Posted by Jwkent58 on 08/12/17 - 9:07 AM
#1
I recently purchased a 150 sport and put it in at the local marina. Unfortunately, the cover I purchased (generic) didn't fit. I'm now waiting for a custom made to be delivered. I haven't put in a bilge pump as I was hoping the cover would be enough to prevent water/rain buildup. Although maybe given my question below, I should put one in.
Rain is forecast - although not heavy: 10-15mm (.5 inch). Just have no feel for the boats capacity and I've only trailered boats before. The boat is self bailing? No, the manufacturer states unequivivally, "do not remove the drain plug at mooring". But, it's the unsinkable legend. Leave it in and bail whatever has collected the next day. Right?
Posted by DennisVollrath on 08/12/17 - 9:24 AM
#2
Hi,
I am not personally familiar with your boat, but if it behaves like any of the Whalers I have experience with, 0.5" of rain will collect in the transom area to a depth of 2-3". This will not affect the seaworthiness of the boat. Get underway, have a passenger pull the plug, and let the water drain while you are on plane. Put the plug back in before you drop off of plane. You now have a dry boat.
Alternatively, you could bail before you leave the dock.
Dennis
Posted by ClevelandBill on 08/12/17 - 9:24 PM
#4
I own the same boat and I think Dennis is correct, except I have never pulled the plug in a stable moored situation.
I launch most often at a ramp that goes directly into Lake Erie. That means sometimes when I'm pulling out, my boat takes waves over the very low 150 Super Sport transom. In a pop-up wind and wave condition a couple weeks ago, I launched into glass, but retrieved with solid two-footers. As waves come up the sandbars toward the shore, they get a little more peaked, and with a couple attempts at the dock, I ended up backing into waves, and taking on water.
I had done this before at launch ... and we pulled the plug, got under way, and drained the boat completely.
On retrieve, I didn't experiment with it. But I could imagine a bit more wind, a couple more tries at the dock, and we would be swamped. Therefore, I just bought a small Rule pump and am about to design an up-and-over the transom tubing for it. With about three or four inches in the back half of the boat, the boat behaved differently.
Now, this math is guesswork, but say you've got a five foot by five foot floor area covered in four inches of water. That would be 8.33 cubic feet of water. A cubic foot of water weighs 62 pounds, for a total water weight of 516 pounds. That is a significant amount of weight for our little boats.
Many 150 Super Sports are going to be found only on waveless inland lakes, or even in the long roller waves of oceans or bays. But on treacherous, choppy Lake Erie, especially if I am coming in to the ramp in conditions that I didn't go out in, I am going to need this pump.
It wouldn't be difficult to rig it with a float switch to prevent the 150 Super Sport Swimming Pool. Might be nicer than the pulled-plug inch and a half of grungy water that would fester in the boat between visits.
BTW, there have been (and still are?) some models of Whaler that are truly self-draining at the dock. I think the first Montauk was one of these, the drain (and floor) was above the waterline.