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I have a 1985 18' Outrage that I have owned since it was 1 year old. It is not bottom painted and lived it's life on a lift or trailer when not in use. It was repowered with a F115 in 2005.

It sits 3-4" low in the stern when at rest presumedly from water in the foam. The tank has not been used for 7-8 years and is empty. I am planning to take the deck up and replace the wood beneath. The deck is not soft when walked on but I am guessing it will be in bad shape.

While the boat was on the lift it tilted to port so the thru hull at the small sump was not able to allow rain water to drain. I think this was how the water entered the hull and soaked the foam. I really think the proper solution is to cut the glass forward of the transom and remove the foam all the way to the bottom of the boat.

I have looked at the project albums here and have not seen a thread on this. My guess is the boat has at least 400# of excess weigh in it's current state.

There have been zero holes drilled in the deck or transom since new. Transom has no signs of swelling or delamination.

Any help/experience is appreciated.

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I recommend you not do anything as extreme as cutting through the transom to remove foam you assume is water soaked. Try the simpler approach before advancing to the more complex.

Remove the port through hull drain tube and see if that releases any water or if the foam is saturated. If the foam is saturated let it drain for a week or so. Water is subject to the laws of gravity and seeks to go as low as it can.

As Winter weather is rapidly approaching Maryland, avoiding any further damage due to the water freezing is worth doing.

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Thanks for the reply. The sump and thru hull is on the starboard side not port. I know you know Whalers so I am guessing you just made a mistake about that.
I am not planning to cut into the transom. I am thinking of cutting the glass forward of the transom and aft of the splashwell. When I pop the inspection plate which exposes the fuel connection at the top of the tank there is a small bit of foam exposed to the stern of that opening. It is very wet when pressed on water drips from it.

The amount of water that is some where in the foam is not going to trickle out from gravity over time as much as I wish that was possible.
There is a thread in project that comes close to what I am planning. I will look it up and post.
I would like your input if you are willing. albums

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Finnwhale 1987 outrage project is the thread I was referring to.
Thanks.

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Good luck with the project.

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Get the boat weighed at a certified scale.

Check all the rear drain tubes. Remove, inspect.

Report back here.

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Getting it weighed is not easy at all. It is 2 hours away and I am there only on weekends and holidays. I wish I knew the exact weight but I do know the rear drain tubes are 2" below the waterline at rest.

When the boat was newer I never put plugs in the rear drains in the transom or the thru hull in the sump. The tubes were all done Spring of 2024 by a guy that knew what he was doing and they look great.

When I pull the plastic inspection plates in 3 locations I can see the end grain of the plywood deck backing and there is not hint of rot or wet wood.

The 400# guess in excess weight is just that, a guess, but just looking at the hull at rest it is clearly very heavy in the stern. The foam in the area behind the splash well is a siginifigant volume.

My theory is that is where the water is trapped.

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If determining the boat's weight is too inconvenient removing all the drains should be done. Next weekend weigh the boat at any nearby scale. Your closest truck stop should have a scale.

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I do not get to the boat each weekend or many times a year. It is currently on a lift and is now tilted toward the starboard so the sump thru hull allows drainage. All the thru hulls were replaced Spring of 2024.



The transom shows no sign of moisture at the drain holes. The sump drain had wet foam when it was removed but no active drainage there. The stern drains are above the deck level and were not where the water entered the hull. This has been a 10-15 year process that was not quickly discovered because the boat was stored on a lift and was rarely floating where the stern heavy posture was seen.

I am sure the boat is heavy or it would not be so low in the stern. It has been widely reported in many places the published weight is far off. The Whaler spec sheet says hull is 1250#. I seriously doubt that is true but I don't care. It is 4" +- low in the stern and shows no damage or penetrations except those from the factory.

I have scoured the internet and seen a couple projects where a lot of foam was removed. I just wish the poster had shown an after pic of the boat floating and a report of the weight of the foam removed.


I dug a bunch of foam from a 1969 13' Whaler and weighed each bucket of foam removed. 53# removed total.

That boat was weighed and bare hull was at over 500#. Whaler said it was 270#. I replaced with 4# poured foam and it floats just fine with 2-200# plus adults and a 20hp Mercury outboard.

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Thanks for your email and the photos. It's clear the boat is low by the stern. While you are getting as much water out as you can you should consider relocating the battery to the center console. That will help get the stern up a bit and is worth the trouble.

For the long term, unless you store the boat indoors for the off season, I recommend you install a good cover. Carver Covers are, IMO, the best quality value.

Your experience with the 13 makes you far more highly qualified than me. I can only recommend you proceed cautiously and take any advice from Phil seriously. It would be helpful to the community if you document your progress with photos so someone in the future won't have to reinvent it. Again, good luck.

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Last fall I towed the boat to a very well known marina not too far from where it is "living" now. My list of requested repair was do some surgery to locate the excess weight, move battery to console, re-bed all rails and deck screws, replace deck sub plywood if needed.

It spent the entire Winter there and I called once a month to check on progress. I picked it up in April from the same spot it was parked in November. I then took it to a small 2 man shop a few miles away. He removed and replaced the thru hulls and they look great. At that time he was swamped with work as Spring had arrived so he could not do the other work. That is why I decided to use the boat another Summer which we did.

I will move the battery as you suggest and I have a good cover that is almost new and covers the boat on the trailer. I am hesitant to try it on the lift as it might blow off and there is no one to know that.

I will definitely update my progress as I did with the 13' project.
Thank you.