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In the splash well there are 3 hatches. 2 round ones and a rectangular one.
They have a bead of rubber on them but it doesn't seem to make much of a impact. When I am out slow trolling in waves 3' and up the spashwell for the most part is always filled with water. I get that it leaks and is not completely water tight but I take on a few gallons a hour. Has anyone come up with a better hatch or a way to seal it better short of using silicone sealant.
Never really thought much of it until last weekend when I was out and my bilge alarm went off which happens when there is like 4-6" of water in the bilge. The bilge pump was running BUT not pumping because there were some leaves that had made their way into the bilge area and clogged the pump. The only way to the pump is threw the back hatches in the spashwell but that is all underwater most of the time. I was able to disconnect the float switch and manually turning off and on got the water pumped out.
Can you clean out the bilge with one of those grabbers ?
I would spend effort looking to replace the hatch seals. Take some good photos and go to some of the chandlery stores. My local chandlery place (Hamilton Marine) stocks many of the different gaskets.
If you can't replace the existing, maybe add an new gasket.
