Hello all, I have 1998 Smokercraft 2030 commander deckboat, 20ft. Those aren't really common, but were also made as sylvan spaceship, and eventually those brands were dropped in favor the the starcraft deckboat line (around 2002).
In the boat floor is a mount for a post, that holds a small table. We haven't used the table in 6 years. The post is never there, I can't imagine having one more obstacle in a 20ft boat with 5 adults and 5 kids on it. This mounting hole has always had a 'bottom' to it. I know, because I thought it was a stupid design. I use to have to stick a towel or rag down there to get it to dry out after a day of tubing, swimming, etc on the lake. This spring brought the boat out, went on the lake and...hey...there's no water in the post hole. The bottom of the post hole was gone, and doesn't look broken, it looks like it never should have had anything in there in the first place (no cracks). I'm wondering if something got wedged down in there and I simply didn't know it, because it was in there the day I bought the boat.
Now - my question. Is there any possibility that this hole should be plugged? There are drains in the deck to make water flow out of the boat (I don't know what you call those). So usually water doesn't get below deck, much. Right underneath the post hole is the fuel tank, almost lined up with the gauge sender.
Should this hole actually be plugged? Is there an inherit danger in having some water that drips over the top of my fuel tank?
I only boat freshwater.
It would be easy enough for me to make/find a plastic disk that fits in the bottom of this hole and glue it in there. However, I sure do like the idea of not having to try to get all the water out of that hole after every lake day (it's surprisingly challenging, that hole has a lot of crevices in it).
thanks for any guidance you can provide.
Ray
In the boat floor is a mount for a post, that holds a small table. We haven't used the table in 6 years. The post is never there, I can't imagine having one more obstacle in a 20ft boat with 5 adults and 5 kids on it. This mounting hole has always had a 'bottom' to it. I know, because I thought it was a stupid design. I use to have to stick a towel or rag down there to get it to dry out after a day of tubing, swimming, etc on the lake. This spring brought the boat out, went on the lake and...hey...there's no water in the post hole. The bottom of the post hole was gone, and doesn't look broken, it looks like it never should have had anything in there in the first place (no cracks). I'm wondering if something got wedged down in there and I simply didn't know it, because it was in there the day I bought the boat.
Now - my question. Is there any possibility that this hole should be plugged? There are drains in the deck to make water flow out of the boat (I don't know what you call those). So usually water doesn't get below deck, much. Right underneath the post hole is the fuel tank, almost lined up with the gauge sender.
Should this hole actually be plugged? Is there an inherit danger in having some water that drips over the top of my fuel tank?
I only boat freshwater.
It would be easy enough for me to make/find a plastic disk that fits in the bottom of this hole and glue it in there. However, I sure do like the idea of not having to try to get all the water out of that hole after every lake day (it's surprisingly challenging, that hole has a lot of crevices in it).
thanks for any guidance you can provide.
Ray