HELP!!!! water in the hull ?????
 

How in the hell do you get water in the forward part of the hull.............on my 35 classic there is a threaded plug at the bottom of the step down into the cuddy...............there is a lot of water in there....................

how does it get there...................

how do you get it out.................

Well Huggies absorb alot of water:rolleyes:

I'VE OWNED SEVERAL FOUNTAINS , THEY ALL GOT WATER IN THE CABIN WHEN THEY SAT OUTSIDE LEVEL ON A TRAILOR. RAISE THE LEVEL OF THE FRONT OF THE TRAILOR AND KEEP THE TOP ON THE BOAT IS STORED IN ANY WEATHER ..... BUY A WET VAC

im sorry about the confusion................

the water is under the floorof the cockpit between the bottom othe hull and the bottom liner..............

threr is a fitting about an inch in diameter in the bottom of the step box..........when I unscrew it and look inside ..........lots of water................

ez

E Z TERMS.
I have gotten water in the cabin compartments after running in the rain. The water accumulates in the bilge and then flows back in the cabin when running in rough water. Make sure you allow the cabin to dry out. If it's real bad you may want to get some moisture absorbers.

Dan

Man, I'm glad that I'm not the only one that has had this same thing. I agree that it must be water that has back flowed from the bildge. My *guess* is that the bulkheads do not have the drains along the very bottom of the hull, but up an 1" or so. This will keep the water from running back into the bilge under normal use. I used a fan last winter and faced it down into the step and let it run for a day to dry it out . I could feel a breeze back in the bilge compartment drains, so all was clear. I now put rubber stoppers in the 2 lower drains tubes in the engine compartment to keep any water from flowing forward again. I have also had water in the compartments under the bed. Same thing, and my boat does not see rain. So might check those compartments too!

I got into a "brand new" 35 Lightning at the Bay Bridge boat show a couple of weeks ago. Went down into the cabin in my stocking feet. Quickly realized I was standing in about an inch of water.

Most likely it was rain water from being exposed. Nonetheless, boat dealers must be smoking crack. To actually bring that boat to a show and display it. It's amazing how quickly boats go to $hit when they sit on a dealer's lot.

Yup, same deal here. My wife was cleaning the cabin and noticed really dirty water under the v-berth storage, so she starting vacumming it out with the wet vac and she said she had to keep emptying the thing out. She said it didn't look like there was that much water in the area she vacuumed. I asked her if the bildge was all nice and dry. LOL! The boat's in teh driveway on the trailer and is sitting level. The drain goes all the way from the front compartment to the bildge, and back if the boat is level. I suspect some doesn't flow all that well all the time. But we noticed it gets wet under our porta potty area as well at times. It doesn't appear to be a hatch leak, either. But, we clean out that water and dry it out, and it's usually fine.

And yes, I hit the porta potty when I go, so it's not that. :)

Now that all that water is out of there, we should get another 1 mph maybe.....LOL!

I just wish the boat retained gas like it does water.

Mark

Mike: See if you can get something that shows where the vent and fill hoses on the front of the fuel tank are, too. I'm still trying to figure out how to get at that.
Going to check for water in my cabin area this weekend. She's stored indoors, so I'm hoping not to find any.

i'll take a look tonight or tomorrow before i haul it up to lake texoma.

I would be very interested in knowing how these boats are built. There must be some sort of tunnel/false floor running under the boats. All my Fountains have had this problem. My 47 is getting water under the cabin steps all the time now. During a heavy rain it filled up a couple inches on the carpet. That really pissed me off. Bilge pump under the steps quit working. I can't figure out where the water comes from. Looking under the steps there is only a tube leading forward. Must be a tunnel leading back to the bilge. The cockpit drains go to this front area! I found this out when I was vacuuming the water out and dumping it in the cockpit. It came running back under the steps! Tipping the boat back on the trailer does not drain it out. As far as I can tell the water has to go forward before it can go back to the bilge. This makes it impossible to drain the boat completely. I'm running around with quite a bit of water in the boat all the time. Can't figure out how it gets in there in the first place. A gold star to the person who can tell me how this boat is built! Reggie?... :confused:

The bad part with all this water everywhere is not just the fact it's a nuisance. You also have to remember that hull blisters can form from the inside-out as well as from the outside-in.

32 fever...............

i found out where a lot of water was coming in this weekend..............
dude, you wont believe it........

the bow rail and front cleat are NOT bedded (sealed) when they are installed.................

mine is original and its never been sealed.............i dont know if they forgot it or what.............

thats where the water comes in to the bathroom carpet..........

go figure

ez

Had the same problem with water in cabin floor of my 42 (and also under step). Sealed the following and have not had water problems since:
1. Rub rail around the entire boat.
2. Rail bases where bolted to fiberglass. (make sure bolts tight)
3. Windshield entirely where meets fiberglass. Also pulled foam stripping out and tightened / sealed all screws attaching windshield.

Prior to this, I would wet vac all the water out, wash the boat, and the water would be back.

Thanks EZ... I just got my full cover, and I was hoping that would take care of any rain water or such getting in the boat.

The question is, seal the boat for no leaks, or make the cracks larger so the boat sinks and we can get new ones....hmmmmm... LOL!

We cleaned all the water out, and it was back after the huge amount of rain we've gotten and it was before I got the cover.

Man are these things a lot of extra work :)

Mark

The entire windshield on my 27 doesn't have a drop of sealant in it. The boat gets soaked when I wash it. I'm still tying to seal all the leaks in the windshield framing. For the price they charge us for these "offshore" boats at least they could spare 5 bucks for some sealant.

Mine leaked so much before I got it that the black decal on the dash has come off (only partially so it looks really crapy). I am working of a nice fix though.

Just my 2 cents.

Water
 

There are two drains in your cockpit. One on each side. These drains have tubes attach to them. Mine were not long enough and had to be lengthened. They run over your fuel tank. Water can get trapped if they are to short. I know several owners with this same problem. Fountain should put out a service letter when crap like this exisits. One owner I know entrapped so much water that he gained 1600lbs over time. Yes thats a real number not a typo.

I have a 1987 33ft and while I was winterizing it I noticed water under the V-Berth compartment and where the porta pottie goes!! I sucked all the water I could see and then went outside and shook the boat on the trailer, I could still hear water!! What the F*%K???? How in the Hell am I suppose to get to that water?? Do I have to drill a hole from another compartment?? It sounds like it's under the very front part of the V-Berth. What if I take out the mirror in the front of the V-Berth will I be able to get to anything from there???

BTW, I believe the 1600lbs!!:eek:

this seems to be a huge over sight on fountains part.

Some builders put short tubes on pop up cleats which drain into the bow area..

Not sure if mines the same way, but I noticed last year that I also had some water under the floor up front. When working on the engine and draining the water in the bilge, the water would drain backwards thru the 2 lowest drains. Only way I could get rid of it was to get the front WAY high. (Parking up hill,......trailer jack won't go high enough) Also removed the inspection caps up front and ran a fan blowing towards the openings for a week drying it out.

I now have rubber plugs in those 2 drains in the engine compartment to prevent it from back flowing again. Dry as can be this summer. 'course if your boat sits outside in the rain, the plugs may not be a good idea. :rolleyes:

I have the same water problem in the area under the step. I have red carpet and the water appears red but the floor or potty area never seems wet.

But I just wanted to mention: Don't put bilge cleaner in there because the automatic switch likes the soap and just keeps running and running. I had to flush it out for a 1/2 hour to get it to stop.

Ive always parked any boat Ive owned sloping towards the back for drainage. My driveway slopes toward the road so I bought a great big jackstand and still have to put two 6x6 blocks of wood underneath the jackstand to get the trailer off level. This is way higher than the tounge jack can go so I had to buy a jack all in order to get the trailer up high enough. 3rd boat Ive used this setup on so its ok. I also put a stick on level gauge on the trailer tonge that RVs use , that works well also.
One thing that had me puzzuled for awhile was all of a sudden I was getting a whole bunch of water in the V berth floor while in storage in the driveway. It turned out I had started to open the flip up top section of the 3 piece cabin door for ventilation. With that open the water just pours down past and into the cabin floor. Closed the top and left the swing out doors open, no more water in the cabin. ...........Doug