My boat has a major leak

My boat, 2000 Pro Sport 1600

Okay, dumb, stupid move, lets get that established from the get-go. A friend let me use his cabin on a lake I have wanted to fish for years. He gave me directions and said that the last five miles are on a real dusty dirt road. Didn’t have a problem with dust vs fish. Got to the turnoff to the dirt road and it started out okay, but narrow; and within a half mile turned into pot holes and rocks. A road I “might” take on my ATV. There was no turning around and too far in to back out. I went as slow as possible, but the boat and trailer took some good hits due to the lack of anything but minor spring suspension on the EZ Loader trailer.

Upon launching of boat, within a few minutes there was water spewing out of the drain holes in the battery box and the opposing storage box at the bow onto the floor of the boat and rising. Bilge pump kept up with it fairly well, but the unknown what was happening below deck was not a good feeling. Quickly took the boat out and said goodby to the lake and cabin.

My question to you knowledgable boaters is, Do you think I popped some rivets on the bottom of the boat, or what do you think may have happened? If so, is it something that is repairable, or did I just trash my boat. I just got home and everything I have tried with water to find a leak hasn’t worked. I guess wherever the leak is has greater water presser on it than my garden hose.

Any help or opinions(besides don’t go on a dirt road!) on what or where the damage could be would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much in advance.

John

Any chance hose connection for livewell came off and water going in boat instead?

I will check, thank you very much!

Assuming the EZ is a roller trailer?

We took my dads old 14′ rebel one year to Canada, with 1 1-2 to 4 hours on a logging road depending on condition of such road. Well, that year the road sucked ars, made the trip had fun etc. Fast forward a month or two and start noticing the boat leaks just a little, look at the bottom of hull and thing is a freakin ripple where every roller was. Over the years it leaked more and more, but nothing like you described. We assumed it was leaky rivets but man, the beating that hull took and the way it looked surprised the thing even floated.

Hopefully it is something easy like livewell etc, good luck.

You may have cracked the live well hose. I did that once and it looked like a river coming from the bow of my boat.

If its not one of the livewell hoses, fill the inside of the boat with water and leave plug in the boat. Watch where the water comes out. Have the boat on level ground. If nothing comes out, raise the front end/lower front end to force the water to other areas of the boat. This should help you find where the water is coming in.
My initial money is on the livewell hose clamp myself.

Thank you very much for your responses. The livewell hose is attached and with hose water on the intake feeds into the live well. No residue of water in the transom area where the live well feeder hose is, if a leak was there. Wish that would’ve been the fix, nice and easy. Got my hopes up for a minute!

I’m not a real savvy boat guy, always learning. Thought I would add one thing that might mean something to someone. When I pulled the boat out after the leak, there was a tremendous amount of water that came out the black drain. Nothing actually came out to the boat plug hole when I removed the boat plug. Pic below of what I mean by my black drain.

Thanks again.

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Thank you very much for your responses. The livewell hose is attached and with hose water on the intake feeds into the live well. No residue of water in the transom area where the live well feeder hose is, if a leak was there. Wish that would’ve been the fix, nice and easy. Got my hopes up for a minute!

I’m not a real savvy boat guy, always learning. Thought I would add one thing that might mean something to someone. When I pulled the boat out after the leak, there was a tremendous amount of water that came out the black drain. Nothing actually came out of the boat plug hole when I removed the boat plug. Pic below of what I mean by my black drain.

Thanks again.

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John Taylor wrote:

When I pulled the boat out after the leak, there was a tremendous amount of water that came out the black drain. Nothing actually came out to the boat plug hole when I removed the boat plug. Pic below of what I mean by my black drain.

Thanks again.

If nothing drained out of the plug opening (the one lowest dead center) then that means your hull is not leaking.

If the water drained from the opening indicated in your picture, that means you have a problem somewhere in the live well system.

The bilge pump may have pumped the water out of hull by the time you took it out of water. Fill the livewell to see if welds cracked. That’s the next thing I would check.

Huntindave wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>John Taylor wrote:</div>
When I pulled the boat out after the leak, there was a tremendous amount of water that came out the black drain. Nothing actually came out to the boat plug hole when I removed the boat plug. Pic below of what I mean by my black drain.

Thanks again.

If nothing drained out of the plug opening (the one lowest dead center) then that means your hull is not leaking.

If the water drained from the opening indicated in your picture, that means you have a problem somewhere in the live well system.

I am guessing it is a livewell issues also. If water was going on that fast you would likely see a hole if you crawl under the boat so i would bet it is the livewell system and maybe the hose came off the bottoms of the livewell itself. Maybe the hose has a crack somewhere so the ends look fine.

Thank you all so much. Just so the slow-learner here can understand, is the live-well system all housed in the transom of the boat? Through the access opening in the top of the transom area I was able to trace(feel) the intake hose of water from the rear of the boat to the upper area of the live well where the water flows into the live well. Is there anywhere else in the boat I should be looking? Also, in this area there was no residue of water.

And, another probably stupid question. I have never looked, but when the live well is on, where does the overflow water drain? I did have the live well on, by mistake, but I never use it as I like to catch and release. So is there a hose for the overflow drain in the live well that could have fallen off? Sorry for so many questions.

Thank you much.

When I thoroughly wash my boat with a hose on the inside, I will get water out of the main drain for a while…. but never out of the black drain you mention… pretty sure everyone is on the right path with advice.

Let us know when you find the issue…. good luck

There should be an overflow drain for the live well higher than the waterline on the boat. It would be on the side somewhere most likely. That black drain is definitely the main drain from the live well.

Looked at the 2000 pro sport layout and looks just like my 01 except the Lovell is the port side aft compartment (mine is starboard). If it’s the same as my 2001 there isn’t an overflow, which I thought strange, I made a tube that acts as the plug for the bottom drain and am overflow but that is another story. It would seem odd for the water to be coming out at the bow from a live well issue given the entire live well system is in the stern. But that is definitely the live well drain you have circled. the drain may have cracked/broke, if like mine I am not exactly sure how you get at it as it goes out the bottom and there is a bulkhead in the way from the center battery compartment. Mite have to take the entire rear deck apart to get at it. Did you try spraying water up into that plug and see where it goes?

Thanks poomunk,

Yes, I sprayed many gallons of water up that circled drain hole and then wrapped a boat plug with a rag and sealed the drain hole. Looked for any sign of leakage and saw what a very, very slow drip from a rivet up towards the bow. I didn’t think that could be responsible for the amount and flow of water onto the deck. Maybe I’m wrong.

Thank you.

Not sure if this has been recommended yet. But to test the hull for leaks I would put the drain plug in and fill it with water. Then look for leaks from the hull.

Another thing to possibly try, if there is a rarely used landing anywhere near by, take a friend with and have him slowly back it in while you watch. if you get the stern in and no rushing water, then back in more. The farther in you get before it starts coming in, the farther forward your problem area. May not answer the exact placement/issue, but will help rule out areas it is not.

Many times filling the hull with water won’t show the leak. It can actually seal the leak back up as the pressure is now on the inside and not the out. And many times the leak isn’t at the bottom of the hull. Also filling too much can actually damage the hull as it’s not designed for that much weight.

Also if the boat is on the trailer the damage may be sealed back up as well.

Since it sounds like the water is coming from the bow, I’d check all the seams around the bow very closely, and probably jack the bow of the boat up a few inches to relieve the pressure from the rollers that could be closing the seams back up.

Why don’t you just plug the livewell drain on the back and then put the boat in the water and see if you get water in the boat. If you do…probably the hull…if you don’t its the livewell. Then you can troubleshoot the correct system. That’s what I’d do. Then again I fix computers for a living.

Some people have been known to put the drain plug in the
livewell drain instead of the
hull drain prior to launching.
This would also allow water to enter the boat through the
open hull drain.

Munchy,

I will try your option and see what happens. Thank you.

Ryan P,

I am planning to do that in a few days. Thank you.

eyekatcher,

I had the plug in the right drain. My plug is too small to fit in the live well drain. Thank you for the thought.

Ryan P wrote:

Why don’t you just plug the livewell drain on the back and then put the boat in the water and see if you get water in the boat. If you do…probably the hull…if you don’t its the livewell. Then you can troubleshoot the correct system. That’s what I’d do.

^^^^^ This!

If you look at the picture you posted, the 3 water openings left to right are the livewell drain, the bilge drain plug, and the livewell inlet.

Remove the screen on the outside of the livewell inlet and plug the livewell drain and inlet with plumber’s putty.

Then put the boat in the water and watch.

If you needed the bilge pump, you have more than just a few leaking rivets. Anytime a boat has a major leak, the livewell system is the #1 suspect because it has both fittings and hoses BELOW waterline, which means if anything in the system is leaking on the inlet or drain side, you have a major and constant leak.

Also, have you just got down under the boat on your back and LOOKED at the hull? See anything odd? Shiny scrapes? Split metal? I’ve only herd of a boat being punctured while on the road once, a guy I know hit a metal fence post that had fallen off a truck and the post stood up and punctured his hull. That diagnois was easy because he still had a fencepost hanging out of his hull when he got home.

Keep going on the livewell until it can absolutely be eliminated as a cause.

Grouse

I’m far from an expert, but have you used your boat since or put it in the water at all? You said you were unknowingly using the livewell, and the bilge was keeping up with whatever leak there was. This would lead me to think that you were either overflowing your livewell, or a leak in the drain lines somewhere if the livewell was full.

TheFamousGrouse,

Thank you very much. I will be taking the boat to water in a few days and try your method. I have been under the boat everywhere and there are no new scrapes or anything that looks like a recent development. I thought it was possible to have hit something, like a rock, but with the lower bars on the trailer, below the boat, I would have heard something hit those. No marks on lower trailer bars. My concern was due to the pot holes and less than great suspension on the trailer, the boat popped up and down on the trailer a couple of times, loosened up my rear trailer clamps, thus my thoughts of possibly the strain causing a rivet(s) failure.

BigWerm,

Thank you very much. I am going to take the rear end of the boat apart this weekend to see if any lines have been compromised. The thing I just can’t get my head around is that the water flowing onto the deck was coming from the front of the boat when still in the water and the live well is in the rear. I believe the boat, having the motor weight would sit a little more to the aft and that should fill up first if it was the live well? Just guessing. Hopefully I’ll know more this weekend.

Again, thank you all.

John Taylor wrote:

The thing I just can’t get my head around is that the water flowing onto the deck was coming from the front of the boat when still in the water and the live well is in the rear. I believe the boat, having the motor weight would sit a little more to the aft and that should fill up first if it was the live well?

Only 1 livewell?

BigWarm,

Yes, only one livewell, starboard rear. Port side is ice chest.

Thank you.

John Taylor wrote:

BigWarm,

Yes, only one livewell, starboard rear. Port side is ice chest.

Thank you.

Thought that just came to me, does the ice chest side have a plug in the bottom too (my pro sport does). Probably already checked it but if that came out i would assume it’s also tied to the live well drain.

All I can say is you guys are the greatest. I wish I could buy you all a drink! Your vast knowledge and experience saved me a trip(and probably a big cost) to my local boat store.

Got some time yesterday to take the main battery out and removed the deck plate below. What do you know, the clamp holding the live well lower hose had failed and the hose had come off. Don’t know if the bouncing of the boat and trailer on the dirt road caused it to come off, or if it just gave out. Hose is in good shape, but didn’t even try to tighten the clamp, just went to the local marine store and got a marine grade stainless steel replacement clamp.

Thank you all so much for all your ideas and wonderful, timely responses. It was/is greatly appreciated.

John

Good news on a Sunday afternoon, outstanding!