Plug to low?

[DutchMerc]

I have a 15" small boat, and i m nit sure if i have a problem. I am using a Mercury 402 Thunderbold outboard. On the back of the boat there are two plugs, one of them is at the lowest point in the hull, and the other is in the lowest point from the splashwell.
I noticed that the plug from the splaswell is below the waterline. Shouldn't I be able to drain the water from the splaswell when on the water? Is my motor to heavy, or do i have another problem? When on the driveway, i always take out both plugs to drain the boat, and from the lowest plug there is always some water coming out after a day on the water. (2-3 coffeecups). When i leave the plug out, it keeps dripping for several days before it stops. This is what i am worried about. Is this normal, or is this a case of wet foam?

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Plug to low?

I doubt that your outboard is too heavy. More likely, you have some waterlogged foam between your hull and deck. That the bilge plug continues to drip for days after you're on the water seems to be evidence that there's more water in your boat than you think.

The best solution is to figure out the orginal weight of your boat, then to weigh the boat, empty and without the outboard. The extra weight will be water in the hull.

The other possibility is that you have too much weight in the stern. Fuel tanks, batteries, etc., can add a good deal of weight.

One thing's for sure, your splash well drain should not be below the waterline.

I don't know what horsepower your outboard is, since I'm not that familar with Mercury outboards. If it exceeds the maximum hp rating for your boat, though, that could be the problem. If it's 40 hp outboard, though, that's unlikely.

What brand is your boat, and what year?

 

[cordell]

Re: Plug to low?

Is that a long shaft on a short shaft transom, or is it a optical illusion? My guess with it dripping for a couple days is water logged foam. How is your deck, a few weak spots? I had a boat that had a pencil sized hole in it and I would get quite a bit of water draining. When I opened it up to replace the deck and rotted stringers I found the foam was dry rotted and would not hold water but rather crumbled in my hands. I eventually sold that boat, but the work of stringers and deck replacement was a challenge, you might have seen my messed up thread on it, lol.


Good luck,
cordell

 

[DutchMerc]

Re: Plug to low?

The best solution is to figure out the orginal weight of your boat, then to weigh the boat, empty and without the outboard. The extra weight will be water in the hull.

The other possibility is that you have too much weight in the stern. Fuel tanks, batteries, etc., can add a good deal of weight.


What brand is your boat, and what year?

I don't know the original weight of the boat, i've been trying to find the manufacturer and brand since i bought it, but i cannot find a simular boat. All i know is the boat is probably build in Europe. According to the registration it is a Cresent, but after i contacted them, they assure me it is not build there... (see my thread "boat manufacturer").

As for the weight in the stern: It is a '74 Mercury 2stroke 40HP longtail motor and i am using a 6 Gallon fuel-tank, sitting just in front of the splasswell (2 Ft. in front of transom), and a verry small car batery, just to start the motor.

As for the motor, I know it is hanging a bit low, the lower anticav. plate is 2.5 inches below the lowest point of the boat. I am looking for the posibilaty to modify this, but it does not change anything on the weigt i think. So before i make any changes, i need to know if i can keep this motor, or it needs to be replaced by a lighter one....

Although the floor feels riggid and looks good, i dont know what's below..I need to find out if there is water under the floor.: