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1967 13' Whaler - 800lbs without motor - am I waterlogged?
Hey folks! Just wanted to get an opinion as to whether my 13' 1967 whaler is taking on water. It behaves more and more like it is every time we take the boat out... to the point where if we're going fast and we stop suddenly, water will come over the stern.. we also think it's sitting a little low in the water.. picture attached with 3 boys in it, each about 100 lbs (going slow, just leaving the dock)... what do you think?
We also got the trailer/boat weighed today and it came in at 1220 lbs.
The trailer weighs 280, so that brings us to 940.
The motor weighs 140, so that brings us to 800.
approx 10-12 gallons of gas in a tank in it - which sits in the back of the boat - at 6 lbs per gallon of gas let's say that's 60 lbs, so we're at 740
an anchor that weighs 10 lbs max - I think? so.. 730 lbs
What's left in it from there... the biggest remaining weight would be the wood from the console/benches/etc.. then the battery, small bilge pump which weighs nearly nothing, life jackets.. etc.
What do you think... are we carrying water? Probably not much to do to get it out, since it's likely soaked into the foam? Thinking our best solution is to purchase a new hull with console/etc in it, then move our motor/battery/etc over to it.
Update: here's a shot of the boat coming in - just one boy in it this time, but the boat seems to be sitting differently - maybe?, could be though because of different weight distribution - https://imgur.com/a/mAMYJBU - this was after only about 30 min on the water.. because on their way out, the boat went fast as usual, but after a turn, the boat motor still was running at the same throttle but their speed decreased quite a bit - so they brought it back to be safe.
Overall though, again, the boat has been seeming like it has been taking on water gradually since we've owned it (August 2020) - before that I think it sat on a trailer for a while - the most recent time my son had it out prior to this one (with just him on it, like in the imgur picture I linked), when he throttled up, the front of the boat went up so high, he thought it was going to flip (as in, he couldn't see in front of him) - which it hadn't done before.
favabeans attached the following image:
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Edited by favabeans on 05/23/21 - 1:24 PM
You need to pull the boat out and remove the drain tubes. Inspect. Inspect the hull and the every inch of the hull for holes, scrapes or damage to the gelcoat.
The drain tube in it looks and feels fine, but there are some scrapes and a tiny chunk out of the bottom of the boat at one part.. but the chunk feels solid.. but I guess even if it's solid, it could still be porous? I can send a picture..
Overall does the boat look like it's sitting a bit low in the picture, or is it impossible to tell?
If your boat has scuppers I'd check to see if the flapper valves are in good condition, not blocked open by debris. They rubber does harden with age and then they loose their ability to seal.
Maybe my scupper comment is N/A since you said water comes over the transom...which is normal by the way when you stop suddenly from a fast speed. The water in the wake behind you is traveling nearly the same speed as the boat and when you drop off plane suddenly the boat slows faster than the wake....wella!...the moving wave of water hits th transom and splashes over.
My thought is that if you have a path for water to get into the hull then the same path will allow water back out when the boat is trailered. So I would leave the boat in the water for a week or so to let water in then take it out and dry it off as quickly as you can. Park it in the sun or use a shop vac or leaf blower to dry it. Then park it on dry pavement in the shade (garage) and look for wet spots forming on the pavement. Then trace where the moisture is coming from abo e the wet spot.
My understanding is that Whaler uses foam which is a closed cell type. The foam itself should not soak up water. But I'm sure that there are some voids in the foam that water can get into and fill.
favabeans wrote:
The drain tube in it looks and feels fine, but there are some scrapes and a tiny chunk out of the bottom of the boat at one part.. but the chunk feels solid.. but I guess even if it's solid, it could still be porous? I can send a picture..
Overall does the boat look like it's sitting a bit low in the picture, or is it impossible to tell?
