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I have read with great interest and concern about water intrusion in Boston Whaler's and want to be sure I'm not overly worried (or paranoid) about it. I have a 1990 Outrage 22'. There is no evidence of water intrusion. The boat has in my opinion normal wear and tear and minor "spider" cracks in a couple of spots. It does have several penetrations where equipment has been located and removed at one time, but I've been working on sealing all of those with either marine silicone or Marine-Tex. Is there any way or special locations where I should look for water intrusion, and if so how do I check for it; or am I just being paranoid. I've though about weighing the boat, but with gear and all this probably wouldn't be that accurate and give me any indication of problems. I've had the boat out a couple of times this Spring, and she rides nice in the water....and handles great; although this is my first Whaler and have nothing to compare it to. Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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I've read that there's a device that detects water in the hull. Maybe someone with more knowledge of this instrument can chime in.

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Replace your hull's drain tubes as a matter of course. You can do a better job than the factory if you are careful and thorough.

I suspect old, bad drain tubes are responsible for more water intrusion into Whaler hulls than any other single source. Be especially attentive to the bow drain tube(s) where hydrostatic pressure can force a lot of water into the hull.

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how do you re-install a bow drain tube?

I tried to do that on my outrage years ago. and this site was not around to give me helpful hints. Is there a flaring tool that you can buy to flare the ends or is there another way to install it. or is there another type of thru the hull replacement part.

here is what I did 15 years ago. I removed the old brass tube. Cut two pieces of 1/4 inch plexiglas to cover the holes with over lapping edges, tapped a 1/4 inch hole in the center of each piece of plexy and the attached each plexy to the hull, one on the outside and one on the inside of the hull locker. I then capped it off on each side with a 1/4 inch ss bolt with a rubber washer. I did not open these for the next 14 years. I hand bailed the front locker if it had an water after each outing, most of the time even when taking water over the bow this locker was dry. most of the water came in during the end of the dsy at wash down time or when it sits in the rain. This solved the problem of water intrusion from this drain.

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Yes, there is a flaring/flanging tool you can buy or borrow and there has been quite a bit of prior discussion about the installation of the brass drain tubes.

I have made good use of a pneumatic rivet gun (air hammer) to create a power flaring tool that is very simple.

Yes, certainly eliminating a drain will prevent the problem of it allowing water into the hull.

Here is a brief description of my method:

http://www.whalercentral.com/readarticle.php?article_id=42

...and a more detailed discussion of the technique:

http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/009805.html