Hello folks... well... I have tried a few things but am pretty pissed off about it at this point... so I am reaching out for help. Here is the situation...

2000 47 Lightning... boat is in great shape but started taking on water after a good rain right after I bought it. I found out that the anchor locker had a 6 inch hole in it... so I had the entire locker rebuilt with new twin side drains... works better then factor at this point. I also installed polly board at the bottom so it would never happen again...

I then took all of the water out of the cuddy... bone dry. Next rain came... yep... water everywhere. So I bought new Cockpit cover from the top of the windshield line (snaps) to the exhaust... covers everything. Next rain came... yep, water everywhere. I then tried drinking a full bottle of Scotch... next rain came... and that didnt work either...

So here is the deal... I looked at both cuddy vents at the top and no water getting in... bone dry. What is the next step?? Could the seals in the windshield be leaking? We are talking about 6 inches of water here so it's not just a couple drops. I was thinking of adding a drain plug on the underside of the step below that area (bottom of hull behind step) to open and drain while the boat is not in use... but I would need to gain access to the hull from inside the boat somewhere to get this done. Seems like a design flaw? Am I missing something guys?

Thank you in advance for the help!!

Q

check cleats, and store the nose high on the trailer

I will check it out. I did hear awhile back of some sort of a drain issue with the 47's... and a few of the guys had some sort of fix... but cannot recall what it is. I would think that we are looking at some sort of large opening for the amount of water that is coming in... but who knows...

P.S. the walls are not wet at all.. I would think that if the cleats were leaking then there would be water or condensation on the walls? Everything is pretty dry but the floor....

Bow rails?

my 29 would take some water on after a rain. Always kept the bow as high as possible still some water. I had a new cockpit cover made and also a bow cover than snapped on at the windshield snaps and fits right over the beak at the bow. Two things it fixed no more bird crap etc on my deck and does not get any water in the cabin or cockpit area

Not sure on the fountain, but formulas are notorious for the windshield seals leaking and causing the same problem. Also check deck hatches, I've seen water run down between the headliner and around the sides to the floor. It's probably a combination of several leaks. Try taping all the way around the windshield base and see what happens. Quick easy way to see if that's your problem.

Good luck!

Thanks guys... ill give it a shot. Been thinking of upgrading to the newer style windshield... if I do, then I will probably remake a new cover to stretch done to the base of the windshield rather then snapping at the top. Ill go ahead and tape the windshield prior to just to make sure and see if that works. I have checked the hatchs in the cuddy area and they all seem dry. Here is a pic.... big ole bow rail so that may be an issue... keep you guys posted....

Sealing up the bow rails, front cleat and navigation light housing fixed mine. Same exact problem.

i definitely don't have a 47 but had the same issue and it will really piss you off. I store my boat either in a a warehouse or carport and the first couple weeks of owning the boat constantly had water in cabin floor. Never sat in the rain. So i figured it was from washing it. maybe it was getting through the cabin doors, nope. So every time I put the boat up, I put my boat on a slight incline with drain plugs out of course prior to storing it and keep the nose high. No problems now.

If you are worried about putting extra pressure on your tongue jack buy leaving the boat nose elevated go buy a heavy duty jack stand at Tractor Supply(like $15).

I have also had good luck with the RV dehumidifier cans you can get a wal mart. If you live near water there will be humidity. It surprises me every time i pour it out how much water it collects, may be over kill but I don't want to open the cabin doors to mold.

As they say, oddly enough water is a boats worst enemy. I would rather overkill than underkill.

I think this is correct, it also fixed mine. It's time for the 4200...