Why Was This Boat Full of Water? Was it just the bilge pump?

[@ratdude747]

This sounds like what happened to the 1976 Starcraft Montego (16' tri-hull with a Mercruiser 302) I was gifted last fall. 14 years ago it had been left outside at a negligent marina for 6 weeks uncovered and the boat's bilge pump is manual (and IIRC, optional that year). Rain flooded the bilge to the point of needing a new starter. It ran another 4 years before being stuck in a garage for 10 years (it was usually garage-kept on a trailer)... which is how it was when I got it. They mentioned having a soft spot in the floor after that incident... which was due to the bilge under the ski locker not having a drain (or connection to the engine bilge) and the ski locker floor only being loosely fiberglassed to the hull, allowing water to enter but not to easily exit. After 14 years, I made the horrifying discovery of such and ended up cutting the entire ski locker floor out with an oscillatory saw revealing the frozen lagoon underneath (it was late winter when I was doing such). Thankfully, the locker floor wasn't connected to any structural wood (was placed/glassed after the main hull and stringers were glassed and baked), so the damage is limited to the floor by the back of the ski locker, some non-structural wood under the gas tank (at the end of the deck board under the back seat), and the really old set of Dick Pope Jr. Skis that were still in the locker (lots of moisture damage!). I'll have to remove the seat and redo the bad part of the deck at a later date (this winter?)... and I have considered redoing the pump wiring to have a second fused power supply running off a float switch instead of the switch/breaker in the helm (or swapping to a pump with such functionality). Not that I expect to leave it at a marina (either in a slip or in the lot on a trailer) uncovered like that... I don't have a garage big enough to store it but I do have it under a seal skin cover which has worked great once I made a robust enough support pole for such.

[@trcass1]

Great segment Wayne. i had a 1996 Bayliner 2452 i kept in Breezy Point Marina, south of Chesapeake Beach. i hated pulling it and bottom painting it. what a pita. its a dirty job scraping it and putting bottom paint on it. i had a trailer for it but it was almost like a big rig with the truck and boat on it.....besides I'm only about 2 miles from the marina. when the boat was in the marina, it was my fortress of solitude.....lol. I recently got rid of the boat. I've found that i wont keep a boat in the water anymore due to all the extra maintenance required, not to mention marina fees for slips. Luke is a wild and crazy guy. he's out there and hilarious. i saw that segment you flashed. it was great. thanks for sharing.

[@kokoyhawaii]

Awesome segment! I feel like you are taking extra steps in addressing the negativity that is pervasive online. Forget about those losers! We love your content, and appreciate it! Thanks!

[@leadreviewer3257]

You're right boats require a little extra attention and that's a cool boat its worth the trouble

[@runbmc35]

Wayne! Been a while since I watched one of ur vids. This again is a very good and informative video

[@WayneTheBoatGuy]

Thanks!

[@markdimaio8396]

Another non condescending and a informative video. Thank you for defense of your friend.

[@WayneTheBoatGuy]

Thank you!

[@SergeantPope]

My bildge pump was broken the first year I bought my Searay. Finally got to replacing it. Luckily while it was out it never got too bad down there. I would just use a shop vac every month or so

[@darrenrector91]

Always carry a small 2x6 to drain the water and prevent erosion. Just an idea. Great video!

[@CliffordMaxfield]

There are several ways to prevent this. Three are Use a boat cover. I noticed electric outlets. Use a battery tender to maintain a charge in your battery. Check weekly. Personally, I prefer to put my boat on the trailer and park on a slant.

[@ryanlaporte8224]

Thanks for all the videos ! Love the content keep them coming 🤙🏼

[@WayneTheBoatGuy]

Glad you like them!

[@gearheadgregwi]

And I freaked when I dumped half quart of water from my 15 foot open bow 😂😂

[@gearheadgregwi]

My IT nerd self is thinking "someone needs to invent a remote monitor that attaches to marina WiFi".

[@WayneTheBoatGuy]

I think they have some of those types of things.

[@BurchellAtTheWharf]

An aux pump, battery and solar panel helps alot,😅 4:05

[@BurchellAtTheWharf]

4:40 even me and the fella like me in the commercial fishing industry, rains find their way in to the bilge and drain down the batterys

[@BurchellAtTheWharf]

7:06 well here in St Margerets Bay, it only takes a few weeks in the mid summer to get a boat full of growth, but in the winter, almost no growth, water Temps make a big play, but as the water gets fresher(heavy rains) some things grow faster

[@WayneTheBoatGuy]

Yeah on this size boat, that would be easy and effective!

[@BurchellAtTheWharf]

@WayneTheBoatGuy the aux battery's, pump and solar is also used on larger boats in my area, my 26ft cape boat also included and some others of 45ft in my bay

[@jerryq1000]

Where we fish in Minnesota, my 17' open G3 is docked for the week or 10 days we're there. We've had some big rains, and my bilge pump runs for about 30 minutes to empty all that water... At about 8.5 lbs/gallon, it doesn't take long...

[@WayneTheBoatGuy]

Yeah. This boat should probably have a backup pump since it is usually kept in a marina for many months.

[@barrywarren4221]

I'll tell you WtBG My boats only stay in the water while I use them. But just being out there for the day, you can see a water line of brown. That's the Lower Susquehanna, Northeast and Elk Rivers and all the upper Chesapeake Bay around Turkey Point. When I get my boat home I need to pressure wash the bottom . Nice video/

[@WayneTheBoatGuy]

Yeah my little boats that are out for a few hours get 'tan lines' too!

[@frankschannel2642]

I'm perplexed! Forgive my ignorance, but how does rain water get into the bilge in the first place??? How does rain water get from ABOVE deck to below????? What is the pathway??????

[@WayneTheBoatGuy]

Through openings from the top side. This boat has a cabin in the front and the door is just wood.

[@chrismuir1261]

I found u Thur Luke ❤️

[@Kitchfox]

Apparently, I'm in the minority but my 16-foot sled has two pumps. Both automatic ones powered one from the trolling motor battery, the other my starting battery, and mounted an inch higher than the first. And honestly when I caught the short video the first time around I didn't even have a guess at why there was so much water in the boat. Bilge pumps in my experience don't need much of a reason to quit. Random misplaced trash in your bilge, bad wiring, float jams, dead battery because you forgot to plug in the maintenance charger. Power goes out because the breaker trips and nobody found it, God deciding you don't need a boat anymore, and any other reason. One time in the fall, my boat filled halfway full of rainwater while on the trailer. The drain hole got plugged with a few leaves. Only took a week and a half. Yes, it really does rain like that in the PNW 😂

[@DJEyeBee]

That's the Chesapeake Bay beard. All it takes is about a week to stain a hull. The slime is real!

[@searobin25]

that water in the bay is definitely brackish.

[@Chalz108]

Wayne last summer I was going to the lake with my brother in law in his dad's new bass tracker. He misplaced the drain plug and I sent him off the trailer. He starts freaking out cause the boats filling up. Brand new 2021 tracker. During his panic he didn't realize the kill switch wasn't connected so he couldn't start the motor. He flips on the bilge pump and paddled back to the ramp. I watched it all from the shore! 😂

[@WayneTheBoatGuy]

Oh my! That can all happen so easily and when we panic it just gets worse.

[@Chalz108]

@@WayneTheBoatGuy yeah it was a serious moment. But it's a funny memory now

[@gillesgomez3091]

I'm always worrying if it's raining, when my boat is docked at the marina (typically from june to September). I need to open the cockpit drain plug otherwise it fill fill up with rain water, up tp the point the water gets into the cabin, and eventually to the bilge. After big storms, it's not unusual to see boat floating low with water inside. Always let your drain plugs open when your boat sits at the marina and you can't keep an eye on her. Not the plugs below the water line of course, don't be silly 😉

[@AB-bg1or]

I think that strap needs to be tighter.

[@michaeljoseph1453]

man people need to stop whining so you dont spend the first part of your video having to explain to the nay sayers....geez

[@JohnDoe-oc7yh]

Sea ox?

[@WayneTheBoatGuy]

I’m not sure - but I’ll ask my buddy