Newbie saying hi and sharing p

[reyb]

A couple of observations, your hull should have a knee wall about 14 inches high around the motor well , at the back of the cockpit, right?

I don't know the correct terminology, but I think what I
call a "splash board" is what you refer to as a knee board.
I made one since the boat didn't come with one. It's
around 20" high I think. Water doesn't come over it, but
it definitely seeps through at the bottom. The floor of
the splash well is not completely flat so there may be
a 1/4" gap. I plan to get some weather stripping to make
a better seal or make another splash board that won't
have as much of a gap.


Do you dunk your motor pretty good when drifting in a chop?

I don't believe that the motor gets dunk pretty good, but
I think a decent amount of water is coming in the splash
well which results in a decent amount of water, for my
liking, seeping under the splash board. Once it seeps
under, there is another rear rectangle hatch that leads
to...shoot I don't know boat terms...the gallows. :) ( it
is where the bilge pumps are), then the water goes in
there. Another thought of mine is to make that hatch
water tight.

You have floor drains in the back of your cockpit correct?
Does water flow in from them when at rest or when there is a little chop action going on while drifting?

Yes, I do have those drains. I believe those are called
"scuppers" as mentioned in another post? I had to
google what scuppers are. :) I'm thinking that some
water might flow in when there is a bunch of water
that has seep into the gallows :). I've seen the drains
not draining at all due to all the water that has made
it's way down below deck. At that point, I have both
bilge pumps going and I move forward towards the bow.

When you get out of the water on the trailer and you pull the garber plug how much water comes out?
Assuming you have not capsized it on that trip? ;D

There's not a lot of water because I'm on top of turning
on the bilge pumps often.

Where does that bait well drain to? I am assuming you have a hose or pump at that drain on the floor, right?

I have a connecting hose that goes to the bottom pvc
elbow. In turn. that hose goes through a hole I drilled
at the bottom of the splash well. There is a gap in that
hole, so that is something I can improve on.


You are talking about two footers and being only the second V I have ever heard of getting capsized, that is very serious and I would hate to see you or someone else for that matter get hurt. Let us know. ;)

I'm sure when my boat capsized, that it was a gradual
event. With their 35 gal bait tank back there and at least
one adult, I'm sure water slowed filled up below.

Here are more images of the bait tank as promised:

[willy]

OK sounds about right, a couple of suggestions.
Move at least two of those batteries forward into the CConsole.

Make sure the live well pump and thru hull it takes water from are water tight connections and not filling your bildge inadvertantly.

make a slide type hatch or some other set up that will keep water from coming in around it but still removable for engine tilt and also for when the on coming waves are bad and you are taking water over your bow you can remove it so water flows right out your boat.

determine if you have scuppers that have a short hose section and drain directly to thru hulls located just above the waterline outside. The thru hulls will be on the side about a foot forward or so of the rear corners.

If those scuppers drain to your bildge you can change them to the outside draining version that was on most V20's after a certain year, my 1985 had them. But some did not. (don't ask me why)

If those scuppers do drain to the outside thru hoses first make sure those hoses are not cracked and that the thru hulls are not leaking and that the connections to the back of the scuppers are still tight. All three were common problems on all boats including the V's
Second if they do drain to thru hulls see where those scupper drain holes(the thru hulls) sit when you are on the boat loaded ready for bear. If they are below the water line you have too much weight for the hull. Some rode right on the water line and when the boat bobbed and weaved in the chop it would take in water and then it would flow out. some sat right above and occassionally would take water in but it would flow right back out.

If your scuppers are taking water in, and they are the kind that drain to a thru hull via a hose you can take two of the inexpensive toggle type garber plugs and put them in the scuppers so water will not come in. But you MUST remember to take them out if you are taking on water from other places such as big waves etc. You should also take them out if you are moving because they will drain the boat if water is inside.

You should also have two holes in the motor well that drain out the transom, make sure they are free flowing and not blocked up by debris or wires to transom mounted accessories. You can also buy replacements that are one way with a flap.

After doing those things you should be high and dry as long as the motor and people and weight of the bait well are not overloading the hull, if they are you will have to be real careful where you go and with what type of load.

One question I was thinking about, how does your boat ride at cruise, is she high in the bow, arse heavy? Do you have to trim the motor all the way down to put the bow down into the waves?

[reyb]

Thanks for the info. I'll get the details about the scuppers
tomorrow. As for how the boat cruises, I haven't really
noticed anything out of the normal with regards to the
bow riding high or the arse being low. Now that I
remember, the boat might of had a slight problem
planing out in the beginning and throughout the day but
it was barely noticeable and things seemed to be fine
once I got going. However, at the end of the day, in the
bay, the boat didn't want to go at all. i believe I ran the
bilge but I'm not certain. I had the motor trimmed all the
way down and when I gave it a fair amount of throttle,
it just seemed to cavitate. I tried adjusting the trim and
nothing. Even more throttle and nothing. I ended up
more or less idling back to the dock. I think I'm going
to have to take the boat out tomorrow to see if I can't
narrow things down.
It was really weird

[nmoss]

I had a similar issue with my V20 Center Console. One of the plastics drains that empties into the splash well cracked and the hose had deteriorated. So water that came in from the splash well was going into the bilge. Also check the thru-hull and hose upfront and make sure it is not cracked or dry rotted.