No limber holes

[ashedd]

not sure if this is the right place for this....

My new to me 20’ glass cabin skiff with Volvo outdrive has ZERO limber holes. The hull appears to be a have water tight sections below deck. No holes from the bow aft, between the keel, stringers to keel, frames/bulkheads. The engine area looks water tight too. It has a drain hole in the transom for the engine area, and that’s where the only bilge pump is. There is also a raised ridge around the engine on the floor to keep deck water out. The deck has scuppers in the transom.

Should I drill limber holes? Previous owner put three hatches in the floor and cabin. Had to use my sump pump to pump out the bilge from the boat sitting outside. He wanted to drill holes. But it kinda seems unsinkable the way it is. It was designed for commercial use in Alaska.

 

[ashedd]

 

[Scott Danforth]

most likely there would be flotation foam in those areas. no need to drill anything

 

[mickyryan]

can you put a secondary bilge pump up front to take care of that water?

 

[ashedd]

most likely there would be flotation foam in those areas. no need to drill anything

I’ve yet to see any evidence of foam, but I’ll keep looking. I may have to add a couple more hatches to the sole.

 

[ashedd]

can you put a secondary bilge pump up front to take care of that water?

At the present compartment count I’d have to add four additional bilge pumps. The previous owner let the boat sit outside for a long time with the hatches open that he installed. Other than that I can’t find a way for water to get down there from the top.

 

[ashedd]

Drew up a crude sketch of what I’m able to figure out. There are four hatches, the small round one is just fwd of the engine dog house. The dotted lines are my assumptions on what’s under the sole. Two saddle tanks sit on the floor and are likely fiberglass. They’re integral to the floor and side of the hull.

Theres a keel and stringers. One limber hole from the small compartment fwd of the dog house to the engine compartment, where the only bilge pump is. That compartment has a drain plug through the hull. Two floor level scuppers. Question marks denote areas I can’t see. The star is a volleyball size soft spot. Heavy lines are frames/bulkheads

 

[kcassells]

? What does anyone need limber holes for anyway?
That is one nice looking boat!!

Tried to upload your pics but photbucket blows with ads and sucking up time to look at pics. Lots of guys got screwed here when they changed their 3rd party hosting. Try moving away from them for easier photo views.

 

[ashedd]

I think I should at least put hatches in the larger compartments. I have no idea what’s down there and would need a way to remove water if any got in there, although I don’t see how that could really happen. The deck and hull are glassed together, not screwed like most others.

 

[Woodonglass]

Sounds to me like a sealed compartment design so that if an external puncture occurs it's isolated to that particular compartment. I'd seal the top with hatches etc. and call it good.

 

[ashedd]

Finally cut a hole in the soft spot in my floor.... that compartment has a ton of water in it too. Dunno how it would get in there. The soft spot is small enough that a hatch can take it place, so it’s not that big of a deal.

 

[Ned L]

Can’t say that I’dbe against limber holes. If it is wood you are drilling through I’d figure out how to seal the I sides of the holes.

 

[ashedd]

Just a little update...

I’ve added three more hatches, will likely add at least one more. All new compartments I added hatches to had water in them. After feeling around along the the areas where the floor meets the side, I believe water gets under the floor when it rains. The joint between the floor and sides have a layer of glass but that glass has pulled away from the sides in several spots. I think water could run down the sides and past the joint into the bilge... it’s the only explanation I can come up with. The two center sections that already had hatches I believe leak at the hatch seals as they’re pretty hard and shrunken compared to the seals of the new hatches. Think I’ll replace the hatches outright since they’re pretty much ugly and yellow, especially when next to the new bright white hatches. I’m going to also run a new layer of glass along the sides to seal it up.. might even use white flex seal(eek) on the sides with flaking paint after the new glass job too. Could possibly use bottom epoxy barrier paint instead of the flex seal. The sides show the glass weave and I’d like to either coat with epoxy then paint, or paint with white barrier paint, or use the flex seal in white. May even leave the floor tan since I’m thinking a white floor might easily become a mess.