Help! - Boat 'feels' heavy and has a list to stbd.

[cousinabe]

I have a 1997 Pursuit 2870CC with twin 225 yamahas. In 2004 I had a thru hull transducer installed on the starboard stern side of the boat.

My symptoms: For the past few seasons, my boat has degraded in performance, a slight list to STBD and overall 'feels' heavy. I have to put in bow down port trim to keep the boat level, the boat seems to sway at speed and also at 6kts. It does not hold a line like it used to. Engines will cavitate getting up on plane as well. I don't remember it being like this the first few seasons when I bought the boat in 2000. I used to cruise at 36mph @4krpms, now I'm doing 29mph @43k! The engines will get up to proper 56k rpms @ 46mph. I used to hit 51 WOT.

My gut tells me the hull is wet and I am pushing water weight. I keep thinking the thru hull wasn't installed properly and water is getting in. I don't see any water in the boat.
I had a survey done last season, the surveyor said the hull was wet, but the manufacturer said the numbers seemed reasonable for the boat.

Does anyone have any recommendations or thoughts on on what to do? Would insurance cover this in any way? I am docked in Baltimore MD.

 

[DJ]

Re: Help! - Boat 'feels' heavy and has a list to stbd.

It sure sounds waterlogged to me. The Surveyor confirmed it.

I would contact Pursuit and tell them what the issue is. They may have ideas on how to dry it out, if possible.

Forget insurance.

I have succesfully dried out a waterlogged Whaler (Montauk). It took a month but it did work.

Here is what I did.

1. I found the lowest point on the transom where the foam met the bottom of the hull. I drilled several 3/8" holes.

2. I cut two 1" holes in the deck forward of the center console.

3. I tilted the hull up to about a 30* angle. That started the draining process.

4. I attached two shop vacs, blowing OUT, to the deck holes and secured the nozzles with duct tape. This created a positive pressure in the hull/foam cavity. That forced a lot of water out. I would let the shop vac's run about an hour per day.

5. After about a month, it stopped dripping entirely. By my unscientific measurement (5 gal. buckets) I removed almost 45 gallons of water. That's about 300#.

6. I patched transom holes with Marine Tex. The deck holes were patched with fiberglass mat and resin.


Regarding step #2. You have to find a point where the are no obstructions; stringers, cross bracing etc., between your holes and the wet foam. Pursuit should be able to provide you with a drawing of the hull support structure.

This is a very involved and time consuming process. The size of your boat makes it more difficult.

 

[cousinabe]

Re: Help! - Boat 'feels' heavy and has a list to stbd.

UPDATE:
turned out the wrong props were installed back in 2002.
I had hit a submerged log and both props/lower units were wrecked.
The ins company sent out a surveyor and the wrong props were ordered.
back to OEM props and boat is running fine.
Thanks for your advice.

I had the boat pulled and weighed. It was spot on at 7k lbs with fuel. Glad there is not a water issue. Turns out the bottom is solid glass and reinforced with an encapsulated box stringer setup.