87 TS6M listing to starboard

[LCYrace]

Been lurking here for a while and finally got me a TS6M. Had it out today for the first time. Previous owner not the sharpest tool in the shed. He put the water pump on upside down and the starboard Supertrapp was totally clogged. Boat wouldn't run over 2000 RPM. Got those issues taken care of but today I noticed a considerable list to starboard while in the water. Boat sits about 2 inches lower on the right. I assume this is from water in the foam or behind the stringers. I am not going to pull the boat apart at this time because I have my 11 year old son for the summer and he is very stoked about tubing and skiing. Has anyone been successful at draining the water from outside the stringers? Or should I find a way to add ballast to the port side? I though about pulling the rear seat and fuel tank to get to the transom as the far right swim platform bracket is pretty soft. I though I could maybe cut out some floor under the tank to get at the far end of the stringers and maybe cut a drainage hole. What should I do aside from pulling up the whole floor? Thanks in advance for any help!

[jasun]

Congrats on the purchase!

When I bought my Salt, it did the same thing. I had the same idea that you did and I will warn you, use it as is this summer!!! I had all the great intentions of just replacing the floor up to the engine compartment.... well, I finally put the cap back on it yesterday and i plan to have it in the water by the end of June. Enjoy it this year. You can put some ballast to level it out, but if it is not messing with anything, then I would just use it.

I can about 100% say it is listing because of water. I weighed mine and it was about 1200lbs heavy.

Good luck!!

[haugy]

Welcome,

How much do you weigh? :D

Really though it doesn't take much weight to make a Comp lean. One battery alone can throw off the balance. A subwoofer, or anchor, combined can do it.

But if the starboard trapp was clogged, then that water had to go somewhere. They can't just clog, the boat won't run properly. So that water was going somewhere. Most likely, you're waterlogged.

[LCYrace]

Haugy, you are right, they run like crap with the Trapps clogged. Looks like at some point the large exhaust coupling hoses must have come apart and were replaced but they didn't clean out the Trapps after the failure. It was actually pushing exhaust back across the water hoses to the port manifold. Not good! Still wish there was a way to dry things out a little.

[DAFF]

Just an idea but what about a shop vac ?? Drill a 3/4" or so hole into the floor under the seat in the rear section of the boat to expose the foam. While there try to cut some foam about the same size as the suction hose of a shop vac. Get the suction as close to the hull as possible and let it run for a few hours. I'm not sure if it will work or if it has been tried but it might buy you some time and remove some of the list... If you are successful and remove some water you can try up by the battery tray and under the floor by the drivers feet.

[Cbower83]

If only there was a chemical to dry moisture and water . I know I'd use it

[LCYrace]

Good idea about the Shopvac. I assume I could try as far back as I can under the seat and not remove the tank. Would be easy enough to drill a 3" hole just outside the stringers and see what is there. The floor isn't supporting anything there so I don't think it will compromise the integrity of the boat. Certainly can't be any worse than a hull full of water.

[LCYrace]

Well I now know what is causing the list. Between the hole I cut in the floor under my seat and under the drivers floorboard I sucked over 8 gallons of water out of my boat. Under the drivers floor there was standing water. I assume that means the foam is saturated. I did suck almost 4 gallons from under the rear seat in less than 30 mins. Tomorrow I will let the vac run for a few hours before I head to the lake to see if I can get some more out..
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[DAFF]

If you can get a tight seal around the inlet of the shop vac I might even let it run longer than a few hours. I would also assume the port side is soaked all the same, just a little less.

[LCYrace]

After my outing to the lake yesterday I couldn't see much difference in my listing problem. I totally forgot there is another stringer outside the exhaust pipes. I need to do some exploring in that area for more water. I just need to know how far out from the inner stringer it is if you measure under the rear seat. I really don't want to drill into the stringer or remove the rear seat if I don't have to. Any idea on the measurement?

[Salty87]

not exactly sure about comp measurements but if you stay about 1' from the gunwhale you should be ok.

have you removed some of the foam to get the hose to the hull bottom?...might help

a few other thoughts, poured foam is nasty stuff. there are all sort of voids and places for water to get trapped.
the deepest part of the hull is prob the worst.
stringers will absorb water and become ridiculously heavy. no getting water out of them.

[LCYrace]

Yes, I actually used the shopvac to drill down to the hull right next to each exhaust pipe under the rear seat. You can see the last 1/4 of foam at the bottom of the hole is very dark from water/oil contamination. I will try another hole tonight outside the outer stringers and see what I get. I hate to swiss cheese my floor but I think I got bigger issues!

[DAFF]

You could all ways add water to the other side .... Seems wrong but would help the listing issue. You are right bigger issues are on your horizon. Cap off stringer time.

[LCYrace]

Did some more exploring today. Removed the rear seat. I began to notice someone along the way has done some work at the stern. It looks as if someone has built a fiberglass floor under the fuel tank. Also the tank seems to be off center. It nearly touches the outer hull on the starboard side but there is about a 8 inch space between the tank and the port side. As much as the fuel weighs I guess this may have something to do with my listing problem. I may try to center the tank but the filler neck already touches the side of the ski locker. I may have to remove some off the corner of the locker to slide the tank over.

[Jetlink]

Or change the filler neck piece to something longer so you can route it better and move the tank.

[LCYrace]

Well it looks like my OCD has finally paid off!!!! Went out today and it looks like she is sitting pretty level in the water. After I got home I did have some water in the holes I drilled under the seat so I must have some leakage at the transom. I expect the exhaust is the culprit. I have been running without the Supertraps since I found one clogged but the wife informed me today that she doesn't like our "hotrod" boat. So I will try to reseal the exhaust before I put the Traps back on this week. Next question I have is it does lean considerably to starboard while under way. Is this due to the torque of the engine? Any one use trim tabs to compensate?

[Jetlink]

Yes to torque when under way and no, it's something your OCD might just have to learn to accept.