<br /><br />Have you been to www.mfgboats.com? If not, go to the brochures section to ID your boat with the scanned brochures that are there. <br /><br />Can you post a pic of your boat?<br /><br />Mark

 

[bosavy]

Re: Holes in the bilge area under the deck?

Bws is right . Those holes were in stalled by somebody else.Mine was a 63 and had no holes just a concave area were the water settled to drain.You should have 2 holes in the transom 1 below the floor to let any water out below the floor and 1 to let water out above

 

[blackwaterstout]

Re: Holes in the bilge area under the deck?

I have some pics I'll have to post later. It's a '78 Super Bass. It definately has 3 holes in the vertical wall of the bilge. The piece that connects the deck to the bilge. It also has one low hole through the transom and one higher hole for the bilge exhaust. One of the three holes is on the vertical port side of the bilge. The other is on the starboard side and the third hole is toward right in the middle.<br /><br />They look like they are factory holes. They are not plugged at all. When I get water in the bilge it can actually get into the middle hole. <br /><br />The floor is definately wood and so are the stringers.