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1. Use the full 4 digit year for everything you are asking your question about. Example: 1962, 1988, 2000, 2011 2. Include the correct name of your Whaler model. Example: Montauk 17, Montauk 170, Outrage 26, Outrage 260 3. Include the length when necessary. Example: 16, 17, 18, 20, 22 4. Do not post your email address anywhere on this site as it is already in your user profile.
Hi, I'm Ed.
I live in Monroe, WA. I've owned boats continuously since I was 12. That was 47 years ago...
Just bought my very first Boston Whaler, a neat Super Sport Limited 17. It's got a Johnson/Suzuki 90 four-stroke on it.
Like many, I've always admired Whalers. I've got a few hundred hours driving an old '74 (?) Sport 17 my water ski training partner had. It was a great slalom training boat. We skied 3-5 times a week, year round near San Diego for years. We had the Evinrude 115 on it rebuilt twice, we put a ton of hard hours on it, and it was well used when my friend got it.
We also have a Malibu inboard ski boat, and a Wooldrige jet fishing boat.
The Whaler will fit in nicely, where the other boats are quite purpose specific. I wanted something to explore Puget Sound and the many lakes, etc. around here. A solid runabout, without the stigma of a Bayliner, Sea Ray, etc... (Just kidding... I really like the Bayliner 4788 yachts...)
I'll ask a lot of questions. I've also got a lot of opinions from owning boats for almost 50 years. (Geeze, old dude...)
Other than that; I run a great company, was an airline pilot for 20 years, collect and race vintage sports cars, etc...
So Ed you're a masochist too like I am as I'm told I am because I like classic English sports cars and classic/antique wooden boats!
Welcome to the Whaler family and forget about the Bayliner there are better boats in that class.
If as you say all accessory items – engines, batteries etc. are equally balanced on the hull, then The listing must be from the hull itself.
Most probable cause is water within the whole material. That said, even if it was drydock for a long period of time there's no way for the moisture to leak out or seep out, unless you drill at least one hole through the frame on the side of the boat that is listing and at the lowest point on the hull. The second hole should be in the proximity but at a higher elevation, it's function is to allow air in to break the suction allowing moisture to seep about the lower whole. It may take a while for the water to gravitate to the drill hole. You can tape a vacuum hose over the whole to speed up the process. A good way to test whether your hull is waterlogged is to take a white rubber mallet and firmly tap along various lines on the hull starting from above the waterline at the bow and continuing along lines to the stern. Where it's not waterlogged the firm thump will resonate a "hollow" sound. If, or where it's waterlogged the thump will not resonate as hollow, just a dead thump. To understand a "dead thump" first tap above the waterline near the bow and to hear the hollowness, then go tap the transom below waterline and you will hear the difference. The transom below the waterline is solid so there will be no resonating sound. If the area on the listing side of the Hull sounds dead (solid) it's most likely waterlogged.
