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Hull Filled with water while parked


middi9999

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My 1989 Eurosport F3 sits on the side of my house under a vinyl boat cover when not in use. I haven't taken it out in about two weeks and Im preparing for a week long trip to Lake Norman on Saturday. I was checking it over today and noticed the bottom of the hull was filled with about 4-5 inches of water. I keep the rear two plug out, when its sitting but I leave the center plug in front of the engine in.

It has rained quite a bit over the last two weeks, but like I said, the boat stays covered so here are my questions:

1. how could that much water get in the hull with the boat covered?

2. I've never left the boat in the water and this trip it will be kept in the water for 7 days, so should I be concerned with a hull leak?

3. My bilge pump only works when turned on and continuously runs even without water. Should I replace it with one that constantly stays powered and turns on when the float rises? Battery concerns with that option? Why would it not be that type of pump in the first place.

Let me know what you think as I need to figure this out before we leave in 6 days.

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I ordered a new 1992 Euro F3 in 92. Loved that boat! If i remember right, the bilge area slopes to the center of the boat so the T-plug is the low spot and should be the one to remove for drainage. I never removed the rear drain plug because of that. The boat should have an auto/manual bilge pump in it. The float switches are known to get stuck of go bad. Get a new one. Cheap insurance. FYI... I had a speedo tube fail on that boat and it took me a little while to figure out where all the water in my bilge was coming from because the prop shaft packing was adjusted perfectly. One of my Airguide speedos wasn't working and i figured it was a clogged pickup. The pickup was fine the water was just spaying into the bilge.

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23 hours ago, middi9999 said:

My 1989 Eurosport F3 sits on the side of my house under a vinyl boat cover when not in use. I haven't taken it out in about two weeks and Im preparing for a week long trip to Lake Norman on Saturday. I was checking it over today and noticed the bottom of the hull was filled with about 4-5 inches of water. I keep the rear two plug out, when its sitting but I leave the center plug in front of the engine in.

It has rained quite a bit over the last two weeks, but like I said, the boat stays covered so here are my questions:

1. how could that much water get in the hull with the boat covered?

2. I've never left the boat in the water and this trip it will be kept in the water for 7 days, so should I be concerned with a hull leak?

3. My bilge pump only works when turned on and continuously runs even without water. Should I replace it with one that constantly stays powered and turns on when the float rises? Battery concerns with that option? Why would it not be that type of pump in the first place.

Let me know what you think as I need to figure this out before we leave in 6 days.

Auto bilge really helps during the inevitable summer pop up thunderstorm.  I have watched mine pump off and on for hours during rainstorms with no noticeable drain on the battery.  I have helped friends bail out their boats when the overnight storm filled the bilge and soaked their starters.

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@oldjeep Im positive there was no water in boat when parked. I will seriously look into an auto bilge, but im still curious as to how that much water got in there even with it covered ya know?

Someone else replied that the floats in these pumps sometimes get stuck in always on position. Any chance it an easy fix? or recommend getting a new one?

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23 minutes ago, middi9999 said:

@oldjeep Im positive there was no water in boat when parked. I will seriously look into an auto bilge, but im still curious as to how that much water got in there even with it covered ya know?

Someone else replied that the floats in these pumps sometimes get stuck in always on position. Any chance it an easy fix? or recommend getting a new one?

Shaft seal,  rudder seal or missing fin bolt if it was dry when parked. 

Edited by oldjeep
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31 minutes ago, middi9999 said:

@oldjeep Im positive there was no water in boat when parked. I will seriously look into an auto bilge, but im still curious as to how that much water got in there even with it covered ya know?

Someone else replied that the floats in these pumps sometimes get stuck in always on position. Any chance it an easy fix? or recommend getting a new one?

I mentioned that. You can clean the float assembly up and get it to work freely and you may be okay , but if the contacts in the switch are bad it not worth messing with. They are relatively cheap and very easy to replace so that's my recommendation.

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12 minutes ago, oldjeep said:

Shaft seal,  rudder seal or missing fin bolt if it was dry when parked. 

I think he has the boat on the trailer. Your recommendation is spot on if the boat is docked and floating.

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@jbcanski2 exactly. That's why im still wondering. It was rain water @oldjeep but I appreciate the recommendations. It did rain a good amount, so im assuming the water just got in somehow when the cover fills up on top (I found myself draining the cover a few times with a bucket) it just seemed like a lot of water given it was covered. Im sure im just worrying too much. Its my first boat and Im about to have it in the water for a week so im just making sure im all buttoned up before I become one of those "listen to what happened to this guy" stories!!

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Your vinyl boat cover has micro holes , even though it is not canvas it’s  impossible for  it to hold pooled water large enough that you are bailing with a bucket and some water not get in the boat somewhere !!  Hold it up in the sun and I bet you see holes , if this was all winter maybe some ice you cleared off of it is what cut/damaged the vinyl  

Edited by granddaddy55
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There are a few things that you do not screw around with on a boat:

1. A bilge pump.  If it fills with water, the whole thing is destroyed.  If it doesn't shut off, it fills with water.  If it doesn't turn on, it fills with water.  Buy a new bilge pump, they are really easy to install.

2. A battery.  You need your boat to start when it's time to start it, and to power your bilge pump if necessary.  I buy a Walmart 27D battery every two years, it is simple to change and cheap insurance.  There's a reason they only warranty them for 1 year.

3. The impeller.  You need to cool your engine down, and if that fails you can destroy it.  Replace it every two years.

There are lots of pros/cons and opinions on all the other stuff, but the above is stuff that you MUST maintain.  If water is pooling on your cover, add a post (or two, it's easy) to support that area.  If you need to replace the cover in the future, don't go cheap, get a good one that fits properly (lots of advice from this site on that).  I had an old Glastron that I bought for $550 in college and the first thing I did was had a custom cover made for $400, and it fit perfectly.  That was the best thing I did, because it protected all of the other improvements (time & money) that I did after that.  It's a boat, but you have to manage the water in, out, and thru the engine or it will not hold up.

Let's see a pic of that classic!

 

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Maybe I missed it and didn't see it explicitly stated above but if you're parking your boat outside (not ON the water) you should remove your drain plugs. 

 

Edited by formulaben
  • Like 1
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Your cover is leaking for sure. FYI....Starbrite and 303 both sell a GREAT sealer in gallon size that will make your cover work like new again (tho you should still get poles, or if you have a tower, but a "Hangtyte" system or 2....I put 2 on my boat.

To waterproof the cover....First wash it really good and then let it dry. Then get a good hand sprayer and small paint roller with foam roller (the 5-6" wide) and do 2x2 sections of the cover at a time...spray it well to cover and then backroll it with the foam roller (I saturate mine pretty well), go over entire cover like that and then let it dry. It will bead water and shed like brand new after that. Get entire gallon of the sealer since you will use most of it if done properly. It will seal up most of those "micro holes" in the fabric of the cover.

I have used both brands named above since I treat my cover each Spring even tho I dont use it a ton and garage my boat....just OCD like that. Starbrite is cheaper and seemed to work just as well, I found a gallon on sale this Spring at Overtons and got it.

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