Water Line

[reelapeelin]

Hammer, I'll give it a try...but whatever you do, DON'T pipe your deck-drains into the bilge...or plug your scuppers...

Are there ''flapper'' valves on your scuppers?...or ''ball'' valves?...these are designed for ONE-WAY water flow/ water allowed OUT, but not IN...VALVES must be in good working order for them to work, so if poor condition, replace them...

You have a ''Self-Bailing Hull''...which means your boat will automaticly remove any water that gets into it...the floor deck is just above water-line and SHOULD drain water back to the scuppers which allow water to escape the hull (water out, not in)...additionally, no water should get below the floor-deck, BUT there MUST be a bilge-pump in the bilge area below the floor deck to remove water that DOES get there...after all this IS the real world we live in... ;)

PROBLEMS: bad, leaking scupper-valves that don't contain/release water as they should...AND soaked, water-logged foam flotation below the floor-deck...as you have had hull repair that is allowing water to penetrate the hull, your flotation might be soaked and won't hold the scuppers above water-line any longer...

Think of your hull, between the floor-deck and the bottom of the boat as a big cork, foam filled between fiberglass boat bottom and fiberglass deck...works really good in keepin' all afloat...untill it sits in the water w/damage below the water-line that allows water to soak the foam...

If your scuppers are BELOW the water-line, this may be a problem...as I can't put my eyes on it, keep in mind this is only speculation, but it's a place for you to start lookin'... ;)