New to boating, Should i be worried? [Archive]

StBalor

08-12-2007, 12:13 AM

Ok guys, had my v20 out in the water today. It was a little choppy but not to bad. I notice this boat sits very low in the water. when in reverse backing out of ramp area water would come over the transom and in the boat. Also while fishing i noticed water coming over the transom a bit, not as bad as when in reverse but still happening. was also noticing water level to top of the lowest part of transom was like only 3" amybe 4".
Are these things normal?
Being new to boating i just don't know.

msbhammer

08-12-2007, 12:18 AM

The water was choppy out today. The tides are high and running fast with a full moon upon us.
Did you stick in the Hull nut on the transom to stop any water from coming in. ???
I get maybe an inch of water in my transom splash well.
Has your transom been cut down at all ????
Ive heard of guys talking about installing a piece of starboard in the splash well on either side of the motor
to cut down on water from getting in on choppy days.

Get that camera and post some picks, and I'm sure we can fix the problem.

msbhammer

08-12-2007, 12:22 AM

Getting water in the splashwell is ok. It then drains back out, through the transom. Your transom should have two round scuppers on the outside. It should have a rubber flap or a ball. It lets water out, but doesnt let water in.
Was your bilge pump running at all ??

StBalor

08-12-2007, 12:26 AM

The water was choppy out today. The tides are high and running fast with a full moon upon us.

Did you stick in the Hull nut on the transom to stop any water from coming in. ??? YES

I get maybe an inch of water in my transom splash well. I had more than an inch

Has your transom been cut down at all ???? Not that i know of, how do i tell?

Ive heard of guys talking about installing a piece of starboard in the splash well on either side of the motor
to cut down on water from getting in on choppy days.

Get that camera and post some picks, and I'm sure we can fix the problem.

StBalor

08-12-2007, 12:28 AM

msbhammer

08-12-2007, 12:43 AM

What year is your V. Your bilge should be running until you get 2" of water in the hull and it trips the float switch. Check your bow eye out. If not sealed, water will come in and run into the bilge area.

Get that Camera. Or a cell phone camera. We need pics. ;) ;D ;D 8)

randlemanboater2

08-12-2007, 10:51 AM

Did you put the plug in? ::)

If you did, then you are taking on water somewhere, I can put my V in and leave it for several days without any water getting into the bilge.

Water in the splashwell is normal, but only comming through the drains holes, not over the top. (Unless you are stern to 3 plus footers).

chesapeake_dreamin

08-12-2007, 11:09 AM

the guys got a good point, we need pics. ;D

parishht

08-12-2007, 11:39 AM

Or at least give us the year!!!

On mine water comes over the transom all the time,
but like HAMMER says, it then drains out of the splashwell
through the through transom scuppers.
My scuppers from the deck to the splashwell are broken, so I put corks in teh holes that would allow water
to go to the deck.

I usually have around 1 to 6 inches of water in my splashwell,
even on calm days.

macojoe

08-12-2007, 12:37 PM

Yes be affraid, very affraid!! ;D

I never get a drop over the transom!! I take all my water head on over the bow! :o

THEFERMANATOR

08-12-2007, 02:15 PM

He's got a 75 according to previous posts, so he probably has a 20" transom with a V-6 hangin off of it.

msbhammer

08-12-2007, 06:08 PM

You get a camera yet. ;D

macojoe

08-12-2007, 06:50 PM

75 w/a 20" ttransom :o throw it away and buy my boat you never get water again!! ;)

StBalor

08-13-2007, 12:52 AM

He's got a 75 according to previous posts, so he probably has a 20" transom with a V-6 hangin off of it.

Correct.

msbhammer

08-13-2007, 01:24 AM

No, buy my V. It went from a 20" to a 25" transom.
It all new too. :P

charlie_the_tuna

08-13-2007, 01:30 AM

the hell with those guys.
buy my boat, without the hardtop of course.

Skools_Dual

08-13-2007, 02:08 AM

the hell with those guys.
buy my boat, without the hardtop of course.

NO ONE WANTS YOUR STUPID HARD TOP

msbhammer

08-13-2007, 03:32 AM

:-X :-X :-X :-X :-X :-X :-X :-X :-X :-X :-X :-X :-X :-X :-X

tsubaki

08-13-2007, 08:54 AM

(quote Theferm) He's got a 75 according to previous posts, so he probably has a 20" transom with a V-6 hangin off of it.

Correct.

I'll measure mine today and see how far in the water it sat.
Got the same boat, hp motor, etc.

tsubaki

08-13-2007, 11:43 AM

Got roughly 6'' from the top of the transom to the waterline.
I've got 2-20gal saddle tanks, 2 class 24 batteries and the motor is setback 5" by the jackplate, adding a little more weight to the rear.
Give me some time, trying to locate my pictures program, it's disappeared from the computer.

tsubaki

08-13-2007, 12:09 PM

See the waterline mark.
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w159/tsubaki3/Picture201.jpg
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w159/tsubaki3/Picture202.jpg

Sean

08-13-2007, 12:11 PM

Dont listen to them, buy my boat, so I can buy MJ's ;D

Shawsee

08-13-2007, 12:30 PM

StBalor,

I have a 76 and I also noticed the first time I had her out she sat rather low in the water. After I got her back home and cleaned up I started to look at the way I had the boat stored outside, which was completely level. So I then thought, I wonder if there is water trapped in the bottom of the hull beneath the floor where it could not drain out of the transom drain hole. So I then proceeded to raise the front tongue of the trailer as far up as possible. I ended up using two 4x4 pieces stacked together under the tongue jack. This raised the bow of the boat way up in the air, while the jack was raised up as far as possible. It look scary at first raised up that high but mine never had a problem at all being kept this way. Anyway, the water began pouring out the transom drain hole like there was a flood! There must have been 55 gallons of water trapped in there, just on the bottom of the hull. ::) So now when I park her, I always leave the bow up as high as possible, and now when I launch her, she sits up nice and high in the water.

I am by no means saying this is what will cure your problem, because I am rather new to this boating stuff as well. All I know this has worked for me because I keep my boat outside right now, and rainwater will add up after a while. Good luck and post pictures as the guys suggested.

parishht

08-13-2007, 12:57 PM

In our older year V's, it is not unusual to get water in the splashwell.

Just remember to keep it from getting into the bilge area.

StBalor, I do the same with mine, keeping the bow as high as possible,
I have a system of 4 x 4's that I use to support the trailer.
It looks scary, but I keep mine at my vinyl condo
all winter, winds come off the ocean at a pretty good clip
and have not blown her over, yet.

parishht

08-13-2007, 01:05 PM

In this picture, you can see where I put the 4 x 4,
right under the joint of teh sidemembers and the tongue:

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g18/parishht/boat1.jpg

I also forgot about this picture,
it is not my V, but the arrow points to teh splaswell
and the red dotted lines show how my deck drain hoses
run.
That is why I put corks in the splashwell outlets,
but not in the outlets that drain the seawater out of the splashwell.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g18/parishht/drains.jpg

Blue_Runner

08-13-2007, 01:28 PM

I agree with Shawsee - check to make sure you don't have a bunch of water in there by doing as he suggested. Also, I had a 73 model and it had 2 plugs in the back. One underneath the hull and another in the normal position. Its hard enough to remember one plug let alone 2!

The one underneath was one of those brass garboard styles and the other was the rubber kind that you screw and lock shut. Check that brass one really good to make sure it is sealed...you could be taking water around it (the female part that is screwed to the hull). Other than that, water 4" from top sounds pretty normal, while 3" does sound a little low. Did you have a bunch of friends sitting in the back on a bench seat?

What hp and yr model motor are you running? Pictures or more info would certainly help...if you don't know how to post them just ask and we'll help out.

BLue

msbhammer

08-13-2007, 04:42 PM

I would agree that water is trapped in the hull. The two drain holes that are on either side of teh stringers, that drain water into the bilge area is way to high, trapping in water. I noticed this on my project V. I'm filler in the drain hole with cloth and will lower the drain holes so water drains out.

StBalor

08-13-2007, 06:24 PM

[quote author=tsubaki link=board=General;num=1186884786;start=15#20 date=08/13/07 at 10:09:59]See the waterline mark.
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w159/tsubaki3/Picture201.jpg
quote]

Could you post a picture of your splash well from above looking down on it? I want to compare it to mine. I took the boat out again yesterday. Water still a bit choppy. Water constantly coming over the transom into the splash well. Splash well fills up and overflows into the bilge area.

msbhammer

08-13-2007, 06:49 PM

When the water overflows, how is it getting into the splash well. Is it coming in through the battery box opening ??? ??? ???

Blue_Runner

08-13-2007, 07:16 PM

Sounds like it is coming directly over the notch in the transom where the motor is mounted.

But if that's the case it seems it would not overflow the splashwell because it would just run back out the notch first. ???

It kinda sounds like you are about to sink dude! Be careful! :o

You need to give us some numbers so we can help you out....motor model, horsepower, and yr, max speed and tach would help determine if your hull is too heavy.

Maybe your motor is just too heavy. Who knows? We don't have enough info to diagnose your problem.

Blue

StBalor

08-13-2007, 08:06 PM

Yes, water is coming over where motor is mounted and into the splash well. towards the front side of splash well i have a hole in my splash well about 4" in Diameter. (Looks like something was mounted there before, has 4 smaller holes around the 4" diameter hole.) Water over flows through that hole and into bilge area.
i don't know, don't have a camera at the moment, so i'll quit posting till i can post some pics.

tsubaki

08-13-2007, 08:20 PM

Chances are that was the old wire and cable boot location. If there ain't anything there now, seal it or cover it up.

Shawsee

08-13-2007, 10:04 PM

Here is some pics of how I have the trailer tongue up on two 4x4 pieces. Very similar to the way Parishht has his.

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x242/Shawsee/100_1945.jpg

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x242/Shawsee/100_1950.jpg

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x242/Shawsee/100_1946.jpg

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x242/Shawsee/100_1947.jpg

Here you will see a long piece of old jean material(100% cotton) that acts like a "wick" to remove water trapped in the bilge area. I got this idea right here on the V site. I cannot remember who suggested this great idea, but it sure does the trick!

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x242/Shawsee/100_1949.jpg

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x242/Shawsee/100_1948.jpg

Sean

08-13-2007, 10:10 PM

Shawsee

08-13-2007, 11:56 PM

Shawsee, Your set up looks just like mine. My drive is on a slope, so when I back in I need to jack her way up just to get the boat level, then another foot, to drain. ITs apretty scarry site :o
Thanks for the "wick" idea. I usally shy away from holes with strings hanging out of them, but this I will defently be trying *;) ;D

Sean,

The first time I raised the boat up that high my wife was outside with me. She kept asking me," what the heck are you doing?" I told her trying to get the water out! She then ran like hell into the house yelling,"you are crazy jacking the boat up that high and you are going to hurt yourself. LMAO *::) but man oh man, whenever the boat reached "the point of no return" the water was pouring out of the drain hole! It ran like that for at least 10 minutes too. *:o *The next time I launched her at Point Judith, she was sitting so much higher in the water it was like I had a new boat. I don't know why they designed the boat like that with the drain hole 3" higher then the lowest point in the bottom of the hull. *???
The "wick" idea works great too and who ever thought of that one was brilliant. I couldn't believe that a small strip of cotton material could work so good for wicking water out.

msbhammer

08-14-2007, 03:36 AM

Any chance of you being in Delaware. I'll take a look at it or maybe another member is close to ya.

reelapeelin

08-14-2007, 05:22 AM

Don't stop postin' ...better to keep postin' w/no pix...what motor you got?...you need to find a way to seal off the holes in your splashwell...it's made to take on water, then drain back out...do you have a working bilge-pump?...after on the water, how many inches in your bilge area?...

tsubaki

08-14-2007, 08:02 AM

Any help?
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w159/tsubaki3/Picture036.jpg

msbhammer

08-14-2007, 08:24 AM

Wow, thats a narrow splashwell. But water still shouldnt be coming in through the boot hole.

tsubaki

08-14-2007, 08:41 AM

I'm willing to bet he's got an old boot hole dead center in the bottom of the backsplash.

parishht

08-14-2007, 10:02 AM

Any chance of you being in Delaware. I'll take a look at it or maybe another member is close to ya.

StBalor's profile says Maryland,
so depending on where, I am sure we have somebody close.

Shawsee

08-14-2007, 11:29 AM

Any help?
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w159/tsubaki3/Picture036.jpg

Tsubaki,

That's exactly what my splashwell looks like. Water does come in over the top at times but quickly drains out thru the middle hole. The only time I was worried was when the boat was sitting so low in the water when the bottom of hull was acting like a ballast full of water.

Blue_Runner

08-14-2007, 11:37 AM

I'm willing to bet he's got an old boot hole dead center in the bottom of the backsplash.
I agree, there must be 2 boot holes - one where his cables and wires currently come through and an old one either dead center as Tsub said or to one side on the flat part.

Like the others said, seal it up, get all the water outta your hull and life should be good again :D

Blue_Runner

08-14-2007, 11:39 AM

oh and I agree with Reel too - don't stop postin! You might sink before you get a camera!

Post up bro!

boatnluvr

08-14-2007, 01:45 PM

I think it was me that plagarized the "wick" idea. Unfortunately the link no longer works (see below). It was designed to remove water trapped between stringers that you could not access. Basically, drill a hole at the lowest point, insert cotton tee's long enough to reach through the drain plug hole and hang lower than the point being drained, then glass the hole (of course).

www.Helendalepublishing.com/drainwater.htm

tsubaki

08-14-2007, 05:14 PM

Hang on Al Gore *;D
Go back and look in "Make My Life Easier"
http://www.wellcraftv20.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=General;action=display;num=11770999 50

boatnluvr

08-14-2007, 05:55 PM

hahaha, Ok, Tsubaki, I recind my early claim. I like the tampon one better, although wouldn't a tampon be better as a drain PLUG, rather than a drain WICK?????

BTW, sorry the

boatnluvr

08-14-2007, 06:00 PM

capndsboatshed.com website is down. It had really useful fiberglass repair stuff.

StBalor

08-15-2007, 12:14 PM

Any help?
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w159/tsubaki3/Picture036.jpg

The hole in your splash well on left side of picture. I have 1 dead center of my splash well. Also had 1 on the right side but former owner sealed with silicone.
i also do not have a drain hole in bottom center of splash well as you do. When i get home, i just sponge it out.

randlemanboater2

08-15-2007, 12:23 PM

Don't use your boat until you get this sorted out STB!!!!

You could sink. :o

There needs to be a drain in the splashwell to let water back out, and you need to stop the flow of water into the bilge.

msbhammer

08-17-2007, 12:16 AM

Hmm, so that center hole goes directly to the bilge area, and you dont have two seperate holes that drain out through teh transom. ???

Drill out out and install two splashwell drains with scupper flaps. The drain hole in the center...I guess you have no choice, but to let it drain into the bilge area. ???

tsubaki

08-17-2007, 08:09 AM

You should have the same transom setup.
Post the hull ID number of your boat, it may not be a "75 Steplift.
Till Kodak can help us with this.

msbhammer

08-18-2007, 01:44 AM

Today is pay day, did you go digital camera yet. ??? ::)

Bygracealone

08-18-2007, 11:50 AM

StBalor,

Let me know if you'd like for me to stop by with my camera to snap a few pics for the boys and to also get a firsthand look at the situation.

Steve

cfelton

08-18-2007, 06:42 PM

Yall talking about water in the bilge, I do like somebody said about oil. I drop my shop vac hose in and it sucks it all right out. Works good and fast.

StBalor

08-19-2007, 12:32 PM

macojoe

08-19-2007, 03:29 PM

1000 pounds off the back, yep I say thats why you got the water!!

"Rookie" yep I think that sums it up ;)

Shawsee

08-19-2007, 10:17 PM

As Moe Howard of the Three Stooges would say," spread out " ;D

randlemanboater2

08-20-2007, 10:26 AM

Well i realized something yesterday. Maybe it was partially my fault the water was coming over the boat. The 1st 2 times i went out there were 4 of us. i figure weighing about 1000 lbs. Water was choppy and all 4 of us fishing off of back of the boat.
Went out on the potomac river yesterday with 3 of us water was calm and we spread out on the boat a bit. Not a drop of water came ove the transom area. in fact no water came in boat at all.
Was this a rookie mistake by all 4 of us fishing from back of boat that caused the water to come over the transom?

The 1000# in the back of the boat was causing water to come into the splashwell, and that is ok as long as the splashwell is working like it should. *You should always try to distribute the "load" in your boat evenly, but your boat should be able to handle 4 people standing in the back, even if they are "healthy".

You need to fix it up so that water that gets in the splashwell can drain back out and not drain into the bilge.

msbhammer

08-20-2007, 11:23 PM

I smell "FISHBONE". ;D

parishht

08-21-2007, 11:01 AM

Well, if he starts posting pix of his mansion and limosines...

randlemanboater2

08-21-2007, 01:08 PM

I smell "FISHBONE". *;D

HHHHHMMMMMMM. *Nah.......Maybe.......Nah

Stillrunning

08-21-2007, 01:45 PM

Well i realized something yesterday. Maybe it was partially my fault the water was coming over the boat. The 1st 2 times i went out there were 4 of us. i figure weighing about 1000 lbs. Water was choppy and all 4 of us fishing off of back of the boat.
Went out on the potomac river yesterday with 3 of us water was calm and we spread out on the boat a bit. Not a drop of water came ove the transom area. in fact no water came in boat at all.
Was this a rookie mistake by all 4 of us fishing from back of boat that caused the water to come over the transom?
I find the same thing that water will come over the splash well if I have extra weight like several people fishing from the rear of the boat. The floor of my boat drains into the splash well then out through the transom. So when I have several people fishing from the back of the boat I use plugs in both of the drain holes which go from the flooring to the splash well to keep water from entering through the splash well onto the flooring. This keeps all the water contained into the splash well area and that works for me.