Getting water out

[Oldslowandugly]

I can't prove it but I suspect there is water hiding in my foam. If I wanted to drill a hole so that it might drain out over the winter, where would the best location be? I'm guessing at the stern would be best, but how thick is the transom wood? How thick is the keel? How far forward of the transom would be safe? I store the 15 footer on the trailer with the bow up. Water "should" travel to the rear and down, right?

[jimh]

Read http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/FAQ/#Q3

[Oldslowandugly]

Thanks, Jim. I knew I read that somewhere, and of course it was right here on this wonderful forum. (insert red faced emoticon).

When I first got the boat there were many bad leaks in the deck from screw holes, and I drilled many 1/2-inch-diameter escape holes. Letting the bare hull bask in the summer sun forced out a lot of water. I also used a dry-vac to suck out as much as I could. The deck always felt solid. When it seemed dry I filled the holes and painted the deck.

There has been no bubbling of paint or other signs of water in the deck even after two summers at a slip in the baking sun. So perhaps only the wood held water.

All the drain tubes were shot and I replaced them with one-inch stainless-steel tubing epoxied into place. Oddly, water never dripped from the obviously exposed drains, maybe it did without my knowledge and only seemed dry there. That is why I suspect there may be some left below the drain tube level. I will drill a small hole near the transom and see what comes out.

[Oldslowandugly]

I drilled a small hole right before the transom wood, and . . .NOTHING! Whew. Not only that, but the foam sounded crunchy and dry. I guess the deck wood was wet but it didn't migrate down. Beer time.

[Jeff]

I would be willing to bet that there is water in your foam still. Especially if at one time there were failed thru-hulls . That said, I would bet a sizable sum of money that there is not a classic Whaler out there that has been used that does not have some sort of elevated moisture somewhere in the foam. Some have more, and others, less. Should you worry about it? No--not if you float the hull and it seems to float well in the water.

[Oldslowandugly]

After two seasons at a slip I have not noticed the water line change at all. My suspicion of water was caused by a lack of performance towards late summer. The boat felt "heavy", but maybe it was something else. There were some barnacles at the scum line under the bow when I hauled it out, but that shouldn't have affected planing speed. A change of spark plugs did nothing more than smooth out the idle a bit.