Water in ski locker drain

[zipper]

I was cleaning out the boat and WINTERizing today...and was cleaning out the ski locker and saw a reflection of light coming from the drain. There was standing water nearly level with the top of the drain. Tried to un plug using big grass trimmer string, fed 6' into it, water stayed. All drains and plugs are removed and appear dry in the engine bay. Brass plug removed. Tomorrow I will remove the fuel hatch to see whats up but I did not want to leave the water in there with freezing weather almost here, so I got the shop vac out and taped an old plastic gas nozzle to it that fit into the drain hole, and Holy Cow I pulled 4 gallons of water out of there I would not want to have frozen. OK where does that drain go? Under/around the fuel tank? There is an area of space below the engine and those plastic plugs drained by the brass plug, does it drain there. I know how it got in, just wondering why it stopped where it did.

 

[Ilmmct]

Take the plug out and trailer it up a steep incline ...

 

[swatski]

I have developed a habit of setting the trailer jack up on top of a large (12") paver (jack is fully extended, too). Keeps the bow up and helps drain the bilge.
Drives me crazy.

--

 

[zipper]

@swatski I did have the trailer nearly level when I first noticed the water. I did jack it up, on level ground, to maximum jack ht. on a 2" block of wood, and nothing came out. Maybe I did not wait long enough for it to trickle down but 4 gallons should rush back there, I got the shop vac and pulled it out. I will experiment today to find out at what jack height is best to leave my boat so it self drains. The boat is in one of my barns under cover since mid October. If that had frozen where it was...I can see my post in the spring "Ski locker explodes" We would not be happy.
So if you dock your boat for summer and get water in it thru the ski locker and then the bilge below the engine bilge pump and those black plugs, there is no other way to remove that water than to remove boat from water, pull the brass plug and jack it up high...seems like there should be another pump in the lower level. Will add this to my post boating/trailering checklist. Thank you both.

 

[Bill D]

I was amazed how much of an incline I needed to have my boat parked on to get the bilge to drain. After cleaning the boat and rinsing everything down, I tried to raise the jack as high as it would go and got very little out of the transom drain plug. I then put the jack on a cinder block and repeated. Although I got more water out, when I pulled the boat out of the driveway and parked it on the hill, lots more water came out. I haven't figured out a good solution for while the boat is being stored yet. Sure, I could jack the hitch up higher, but it just doesn't look right...

For a boat stored on a lift, as soon as the boat was underway, the water would move aft and could be pumped out if high enough. Several members have also removed the waterboxes and put a second bilge pump in the lowest part of the bilge.

 

[Scottintexas]

you should pull your fuel hatch cover and see what it's like, it very easily could be clogged at the exit near the rear of the fuel tank,
if you've not done I would suggest also pull the cleanout hatch cover just to see what's down there,

 

[zipper]

@Bill D @swatski I finally did get the rest of the water out by running the jack stand all the way up on a piece of 3x8 wood, I got most of it with the shop vac yesterday. Had no idea the boat would not self drain, unless the jack is all the way up on a block of wood. Outa sight, outa mind, never knew it was there as it was not visible until I saw water in the ski locker drain. Learn something new every day, just glad it did not cost $$. @Scottintexas I will be pulling the fuel hatch cover this weekend, because when I stick my finger in the drain, from the engine bay, I can feel something in front of the drain, blocking it, but moving around, the other hatch will have to wait until spring.

 

[J.E.T]

I have the same exact same issue. The dealer told me to pull the plug when under way to allow it to Drain. Did that and all the water went away, but as soon as I slowed down the water came right back. Had to have my wife tighten the plug back up while under way to keep water from flowing back in to the ski locker. Seems like there is just water some where in the boat that is not draining.

 

[MrMoose]

I noticed this same issue in my boat once when it got about 45 minutes of torrential rain while docked. When I got to the boat, I checked the ski locker and the intra-hull water level was right below the locker drain. I've spoken with other owners who say that they have to use the "maximum" tilt method to get water out of their boat. I'm wondering if there is a stringer/cross member in the bottom of the hull that is blocking the flow of water when the boat is level. Maybe something that is only about a 4 inches high that creates a cavity/reservoir in the front section of the hull. @Julian, is there any chance you can get a pic of the inside of the outer shell during production before the inner shell is dropped in. That would give us an idea of what's down there. I assume that much of the water eventually makes its way to the transom drain due to wave action/sloshing while underway, but there's probably always some water down there.
At one point, I sent a video inspection probe down through my ski locker drain to try and get an idea of what was down there. Didn't find anything; couldn't control the probe well enough. I kind of wonder if someone injected some foam insulation where they should not have and it's impeding drainage.
To put things into perspective, as an easy calculation, a 2 foot by 2 foot square (I know that the hull isn't flat, but just for perspective) with an inch of water in it is about 2.5 gallons, which is over 20 lbs.

 

[Julian]

Not sure I can get a shot like that @MrMoose , they are very anal about what they will release.

Given how much crap came out of my bilge when I got her home, I makes me wonder if there isn't something stuck in there. I guess one thing to try would be to put it on an angle and stick a hose in there and see if it flows out clear and well.....would also be good to be able to look under the clean out hatch while you are doing this.

 

[grady dagenais]

So just got an ‘07 Sx230.
Rainy ride home and also spent a day in rain outside the day after.

But then I spent 1/2 day cleaning it up, organizing and getting the cover on - no water in the ski locker and nothing coming out the transom drain.

Short story is, had a ton of rain, cover was on, but now 3-4” of water in the ski locker - the ski locker plug is out / transom plug still out / plug from gas tank area to eng compartment out.

Cover was pooling as I didn’t have it 100% right - it is now. So wondering if hull was full via the rain but not enough to come into the locker and dripping rain/condensation from the cover allowed the water into the ski locker?

I will say from reading the other posts, my driveway is not level and it’s jacked up but it’s flat at best or points down a little

So will reopen this for 2 questions:

- has someone dropped in a 2nd bilge? If so, where can you provide a picture or diagram

- is there a specific area I should check for blockage (I did see fuel tank area under deck as one)

Thanks

 

[Scottintexas]

check out the FAQ at the top of the page for second bilge options but they have been in the cleanout hatch area,

The fuel cover needs a special driver, look at the link in my signature for known issues about your boat,

 

[zipper]

@grady dagenais It may sound a little odd, but where your boat is now, put a level on the ski locker hatch. If level, jack it up so water will drain aft towards the scupper and bilge drain. I found it necessary to jack up the bow all the way up on the jack with a block of wood under the jack. I use a piece of 6x6. This will get all the water out of the bilge that runs under the ski locker, fuel tank and engine compartment. Water likes to pool under the ski locker, the lowest point on the boat and most likely found its way in there under the ski locker hatch. Did you notice a pool of water in the bow forward of the ski locker hatch? When pitched correctly, the continuous gutter system around the hatches drains the water to the scupper hose inlet at the back of the cockpit at engine hatch/bulkhead. You may need to replace the gasket and adjust the play out of the latch so it will seal tighter. Jacking up the boat usually fixes the problem. I have a whole other approach to remedy this if it happens on a wet slip...400# of water in a ballast bag on the swim platform makes sure any water down there flows aft to the bilge pump. Another bilge pump under the clean out port tray is a good idea, wired to a float switch. This puts it lower in the bilge than the factory one in the engine bay.

 

[Jgorm]

I'm about to add a second bildge next to the scupper. Maybe tomorrow.