15 footer anchor locker water level

[Oldslowandugly]

Before I tucked the 15 footer away for the winter I meant to mark the water line in the anchor locker. Things came up and I forgot. So would anyone know offhand how deep the water is in the locker with the drain open?

[conch]

This would really depend on how your 15 is rigged. Maybe you can see a water line on the locker gelcoat. I have no water in my anchor locker at rest with a 70hp Johnson, battery, and two six gallon fuel tanks behind the rear seat.
Chuck

[porthole]

The only water I ever had in my 1983 15' was from rain, the anchor rode or washing. No water sitting at rest floating.

[Oldslowandugly]

Well, mine has at least half the locker full of water, at rest, with the drain open. I stupidly forgot to mark the water line. When I tested the bare hull- the Evinrude 48hp and two gas tanks I use- tended to submerge the transom splash well drains. So I located the center console as far forward as was practical and then placed the battery box in front of that. That raised the stern so the splashwell drains are just above the waterline. But that lowered the bow such that I fill the anchor locker. Don't get me wrong- I like this arrangement. I keep the locker plugged until I catch fish. Then I unplug it and I have a self regulating live well. The up and down motion of the boat drains and fills it better than any pump could. What I don't like is that with the plug in- rainwater fills the locker to the brim and saturates the cover. I want to install an overflow drain so that the rainwater never reaches the cover. That is why I need to know where my waterline is so I can place the drain between the live well level and the cover. Excuse me while I go kick myself for forgetting to do this last year.

[macfam]

Could you try this......
Take a guess on the level. How much could you be off? An inch or two? Wax the heck out of it, so it can easily be cleaned. I wouldn't want my fish sitting in a small area if your planning to use poisonous anti-foiling paint!

Because you don't want the locker to "over-flow", take a short piece of PVC that would fit SNUGLY into where the plug would go, then glue the next larger diameter PVC onto it. Then it can't fall thru the drain hole.
Cut the length of the larger diameter pipe so it will allow excess water to spill or drain into it. (Similar to the pipe in your toilet tank)
The result should be a tall drain that won't let water accumulate higher than desired.

[Oldslowandugly]

Macfam- GENIUS! I never thought of that- and it should work fine. Of course I was not planning on anti-fouling the locker. In fact that is why I keep the transom drain plugged and use a bilge pump in the well. Why have sea water filling the stern? Would you anti-foul the whole inside? Ridiculous. Anyway- so if I make an extension for the drain- and raise it above the normal sea water line- then any rain water would flow right out the tall drain. That is just brilliant. Thank you! I was planning on drilling a hole through the bulkhead and fitting a drain tube so the water would flow out on to the deck. But your idea would not only eliminate the rain water- but keep it from flowing back to the bilge pump area. And I just remembered that when I did the drains I used 1 inch stainless tubes. PVC pipe would slip right in- snugly- so it is removable when I need the live well. admirable!! Thank you so much! EDIT: I have another idea. If I can make a PVC adapter to insert into the drain- and have that angle up- then I could use a threaded PVC fitting close to the drain. Then I could use a threaded cap to shut the drain when I needed, or screw in the extension when that is needed, or leave it off to fill the well with sea water. I always hated trying to loosen the drain plug and it usually leaked a bit anyway. This is getting interesting!