Lots of Rainwater in Livewells

[sailsmanship]

My boat has 2 long livewells port and starboard.<br />I don't use them. When it rains it will completely fill and overflow . I realize rainwater will normally flow into these because there is no seal. Has anybody ever put some type of weatherseal around the floor lip to slow down the rate of fill. I realize that they will not be waterproof, but If I can slow it down they might not overflow.

 

[surlyjoe]

Re: Lots of Rainwater in Livewells

dont they have drain plugs in them?<br /><br />some neoprene scuba style material glued to the bottom of the lid might work, kinda depends on what the jamb looks like...

 

[sailsmanship]

Re: Lots of Rainwater in Livewells

Yes and No. Whoever owned the boat before me took the livewell pumps and hooked them to the drains and used them as a type of bilge pump. They then sealed the hole where the pumps originally came through. I think why they did that was that when you would use the drain, it would empty into the bilge but since there is no weep holes in the stringers, water would just sit there and not make it to the center bilge area. There is evidence that there once was a bilge pump on each side but was removed. They probably wanted to keep the area dry and just pump the water out of the livewells. They must not have used them as livewells. I like the idea, but water fills up quite quickly and I'm not sure that adding a float switch to the livewell pumps would be a good idea.

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: Lots of Rainwater in Livewells

You can get some weather-proof neoprene material used for sealing doors at any of the large home stores. I would say that would keep out 98.76586% of the rainwater. I don't know if any material will keep out the other 1.23414% that always finds its way through somewhere!