Strange plugs in bilge area

[NMarz77]

Hi guys, so I purchased a 1999 Sea Ray 190CC at the end of the season last year. While doing an oil change I noticed two holes in the bilge area. One is plugged and the other is open...and yes there is water in the one that was left open. I tried to suck out and blow out as much water as I could for now. Does anyone here know what these holes were drilled in there for?

 

[AShipShow]

May have been old thru-hull transducers that were removed?? Looks like that boat came with a 4.3 Mercruiser sterndrive, so there wouldn't have been any thru hull water lines...

I'm going with old transducers..

 

[GA_Boater]

Flotation foam installation holes and plugs is my guess.

If you stick your finger in the open hole, feel any foam? Don't get bit!

Welcome to the forum, NMarz.

 

[NMarz77]

Flotation foam installation holes and plugs is my guess.

If you stick your finger in the open hole, feel any foam? Don't get bit!

Welcome to the forum, NMarz.

I think you may be correct. I will have to check when I get back to the boat. When I stuck my finger in there the other day I did feel something soft...I was assuming it was really soft wood but now I'm thinking it could have been foam as I'm nit sure there is wood in that area of my model boat. All I know for sure is that the water smelled like nothing I ever smelled before or want to smell ever again

 

[JASinIL2006]

My boat has those. They are cutouts in the fiberglass tray that forms the bilge floor. They are for mounting a shoot-thru-hull transducer. That would be a very odd place for foam and an even odder place to pour it in, being one of the lowest spots on the boat.

It would not surprise me if you felt some soft, decaying organic material that got stuck in those sockets.

 

[NMarz77]

Thanks for all of your help guys. So I shouldn't be alarmed that there was water sitting in there for who knows how long?

 

[JASinIL2006]

It really depends... in my boat, there really isn't any place for water sitting in those cutouts to go. I'd spray some cleaner down there, blast it with a bit of clean water and vacuum or mop up the water. That should let you get a better look -- even if it requires putting your smartphone an a selfie stick -- at what's in there. It's not uncommon for organic stuff to get caught in those and get nasty, if there's water sitting in the bilge.

The bilge is designed to collect water, so having some back there by itself should not be a big problem. If there was a lot of water, and if the water was in contact with any fiberglass-covered wood structures, then you might want to look to see if there are cracks or holes where the water might have infiltrated the wood.