water in my boat

[deezs54]

hey guys still new to the boating world going on 3 months with my first boat that is bigger than a canoe. i put it in a slip the other day and it rained today so i thought i would go down and see how all was going at the marina . well when i got down there my boat had a bout 3to 4 inches of water in it not a real big deal but it was shocking due to the amout of rain that came down . so any way i turned on the beilge pump and it kicked ouat some water and stopped but there was still alot of water in the hull part i have two access panales back by the transum when i opened them yhe water rushed down and the pump kicked it out shuold i leave the caps off of the access ports ? also i have 3 plugs in the transum wall shuold i leave them out also? just to get the best info my boat is a 1981 aquasport walk around with and 225 eveanrude o/b can someone give some ideas or is this normal thanx mark

 

[Solittle]

Re: water in my boat

Your post is a bit confusing as you say it is in a slip but wonder if you should leave the transom plugs out. If it is on a trailer leave the transom plugs out and jack the trailer up so the bow is highr than the stern. If you have it in the water you need to install a float switch to automatically turn on the bilge pump as needed - make sure that you periodically charge the battery as a bilge pump is worth zilch with a dead battery.<br /><br />Some water in the bilge is perfectly normal.

 

[deezs54]

Re: water in my boat

sorry for the confusion. the boat is on the water .the float switch sound like it wold work well. but should i leave the caps off the access ports? the water stays onthe deck of the boat untill i open it thanx mark

 

[Speedwagon]

Re: water in my boat

You should probably have 2 batteries as well, if you are going to leave it in the water, with an auto pump. That way, if it does kill one battery, you still have the other to start the engine. Or, you still have the other to keep the boat from sinking in a pinch. Either way, you need a battery switch with this setup, to keep the 2 batteries seperate while unattended.

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: water in my boat

I don't think you should leave the hatches open. If the boat takes on a lot of water unexpectedly, it could overwhelm the bilge pump, and swamp the boat. Is the water standing just on deck, or is it getting into the cuddy? The water should go into the splashwell, you may try pulling out the transom plugs if you have good scupper valves. How much did it rain?

 

[paulie0735]

Re: water in my boat

It’s amazing how much rain water a boat can catch in a storm. If you are leaving your boat in the water than you need a good quality deep cycle battery for the bilge pump wired to an automatic float switch. This battery needs to be on a different circuit to the rest of the boat so that nothing else in the boat is live and the start battery(s) can be left isolated. You will also need your charging system to be wired to this battery but it than needs be able to be disconnected again for when the boat is at port. It’s not a difficult job but does require a degree of knowledge of boat electrics.

 

[nlkent]

Re: water in my boat

If you pull your transom plug while the boat is sitting at the slip and you dump water on the deck does the boat drain the water out the plug, or does water come into the boat from the plug. The plug should be very close to the waterline. It may take a little water, but for the most part if you took a wave over the bow would the water drain? It would probably drain underway, but you need to know if it drains at anchor too. If you had water in your bilge it sounds like the deck is leaking into the bilge somewhere. That is a problem, because the boat can't drain that water itself. THe boat will sit lower in the water and take water through your transom plug that is supposed to drain the deck. If you have to rely on bilge pumps, which is a good back up idea, then you should do the dual battry system like others have mentioned to avoid a drained battery. I have seen boats almost sink because of drained batteries from the bilge pumps. If left alone unattended for too long this will happen, if the boat relys on bilge pumps to expel water.

 

[deezs54]

Re: water in my boat

hey nick and others <br /> thanks you for the advice. i do have two batts in it. i was wondering should i get a third and hook it up to the auto pump? to answer your question nick the water that came out of the bilge at first was not much at all maybe 10 t0 20 ozs ,is that alot? as far as the transum pluges i t will drain uner power and to be honest i was a bit freaked out whan my buddy pulled them out while we were on the water so i made hime put them back in when we stopped. this the first boat i have ever owned with multable plugs so i will try puling them out some time when i am out there working on it just to keep an eye on it thanks for the input you have helped alot

 

[deezs54]

Re: water in my boat

studlymandingo <br />thanks for your input to anser your question the water in not making into te cuddy it is stay on the deck untill open the access port.i do have one question for you what is a scupper vaulve ? like i said still kind of new to this sorry <br /> mark

 

[jch7450]

Re: water in my boat

I allways run the pump on mine on the deep clycle battery, that way I have a better chance the Starter battery will be charged up before going out, then switch to both to keep them both up.

 

[Dave Abrahamson]

Re: water in my boat

deezs54, a scupper is a hole(s) in the transom that has a device, be it a ball check valve or a rubber flap, that allows water to drain off the deck but not let seawater back in.<br />Like these;<br />

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<br /><br />Hope that helped.<br /><br />Dave<br /><br /><br />Dave

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: water in my boat

Precisely Dave! I think it would be a good idea to have a couple on your transom drains if you are continuing to have the rain on deck issue. As Dave mentioned, rain water drains off the deck, the valve keeps the marina water in the marina. The middle one that is shown above is the rubber flapper type. It is what I have seen most commonly on transom drains. You can buy just the outer ring and flapper to cover the thru-hull on the transom.

 

[deezs54]

Re: water in my boat

thanks dave. i will get one tomarrow at local west marine .sholud i get three of them, one for each of the transom pulgs or just the middle one

 

[ed/il]

Re: water in my boat

The scupper plugs are probably there for a reason. My boat had the same problem. I plugged the scuppers because they were to close to the water line to be safe. Water would stay in the cockpit with the scupper plugs in. I fixed the problem by installing a pvc pipe that drained the water to the bilge pump. I put a paint sifter bag at the end to catch any debree before it enter the bilge. Debre and dirt in the bilge is trouble. Two automatic pumps at the transom and one under center console. Two batteries. I only open scuppers when boat is on trailer or washing boat. If I was in bad weather I could open scuppers to drain water while under way. I wish my scuppers worked but they are to low. Some self bailing boats are close to self sinking boats.

 

[jch7450]

Re: water in my boat

Just a note on scuppers, here in the Chesapeake bay, we have a really bad problem with barnicles Theres been a many reports that they can grow in side of them and cause them not seal, result> a sunken boat

 

[jch7450]

Re: water in my boat

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