unexplained water in the bilge =(

[reacler]

about two weeks ago me and a couple buddies were out and got caught in a storm, knocked us around pretty bad. (4 foot breakers in a 17ft action :eek:) yeah lol.

anyway, iv taken the boat out a couple times since then and iv noticed a lot of extra water in my boat that seems to be unexplained. i usually have some in there just from the waves/water rushing over the transom when coming off plane or doing other fun stuff but the amount and frequency that ive been pumping out water just doesnt seem right. is it possible for the seal to be broken between the top and bottom halfs of my hull? I cant seem to find any other place that water might be coming in.

[XstreamVking]

Take a water hose and spray hard around the rubrail. Look for leaks in side.....

[WATERWINGS]

If that doesn't show any water, try what I did......

With the boat on the trailer, take a garden hose, and put an inch or so of water INSIDE your boat....then lay under the boat and see if any water drips out of an unseen crack.

I did that on my Quartershot when it was getting water in, and I couldn't find any cracks with just my eyes.....I found the drip, and then I knew where to start my work...

[dazigg]

Start simple, make sure your drain plug just isn't worn out.

[JR IN JAX]

If that doesn't show any water, try what I did......

With the boat on the trailer, take a garden hose, and put an inch or so of water INSIDE your boat....then lay under the boat and see if any water drips out of an unseen crack.

I did that on my Quartershot when it was getting water in, and I couldn't find any cracks with just my eyes.....I found the drip, and then I knew where to start my work...This is the best and easiest method.

[Smoking Joe]

After a particularly hard trip like that you may find water tracking in via through hull fittings and bolts which have had the seal broken by the twisting of the hull (bow rail for instance).

[Moonshot180]

After a particularly hard trip like that you may find water tracking in via through hull fittings and bolts which have had the seal broken by the twisting of the hull (bow rail for instance).

This happened with my boat.

Water leaking around a bad poppet gasket on the block..tracked via my cables, back into the bildge area.

I could not believe the amount of water that came in via tracking. I spent a few weeks checkin this checkin that..before I found the problem.

Good luck.

[Riverratt]

Check the bilge pump discharge. Water may be getting back in through the discharge hole if it is near the water level especially since you said you were in a storm the wave could wash in the discharge. I had that problem with my last boat and had to put a big loop in the discharge hose to work as a trap.

[1fastg3]

about two weeks ago me and a couple buddies were out and got caught in a storm, knocked us around pretty bad. (4 foot breakers in a 17ft action :eek:) yeah lol.

anyway, iv taken the boat out a couple times since then and iv noticed a lot of extra water in my boat that seems to be unexplained. i usually have some in there just from the waves/water rushing over the transom when coming off plane or doing other fun stuff but the amount and frequency that ive been pumping out water just doesnt seem right. is it possible for the seal to be broken between the top and bottom halfs of my hull? I cant seem to find any other place that water might be coming in.
All Actions Leak On the rear Rub Rail , , Both sides in the rear .

[1fastg3]

take a look

[reacler]

All Actions Leak On the rear Rub Rail , , Both sides in the rear .

thats a pretty bold statement but I will check. I took the boat out yesterday for a little test. when im just idling through the canal, the bilge seems to stay dry. but then when i went out into some rougher waters and came back there was GALLONS of water in the hull, i mean an unsettling amount and it was probably only a 30 minute run. granted though, the boat was out of the water a few times ;). this never used to happen until quite recently though, even when having a little fun with the waves. ill check all of the aforementioned areas that you guys suggested

[WATERWINGS]

An unseen crack in the bottom, and beating it on waves could cause a bigger crack and delamination...

[1fastg3]

thats a pretty bold statement but I will check. I took the boat out yesterday for a little test. when im just idling through the canal, the bilge seems to stay dry. but then when i went out into some rougher waters and came back there was GALLONS of water in the hull, i mean an unsettling amount and it was probably only a 30 minute run. granted though, the boat was out of the water a few times ;). this never used to happen until quite recently though, even when having a little fun with the waves. ill check all of the aforementioned areas that you guys suggested


Why Say Its this or that ?? Is it a Action Marine ? Then it leaks on the rear rub rails , my 17 did it , my 18 did it, and my 23 did it ..

[afr]

transom bolts to ??

[Li'l Toy]

Let me say this louder than Waterwings. You got beat up in bad water pretty bad, and now there is a lot of water in your boat. Seems to come in while on plane, not through the rubrail/hull-to-deck joint. It is possible that you have a crack in the bottom. I would sure do the "fill it with water and look for leaks coming out" test before I would run that boat fast. That crack, if it exists, could open catastrophically and kill you.

[JR IN JAX]

Let me say this louder than Waterwings. You got beat up in bad water pretty bad, and now there is a lot of water in your boat. Seems to come in while on plane, not through the rubrail/hull-to-deck joint. It is possible that you have a crack in the bottom. I would sure do the "fill it with water and look for leaks coming out" test before I would run that boat fast. That crack, if it exists, could open catastrophically and kill you.

I had the bottom blow out of my Hydrostream Vampire and the only thing that kept it afloat was sheer horsepower until I drove it onto the beach where we were staying.

[perfmarine1]

All Actions Leak On the rear Rub Rail , , Both sides in the rear .

I think all Hydrostreams leak there also,(outer wing)both streams I owned did till I sealed that area. On a slow hard turn it would gush in.

[Tom Foley]

Check the bilge pump discharge. Water may be getting back in through the discharge hole if it is near the water level especially since you said you were in a storm the wave could wash in the discharge. I had that problem with my last boat and had to put a big loop in the discharge hose to work as a trap.

I had a boat sink because of this , I was not in the boat , dad was ...long story ..

Spray the rubrail with soapy water on the outside and have a buddy blow compressed air around the cap joint from the inside , makes it easy to find the leak . Mirages are notorious for this .

[WATERWINGS]

I think all Hydrostreams leak there also,(outer wing)both streams I owned did till I sealed that area. On a slow hard turn it would gush in.

My Vector didn't leak back there, (I think the two 1/2's were glassed together)? But my Quartershot leaks at the seam if I am on the beach, where the corners sit under water...

I had a Checkmate copy that would spray water on your leg if you turned it really sharp, (as in a bat turn)....it was coming thru the seam.....

[JR IN JAX]

Both of my Hydrostreams leaked at the rubrails, I just figured all of them did. My A-boat can have 3-4 people sitting on the rear steps/sunpad with the rubrail completely underwater and even after over 100 bat-turns it still does not leak.

[laser380]

thats a pretty bold statement but I will check. I took the boat out yesterday for a little test. when im just idling through the canal, the bilge seems to stay dry. but then when i went out into some rougher waters and came back there was GALLONS of water in the hull, i mean an unsettling amount and it was probably only a 30 minute run. granted though, the boat was out of the water a few times ;). this never used to happen until quite recently though, even when having a little fun with the waves. ill check all of the aforementioned areas that you guys suggested


How could it be the rub rail seams if he is on plane and they are up from the water? And there is no way a ton of water as he indicated could come in the hole for the bilge if he was on plane. I had to put a check valve in a bilge pump exit line for that reason....when setting still water would come in, but not in the amount he is talking about above.."A TON". The only thing it could be is a crack in the bottom of the hull or a pin hair line fracture thats giving a little to let water in.

I would jack the boat up while on the trailer so you can see where it sets on the bunks also....just to see if there is a crack or small pin hole that actually over a bunk and not visable while it is setting on them. Also, i dont know if you do or not....but if you have foam in the flooring, filling with water will also saturate the foam, and may cause other problems later. But if you have no foam its a great idea. JMO....

[reacler]

yanking the seats and panels today to take a good look at it like an empty bathtub. I also noticed something else that i forgot to mention. when i had come back from my last run i was off plane and plowing pretty hard (to get all of the water to the back of the boat) and i heard this sort of sucking sound kind of like when you spray a garden hose as a mist, like a "wshhhhhh" kinda sound right by my feet. It would get louder the more gas I gave it.

Upon inspecting the hull on the trailer afterwards, it looks clean. I didnt get a good look at the back yet but everything i could see while on the trailer looks ok. this is extremely frustrating, i only have 2 months of summer before I go back to school and i cant use it :nonod:. I will try filling it with water but i have a feeling wherever the water is coming in from, it requires a decent amount of pressure before it starts coming in so I'm not so sure that will reveal anything

[85vking]

I concur with Lil Toy. I had a year old HS Valero YT in 1986. I beat the piss out of it in the Gulf on big waves, jumping the boat and ....low and behold my boat started leaking exactly as you describe. Being out all day and the water would be on the carpet past the rear seat. I put it on the trailer and found a nice crack on the center line back by the pad. Of course today, having a Vking, I know alot more than I did then!

[reacler]

Well... good news is I found the source of the problem. Bad news is that my baby's gonna be out of commission for a while. Seems like you guys were pretty much spot on with your assessment. Lifted the boat off the trailer yesterday and this is what i found:

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/reacler/hullcrack/IMG_1522.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/reacler/hullcrack/IMG_1523.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/reacler/hullcrack/IMG_1524.jpg

TWO CRACKS, along both sides. I don't particularly remember hitting anything, could that all be from just pounding on the waves??

[laser380]

There ya go....Was kinda hoping you wouldnt find anything, but better you did than taking it out and the whole bottom split. I had a feeling you were going to have to lift it off the trailer to find it. There again sorry to see it.....:nonod:

And yes...pounding from the waves can cause the hull to flex a lot more than it should. It will open weak spots a lot faster than just normal cruising. I would gut it if you are going to fix these and look for more weak spots that may have opened that you wont see from just the bottom....good luck.

[JR IN JAX]

There ya go....Was kinda hoping you wouldnt find anything, but better you did than taking it out and the whole bottom split. I had a feeling you were going to have to lift it off the trailer to find it. There again sorry to see it.....:nonod:

And yes...pounding from the waves can cause the hull to flex a lot more than it should. It will open weak spots a lot faster than just normal cruising. I would gut it if you are going to fix these and look for more weak spots that may have opened that you wont see from just the bottom....good luck.To me, it looks like some dry laminate during manufacture. One of the FRP pros can tell you for sure.

[stokernick]

can be fixed,will be better than new,plus no one got hurt!! Have at it,and enjoy!!!

[laser380]

can be fixed,will be better than new,plus no one got hurt!! Have at it,and enjoy!!!

Thats the good part...it got caught before anyone got hurt.....Lots of people get hurt over that very thing.....

[Li'l Toy]

What they said!!!!