There is a leak or crack in this hull somewhere Livingston LV14

[seanfishy]

I have read a few previous threads on the livingston 14'. I am aware of of what they are and I like the boat. I cannot for the life of me find where the water entry is coming from.

Cliff Notes:
1) Only have water entry on plane, in port hull. No entry at rest or sitting still, even in choppy water.
2) I would PREFER not to cut out the entire floor to find the leak (although this will be done if I cant find the damn thing)
3) I rolled gelcoat on the chine on the port hull in hopes I'd slow it down or stop it which would tell me if I found the right spot somewhere (I did not, and left gelcoat unfinished so you will see those roll marks in the pics)
4) I never had it up on 2x4s, I did find one area that is suspect once I was able to get it on blocks, but confuses me (will be repaired in either case).
5) There are old bolt holes that may be suspect, although they are filled on top, they may not be from underneath as the boat has had several owners that I am aware of.
6) The center hull is NOT full of water which kind of surprised me.

I couldn'g get images to post for some reason so I put them on my website for now.

 

[Mikeopsycho]

I feel your frustration. I have limited experience with Livingston boats, my dinghy is a 7 1/2" Livingston. I wish I could offer some helpful suggestions, but all I've got is "good luck". I hope you can solve this puzzle, Livingston's are good boats, it's worth the effort to find and fix the leak.

 

[seanfishy]

Its a wonderful boat. I have no issues runnning it on plane in stuff no 14ft boat should ever see. 3-4ft in 20kt winds just a couple weekends back (bilge ran the whole 12mile long lake crossing as I just flipped the switch on). Not once unsafe or scared and we had to cross for our camping trip. It was so bad, the 2 18ft jon boats and 22ft bay boat ran the perimeter, I ran a straight line across, pounded a bit, but never came off plane at 18mph and never went airborne.

I'll find/fix this thing. Its too nice a boat not to.

 

[Harris Chain CFL]

Hi, I just joined the forum and have a LV12 that I'm adding remote to and a new Suzuki 25hp. If it's appropriate, I'll post pics.

But as to the leaking problem. If it happens only on plane, the water is most likely coming in through the transom area where the highest pressure would be. It could be a very small area with a small leak that is pressure-fed. But first, put the boat in the water, completely dry. Go immediately to plane and observe that water is not splashing in, or leaking through the stern plugs - just in case

 

[seanfishy]

Update >>> Found and fixed. I am still not sure exactly where it was from, but I ripped the floor out, ground and repaired ANY spots that looked questionable. Then I got underneath and anywhere I could see light coming through with teh floor removed, I filled in with thickened gelcoat along with filling some previous mounting holes from owners of this boat before me. In total I think there were 15 or 16. I have about 3 or 4 left at this point to still fill in, but currently they have silicone so they are temporarily fine. Everything is filled from above.

Confusing repair and I'm not sure I'll ever know where it was from, but well worth it. Now to figure out my left list on plane. I'm thinking and hoping my transducer is mounted too low and essentially making a miniature trim tab on the starboard side without a match on the the port side.

 

[Mikeopsycho]

Congrats on the leak repair! You now know something under there was leaking, and you can rest easy knowing you fixed it along with patching up other potential future leaks. Job well done!

 

[seanfishy]

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Livingston with floor out. Floatation boxes remained in place for this process so the hull did not distort.

 

[seanfishy]

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Running to verify & then floor back in place, now to bed it and glass it in place. You can sort of see the port lean in the photo. On the starboard side the wake is slightly higher up than the port side from the transducer's drag.

 

[seanfishy]

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Transducer...I think/hope its just mounted too low and may be acting like a miniature trim tab. Thinking about removing it and running it, temporarily mount it on the port side and see if it counter acts the effect also.

 

[ondarvr]

From the looks of it it's way too low.

​Also, Livingstons are made very thin and light, it doesn't take much for them to leak, I typically re-glass the entire inside of the heel from front to back in both hulls just so it doesn't leak again.

​Almost every old Liningston you see looks like a patchwork quilt on the hull from the repairs.

 

[seanfishy]

From the looks of it it's way too low.

That's what I'm thinking as well. I wouldnt think at 20mph it can create enough lift to drop the port hull, but Im going to fold it up and run it to find out. I do remember installing it lower than the one I got the boat with since I swapped from a cheap b/w sounder to a cheap HDI downscan one.