Taking on Water?

Took the boat out Tuesday night for a couple of hours. Have never had a problem like this before. About an hour and a half after launching the boat, I noticed water (the automatic bilge was turned off at that time) starting to soak the carpet in the back part of the floor. Turned the bilge pump on at that point. My question is, where/how should I start looking for the problem? Launch the boat again and just sit at the dock watching it? Hopefully it is not rivets on my boat. I wouldn’t think they would deteriorate that quickly unless I hit something (haven’t hit anything that I can think of over the last 5-6 years.)

JD

With it sitting in your driveway, put in the plug and put some water in the boat with a hose. You should then be able to see where it is leaking.

Was the drain plug in

Did you have your livewell pump running anytime?

Check and see if one of your hoses for your livewell feed or bilge pump is cracked. i would just dip the back of the boat in the water on the trailer and crawl up in there and look if you can not sure what kind of boat you have.

ok if it is a livewell in the front and everything is under the floor do you pull the floor to look for this to check the hose? or how in regards to that? just asking is all as that is how mine is and I have a slow leak some where also.

thanks

Thats a great idea, so I turned on the hose and a few minutes later the wife starts sceaming that there’s water coming in through the basement wall, great idea Ralph, now I have to pay a plumber to fix a broken pipe, and still figure out where I have a slow leak/ So one leak led to another!

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Thats a great idea, so I turned on the hose and a few minutes later the wife starts sceaming that there’s water coming in through the basement wall, great idea Ralph, now I have to pay a plumber to fix a broken pipe, and still figure out where I have a slow leak/ So one leak led to another!

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Ha ha Sorry, but you can’t pin that on me!

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Thats a great idea, so I turned on the hose and a few minutes later the wife starts sceaming that there’s water coming in through the basement wall, great idea Ralph, now I have to pay a plumber to fix a broken pipe, and still figure out where I have a slow leak/ So one leak led to another!

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wow sounds like my luck. I had the same thing except was lucky that the pipe that bust is out side. now I just have a super clean mower now. but definately puts a issue with more plumbing. sorry to hear abotu the start to your holiday weekend.

nothing that a couple cocktails can’t fix. The mighty mo is scream’n and the ramp to the docks at the landings are under water and all good beaches are under water so mama and I might have to head up to Yankton, my daughter is at the Cubs game today for her school trip, have to tune in to see if her sign shows up, she started a “circle me Bert” sign till I told her Bert was the announcer for the Twins!

big baseball fan I see. . seems about the same my kids would do. well I picked up the gas line to attach to the motor after the winter and snapped in my hand.

Another place to check is where the transducer bracket attaches to your transom. Make sure that is sealed tight.

Yeah, plug was in.

Livewell in front and back. Neither one was used that night.

found a bilge hose which had rubbed on something and was pumping some back, but most was going out. Gets real tough when I believe it is something to do with the livewells, but most of the hoses are under the floor.

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Yeah, plug was in.

Livewell in front and back. Neither one was used that night.

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but if a line came off the live well it would be leaking water inside the boat, I’d start by filling livewells before the whole boat.

If the livewell has the screened intakes on the back you can unscrew them and replace with a cap. This is what I do in the winter to keep water out. That will let you know if you have water coming in with a bad hose or pump.

So, it is possible that is could be livewell (hose, intake, etc) even though I hadn’t used them at all?

Yup. The intake(s) are below the waterline. In myboat,the pumps are closer to the bow than the stern.

For winter fishing,I put a cork in the intake holes. If you did that,then launch and the boat didn’t leak….then remove cork(s) and it leaked again…

Or just look at the inside of those intakes – a hose may have come off the port.

Come to think of it,I had a hole in the waterline in my last boat – a 14′ Smokercraft – at the spot where the line made a 90* turn. How could I have forgotten: That hose was a real SOB to replace.

Yeah thats why I said cap them or corks work too. Sometimes a bit of water in the pump can freeze and split it and then you have a working livewell but a leaky supply. Don’t ask me how I know.

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So, it is possible that is could be livewell (hose, intake, etc) even though I hadn’t used them at all?

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Absolutely.

Since this problem seems to have appeared after winter storage, I suspect the same as a couple of the other posters. You have a drain tube that probably has some kind of dip in it. The dip in the hose held water when you put it away for winter. The water in the hose froze, expanded and cracked the hose. Now when you put your boat in, water comes into the boat through the drain and leaks through the hole in the hose.

Short term fix so you can go fishing. Plug drian hole on the transom.

Long term fix. Replace hose and make sure to either fill drain lines with anti freeze or blow compressed air through the lines before storage.

-J.

From boat ownership 101:

If your boat leaks, pour out two bags of ice and one bottle of scotch. Add lime, straw and enjoy.

Thanks everybody for responses.

Update. Found the problem. It is the livewell. Not sure yet if it is the pump or the hose where it connects to the pump. Will try to get at it to see tonight.