this years winter project

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

Captpete, no disrespect to you or your work(is really amazing), but water eventualy WILL get there, even condesation. What i would do in your case now is i would drill some holes on the PVC tube just for the "in case water gets there" theory. When you make your cover for your gas tank you will have to install an inspection plate, maybe two of them, those things leak after a while. I would think it twice about no drains between bulkheads before i cover the floor.

[captpete13]

I had thought about drilling some drain holes in the pvc in the event of water leaking in. But then standing bilge water will always be able to wick up into the foam. The bilge is never dry. The way the pump is setup there is always about 2" of water back there that the pump can't get out. I think I would rather calk the s**t out of everything as I put it together. Plus I figure if everthing if foamed in properly there is no room for condensation.

[cfelton]

Excellent work there Captpete! Looks like you've got everything under control. The only thing I would consider is as others said and drill maybe 3/8-1/2in. holes in that drain pipe next to your keel. I often wonder how the water gets in, but it ALWAYS seem to find a way into your bilge. I keep a really nice boat cover on my V and keep it under the front of an old store next door out of the weather. The other day I went out to winterize it, raised the bow up and found about 5 gallons of water in the bilge. I guess it blew up under the shed roof and seeped through the cover somehow. Water can splash into the rod holders, bilge vents and deck hatches and always seem to find a way in. When I rebuilt my V, I could see where water got in and sat in the bilge causing rot and damage that I replaced.

[nymack66]

Guy's when I open my Tank area it was sealed off also with no drains etc. I insert a new polymer tank and marine foamed (close cell foam) it back in.
The top of my tank is curved in naturally so if any water penetrates in or condensation I would have see the accumulation on top of the tank, Just out of curiosity I opened one of the inspection hatch cover and have never seen any traces of water, I however saw 2 stroke oil this was because I did not tighten the fuel sender screws correctly which I have since corrected. I finished a tube of 5200 sealing the seam around the deck.
My thought process was I wanted to isolate this area in case the Tank pops a hole and leaks fuel, at lease it will be contained to this area only and will not hit the bilge pump and I go Kabul :)




Foam

Gel

PITA 5200 applied