Got a serious problem I think... need advice...
 

Well, I have been detailing the boat for hours. And I was spraying the floor down with the garden hose as I was scrubbing it. Then I moved onto the vinyl cleaning...

Well when I opened the hatch to get some areas that were covered, I discovered this...

There is water between the stringers, and it doesn't go anywhere. I am assuming water is not supposed to get in there. And as you can tell, the water on the port side stringers sure seems to have some balsa floating in it.

What do I do?

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I'd pump it out or sponge it out and then start looking for any clogged drains or anyplace the water may be coming from. If it sits there too long you can start to have it soak into the stringers.

I already shop vac'd it out of there, its dry now. But I can't believe this would be normal if the deck got that wet?

Thanks for the input! :ernaehrung004:

Just curious did you just wash the inside of the boat or the boat in general or may be it might be some rain water from sitting, being it is the first time you opened the hatch. Just an idea.

No, the boat was dry before this, I washed the deck it was pretty stained, so I soft scrubbed it brushed it. Got it spic and span, and washed it down with a healthy amount of water and boat wash.

Then a few hours later I noticed the water sitting in there.

I'm sorry but I do not know what you mean,So be for you washed the floor did you lift the engine hatch up and look around for any water in there ?

Correct. The engine compartment/bilge were completely dry before I started washing the deck.

The water in there is from me washing the deck.

What I want to know is: Is the water supposed to drain in between the stingers like that? If so, why is the water just sitting there and not draining completely into the bilge? Is there supposed to be drains between those little channels, or is water never supposed to be in there in the first place?

That depends on how it was originally designed. Generally stringers have holes cut in them near the rear bottom of them for water to drain. From all the crap floating in there, they might be clogged.

I just have to wonder how all the water got in just from washing the deck. It really shouldn't. The only thing I can think of is that it came from your pop up cleats.

Well, when I was washing the deck. I sprayed pretty good up near the aft corners (the bottom corners of the rear bench kick panel) so instead of directing the water through the center access panel, quite a bit got pushed into either aft corner, I am assuming how it got into the stringers.

I just did not know if this was normal.

I would say yes this should be normal for how you washed the inside of the boat. If you look to the rear of the boat along the stringers you might see some holes that should be drains. some times you will need to lift the bow up to get it to drain. If you have no holes you might be able to add some holes to it some day if it looks safe to do it.

That would be the cockpit floor, not the deck.

Sorry for misuse of terms.

Is your boat elevated in the front? It should be slightly raised in the bow using the tongue jack so the water will run out the drain plug (you do have it out).

Yes the bow was up, the plug was out, and the bilge drained just fine. This is just standing water between the stringers.

I had a similar problem on another boat I had. There where wells along side of the engines that would hold water. Came to find out that the previous owner had run the bilge pump overboard hoses thru the holes back near the tramsom plugging the drains. Rerouted the hoses, no more problem.

If you install "limber holes" make sure you coat the inside of the hole with epoxy to prevent water absorbtion.

Ken

So is this not a serious problem? As long as I keep the water out of there, and check for clogged drain holes.

have fun now!

No problem with the drain system. but I did see a problem in the photos you took. The drive oil bottle was real low, Also if that boat has been sitting that long it is time for a full service with a new impeller, and get the old fuel out of the tank be for you run it. Also you should have the oil changed out at your fuel pump by the fuel filter when you do the impeller most of the time there will be fuel in that oil and you should be doing that oil every time you do a impeller butt from what i have seen some places are not doing it so you might need to tell the service guy to do it up front. the oil you need to use then is the same oil you will put in the drive

Good eye...

Got a whole box of goodies for the drive and engine.

New bellows and gimbal going in, along with new drive lube, oil change, fuel filter, complete raw water pump setup and drive belts.

Fuel has been drained, and a fresh 90 gallons in.

That is next weekends project. Got the tools, manual, and parts. And being a master auto tech, I think I can hopefully accomplish this myself, although if I have any troubles, I can turn to the lovely folks of OSO!!!!

Have fun good luck. P S I edit some info for you on the last post.

Scott,

The 272 is probably the best all around model that Baja ever built. We really enjoyed the 2001 model that we owned a couple of seasons. The one major complaint I have had on all three Baja models I have owned is that there are too many areas that collect water in the bilge. I actually remember the 272 as being the wrost of them all. When I would wash it I always had to towel dry water in certain areas. This is pretty normal because they simply did not but enough holes through the stringers to allow the water to drain properly.

I would clean it up real good using simple green or something similiar and work hard to keep the water cleaned up and the bilge dry from now own and all should be good as long as there is not already water damage.

If you ever have to do any repairs on stringers you need to hook up with Kevin Brown at Lakeway Repair in Bucyrus, Ohio and he will make it better than new and get it draining for you.

Good luck with the boat and I hope you have a really good boating season.

Dock

Fairly common problem, find the drain holes and unclog them, it doesn't take much to clog them up. They're usually located near or at the transom. Hopefully they're epoxy coated, if not do it when it drys.

Did I miss a post?

Where is the 'balsa' wood chips coming from then?

Is the Baja 272 a wood floor boat?:confused:

I actually did not see any Balsa wood chips ,,,did u ?

First post - referenced in the 3rd paragraph. Pic 1, 5 and 6. I can't speak for balsa wood but pics look like medium density fiber wood particles.

Mine has drain holes a the rear of the stringer. They can get clogged.

I'd be more concerned about where that dead animal looking thing came from.

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/7382/64350034.jpg

My 05 25 Outlaw had vents on teh side that always allowed any water (rain, wash, etc.) in the side and would get in that same place. To top it off, Sunbrella wasn't smart enough to make a cover wide enough to cover those up and the vents being at an angle always caught any water that was close to it.