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I have a 1998 20 foot Outrage. I was in the process of unscrewing one of the cooler cleats so that I can attach a new bungee cord and I noticed water in one of the screw holes. There are three screws that hold the cleat to the deck. Only one of the screws is located in the removable part of the deck, (the big rectangular part of the deck that unscrews). The other two screw holes are located forward of the removable deck.

The screw hole that has the water in it is one of screw holes that is forward of the removable deck. My questions are, what kind of material is underneath that screw hole and is it important to get every last bit of water out that I can?

I know this is going to sound gross but I was actually able to suck a little bit out with my mouth. It tasted like fiberglass by the way. Hey, when you don't have a straw you have got to overcome and adapt. That was yesterday. Today, I went back down to my boat and the screw hole was full of water again. I am going to take my ShopVac down to my boat tomorrow and see how much water I can suck out of the hole.

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It sounds as though just the one screw hole has water.
I would get all the water out that you can. Let it dry out as long as possible. Then seal the screw with 4200 and put the screw back in.

If you don't have water in any of the other screw holes, then you should be fine.
The decks are wood and fiberglass. Do you have a wood locating diagram for your model?
Boston Whaler has some diagrams and parts catalogs on their website but I couldn't find the wood locating diagram for your model.
http://www.whalerparts.com/

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Thanks for the response Joe. I went down to my boat today and to my disappointment I found out that I have water in two holes. I was under the assumption that the non removable part of the deck is made of WhaleBoard. That is what I was told.

I am really disappointed with the water under the deck. It just goes to show that no matter how great a product that someone makes it all boils down to the employees and quality control.

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Water in screws hole is a good example of why it is important to use sealant in those holes. The Whaler factory does not use sealant for the most part. I recommend removing and then sealing all surface mounted fasteners that could potentially capture water.

The backing under the deck of a 1998 20 foot Outrage will be detailed on the Wood Locating Diagram supplied with each boat.

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I found the Wood Locating Diagram for my boat. The area in question has two pieces of 3/4" x 8" x 20" Plywood. That's great. Now I will have to replace the deck one of these days if I keep the boat. I think that I am going to get rid of it and buy a boat with no wood. By the way, why do my posts keep getting edited?

[Editor's answer: Because you keep forgetting to put spaces between your sentences. Please use a space between sentences. This will make it easier for others to read.]

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20 Outrage,

I don't think you will have a problem with the wood as long as you let it dry out and then seal all the screw holes. It takes quite a long time for wood to rot so you have probably caught it in time before it does any real damage.

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Plywood has been used in the hulls of Boston Whalers since 1957. It seems to be a good system. The factory has begun to use more and more phenolic board (Whaleboard) for backing where thin plywood was formerly used. The transoms of Boston Whalers still use plain old plywood in the motor mounting area.

Because of the unique UniBond construction method of Whaler hulls, wood degradation inside the hulls is very rare even when the wood is allowed to get wet. Most failed plywood backing has been soaked not just for years but for decades. Seal up those screw holes now and you will be good to go.

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Hi,

Don't worry about that little bit of water in the screw hole, every year I change something around, and end up with a weepy screw hole that I forgot to seal, no big deal, just caulk it in the fall before you put the boat away, It's A "Whaler", it's built like a truck ! people bounce them off "Jetty's" and they don't sink, I've seen them damaged so extensively that they look like a "B-17" thats been hit, and it
keeps going !

mw