water in boat

[zgbgwfs]

I bought a 1965 15' corson fiberglass boat. There are a few bad spots on the very bottom of the boat (the keel?). There is water slowly seeping through these spots. What is the best way to drain this water? I am thinking of drilling a small hole in the hull, letting it drain and then patching the holes with a plug and fiberglass. Or I might go through the floor to investigate the problem. Which would be the best way. This boat is just going to be used to "get from point A to B" and need not be in pretty condition or restored condition. Just Safe. Any thoughts?

 

[zach103]

Re: water in boat

if its leaking in you most likely have rot.. drill some test holes.. . for the water to get out.. lift the bow and and all the water should flow to the bilge.

 

[F14CRAZY]

Re: water in boat

hmm...I'm assuming that this is a trailered boat, but you should be about to pull the bilge plug, elevate the tongue, and drain the water of out of the bilge.

If you've lucky and don't have soaked foam, wet stringers, etc then you ought to be able to properly fix the bad spots in the hull and you'd be fine...BUT I would first do some checking (search for "core samples") to make sure your stringers are still sound.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: water in boat

Hmmmm a 1965 with leaks in the keel? Who cares what it looks like? OKAY you are going to have to do some surgery to properly inspect it and make it "safe"....... it will be a significant amount of work and if you do not care about looks..........

Start reading the restoration forum. Get concerned about flotation.... stringers and the transom. We are bealing with a boat over 40 years old.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: water in boat

Hello m8..

The best way to determine what you have on the bottom is drill a hole .. 1/8 " to 3/16 " .

If your talking about the keel..then there IS NO core..there is no foam..that year of a boat they prob. did not use foam .

it could be just a void in the lams.. taking on water then leaking it out.. its hard to tell without pics. could be just outer chaffing..or it could be rubbed through. But you should be able to determine that with extensive outer keel damage.

If you see cracks on your bottom then you might have a larger problem.

use your drill bit until water seeps..the depth of your drill should tell you where water is coming from ( bilge or air voided lam. ).

YD.