Water Inside a Hull

[Brandonmartin]

Good morning all. I recently purchased a Power-Cat 15' Runabout catamaran. Not a sail catamaran, just a runabout with a catamaran hull and a 80-HP outboard. It is a model "15-T". My question is: I can hear water splashing INSIDE the pontoons. There are no holes in the fiberglass hull......I am guessing the water seeped into the flooring and then dripped down into the hull voids. How do I get this water out? Do I abesolutely need to (will it eventually rot the fiberglass hulls)? Hoping dot to drill a hole into the hulls! Thanks for any advice you can give!

Thank You,

Brandon Martin
Olympia, WA
3rd Mate - US Merchant Marine

 

[TruckDrivingFool]

Re: Water Inside a Hull

Welcome to iboats Brandon!!!!

First off for best results post some pics (we like option #4 the best) so we can see what you're working with.

For the blind guess'

Can you access the tops of the toons twords the rear? Maybe drilling/cutting through from the top inside the boat to gain access to suck the water out with a bilge pump or wet/dry shop vac.

My final best thought is that maybe you could install bilge type drains in the rear of the toons. So that when you do get water in there you would just have to pull the plugs and let them drain.

 

[Restoration2012]

Re: Water Inside a Hull

Brandon,

Long term this will soften the fiberglass and lead to bigger problems, Does the boat have a coring? Any wood stringers will be compromised long term as well. Not to mention the performance loss due to the excess weight (1 cubic foot of water = 62 LBS). Ideally you want to get the water out of there. Drilling a hole or holes and draining the the hulls will only provide a short term solution to the bigger problem of water getting into the hulls in the first place. If you have a dry place the work on the boat, drilling and draining the hulls and addressing the source of the water would be a good approach. A bunch of drill holes will be easy repairs. Finding where the water is getting in is of course the hard part. Look at all bolt holes, screw holes, mounting brackets, seams, etc. sealing them with ample 5200 or resin as you go.



You do however run the risk of catching the restoration bug along the way and slowly watching your bank account dwindle....:facepalm:

Any pictures of the boat in question? Would love to see it.

 

[Brandonmartin]

Re: Water Inside a Hull

how's this?

Welcome to iboats Brandon!!!!

First off for best results post some pics (we like option #4 the best) so we can see what you're working with.

For the blind guess'

Can you access the tops of the toons twords the rear? Maybe drilling/cutting through from the top inside the boat to gain access to suck the water out with a bilge pump or wet/dry shop vac.

My final best thought is that maybe you could install bilge type drains in the rear of the toons. So that when you do get water in there you would just have to pull the plugs and let them drain.

 

[TruckDrivingFool]

Re: Water Inside a Hull

Little sideways but definitely a cool looking hull! Taking what Resto said into consideration it may be time to do some exploring on the condition of the boat. Even if it needs a full restore I'd say it's definitely one worth doing.

Perhaps a picture of the back of it and some of the inside would probably be more helpful.

Some help on pic posting definitely recommend the photobucket account(its free) since it will allow you to share on the forum much easier. Not to mention cure sideways pics. You start by hovering over you thumbnail of the pic you want and a drop down menu will open

Select Edit from the top and it open the pic in edit mode.

Select adjustment and the full menu pictured above will open and you can rotate it. Make sure you click apply. Then save it.(may have save a copy)

Then once you have the pic going the right way to post it in the forum like above you simply go back to hovering over the thumbnail to get that menu. This time Left click in the IMG code box. It will flash copied. Come back to where you're typing your iboats reply/post and Right click and paste in your reply and viola a nice big pic is there for all to see.

 

[oops!]

Re: Water Inside a Hull

that my friend......is a can of worms.

ill let the others chime in first

 

[GT1000000]

Re: Water Inside a Hull

Welcome Brandon,

Very cool looking boat you got there...

The above suggestions are absolutely spot on...

Your main concern is not only to get rid of the water sloshing around in there, but provide a way to get rid of any future accumulation...

Like the guys mentioned, get a bunch of pics, inside, outside, all around, especially the back of the boat...so we can see what the best solution will be...

Have Fun!
GT1M

 

[bgc]

Re: Water Inside a Hull

Nice Looking Boat! Love the steering wheel!

Check for rotten wood/core and stress cracks. I 2nd adding a drain.

 

[Brandonmartin]

Re: Water Inside a Hull

Thank you for the great info. I will persue the hull drain option. I am pretty sure I fixed where the water was getting in (small hole in floor), and I will work on more photos! I do everything with a smartphone, so a bit difficult!

Brandon

Good morning all. I recently purchased a Power-Cat 15' Runabout catamaran. Not a sail catamaran, just a runabout with a catamaran hull and a 80-HP outboard. It is a model "15-T". My question is: I can hear water splashing INSIDE the pontoons. There are no holes in the fiberglass hull......I am guessing the water seeped into the flooring and then dripped down into the hull voids. How do I get this water out? Do I abesolutely need to (will it eventually rot the fiberglass hulls)? Hoping dot to drill a hole into the hulls! Thanks for any advice you can give!

Thank You,

Brandon Martin
Olympia, WA
3rd Mate - US Merchant Marine