1995 MONTAUK 17 Permanently Closing Drain

[WhalerGal]

Having left the transom [of a 1995 Boston Whaler MONTAUK 17 boat] with about 25 quarter-inch-diameter drillled holes to dry in Arizona, I had a thought: permanently seal the drain hole and thus avoid future drain leakage. Wisdom is not my strong point in this arena, and am hoping to hear your thoughts. Thanks, Melinda

[Oldslowandugly]

I did that on an aluminum skiff but only because I was keeping it at a slip all season and I didn't trust a drain plug not to leak. As for the Whaler drain, on mine I replaced all the brass tubes with one inch diameter stainless steel tubes. These I epoxied into place and then sealed around the outer edges with Marine Tex. At the slip I plug both ends of the stern drain tube for extra measure. Why I didn't seal them like on the skiff, is because if a real soaker rain event comes I want to still be able to unplug the drains and let the boat become self-bailing during the storm.

[WhalerGal]

Thank you for your insight. I use my Whaler about four months a year. I fish every day during that time. We have had some real soaker storms at Hebgen Lake, Montana, and the bilge pump has been able to handle the water. If all fails, it is possible to drill a new drain. Thank you so much--Melinda

[jimh]

I assume you are asking about the cockpit sump drain in the aft of the boat. I do not recommend to permanently close off the aft cockpit drain through the hull to the sea.

If you suspect that the drain is in poor condition and is allowing ingress of water into the foam interior of the double-bottom hull of the Boston Whaler boat, I recommend you repair the drain to prevent ingress of water. For advice on repair and replacement of through-hull drains, see the reply in the Frequently Asked Questions:

Q12: How Are Drain Tubes Replaced?
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/FAQ/#Q12

[Oldslowandugly]

I agree with Jim. I would not permanently seal the stern drain. Even though a Whaler is filled with foam flotation and will not sink, if the bilge pump fails and enough rain water collects at the stern the weight of it and the motor may allow the motor to submerge and/or the boat to swamp. I used to keep the aluminum skiff at a dock and relied on a small bilge pump. One time after a three day deluge by the time I finally had a chance to go check on it, I found the battery had died. The boat was full of water and the transom was about a half an inch from swamping. With a drain plug if you know a torrential rain is coming you can open the drain and rest easy.

[WhalerGal]

OK! I understand the rationale behind retaining the whaler cockpit sump drain. The logic is clear and irrefutable. Thank you both so much.

Another question. Would the 1995 Evinrude 90 Ocean Pro benefit greatly from a fuel-water separator? I installed one 10 years ago for our trips to saltwater fish the Florida Keys in May for tarpon. I am inclined to remove the beast as my fly line loves it. Am using ethanol free fuel. Your thoughts please.

Thank you again, Melinda

[jimh]

I assume MONTUAK 17's fuel tank is an on-deck tank, and its capacity is probably not very great. Many people think that smaller capacity on-deck fuel tanks really don't tend to be prone to separation of water from fuel and that tanks like that do not warrant a big, canister-type fuel-water separating filter.

The best way to keep water out of our fuel is to buy gasoline that is not contaminated with water. The notion that a fuel tank can make its own water from diurnal temperature variation is actually something I don't think is very well considered, that is, I don't think it really happens very often or to a great degree. Even allowing that it could happen, in a smaller tank the volume of empty tank above the fuel is very limited, and any water it might create would not be a problem.

You can also get an in-line fuel filter that will be less obtrusive, or you could move your canister-type filter to some other location where your angling line didn't become snagged on it so often.

[WhalerGal]

Thank you Jim. Appreciate your insight and attention to detail. Melinda

[Oldslowandugly]

I use an in-line filter [illustrated below] on each six gallon tank, with its own fuel line, and I don't have a water-in-fuel problem. But with the 48-HP I also average a single tank of fuel a month, so [the fuel in the tank] is replaced with fresh fuel monthly. On the other hand, I used to have a 15-HP engine on the skiff, and it used so little fuel that I went many months on a single six-gallon tank. The gasoline actually went stale, and I found water accumulating in the in-line filter. I would think a 90-HP would quickly burn through a the fuel in a portable tank.

A built-in tank is another thing altogether. My fishing buddies with built-in tanks all use the large screw-on filter-separator and are now adding a bottle of Stabil with every fill-up as a matter of course, just to be safe. Every now and then one of them ends up with a filter full of water and has to change-out the filter.