ts6m hull drainage

[foxriverat]

As I am getting ready to winterize my boat. Which I have only had a month. 1996 ts6m comp. I am on vacation this week. So I have been going out there with the manual. The engine cover and floor cover off. And just get familiar with everything in the boat. Yesterday I sucked up all the water out of the boat with the shop vac. I reglued my transducer down with epoxy. Today I look in the bilge area next to the drivers seat and there is water in there again. I think maybe it ran back. Out of the bilge hose. I get shop vac out and suck it up and notice water coming out of a tiny hole in the bilge area about the size of 1/8 in drill bit. Now I have read these boats will take in water under the rub rail. Which someone sealed. Not very well. I will have to redo. So if water gets in the front of the hull. There is nowhere for that water to escape on my boat. Except for that tiny hole. Wondering if I should drill the hole bigger. I have looked and I dont see anywhere else the front of the hull drains to.

[foxriverat]

Come to think of it. If I drill the hole bigger. Then water in the bilge area. Will get in the front of the hull.

[jet]

I just take my center plug out and on the way home when you hit the brakes it moves forward and dumps, i can never get the forward part to drain all the way because the drain hose goes straight up in the air and then when you shut off the beilge the water flows right back down into the boat. Jet

[foxriverat]

I do take my plug out when I take the boat out of the water. I know the bilge wont get all the water out. Thats why I was using a shop vac. So I wouldnt have any water in the boat when I store it. But water would seep back into that area through a tiny hole. Now that I look at it more. The hole is probably from where an older bilge pump was mounted. And the water seeps through that hole and into a hull. I might drill the hole a little bigger and put a small plug in. That way I can check and get the water out if it gets in there. I dont think that water has any place to drain to if it gets in there. If you can see this picture. The bilge is mounted right above where the hull drops down.

[Ontarion]

Hi Fox
What are we looking at? I don't get the picture.
My bilge pump is under the access hatch in the floor ahead of the hull drain. It is actually lower than the hull drain and always has some water around it so I leave antifreeze in there. Mine is fastened to the hull, not a stringer.
No doubt mine takes on water along the rub rail but it seems to find its way to the bilge pretty quickly. Now you are going to make me paranoid. No wood to rot but wet foam to freeze wouldn't be real good. Any hole you drill you can always fill with epoxy in the spring.

[foxriverat]

Yes John. That is where mine is mounted too. The picture is of where that little area of the hull drops down. The bilge area is directly above that. Not down in that area. But above it. And I beleive water in my bilge area seeps through an old screw hole into that bottom area. And has no place to escape. I can suck the bilge area dry with a vac. And then see water slowly trickling out of that hole. And it fills the bilge area again. Once I get the area completly dry. (If this dam rain in Illinois ever stops.) I want to plug the hole. And I will watch it next year. If it stays dry. I will seal the hole up permanantly.

[Ontarion]

So the hole is vertical through the bottom of the bilge area? And the water is rising through it from the keel area below? It would have to be pressurized by some kind of reservoir of water elsewhere in the hull. I have wet vacumed mine just to clear the leaves, pine needles, crud etc from around the bilge pump. Never stopped to look any further. Now I’m not sure I want to.

[foxriverat]

Exactly John. Maybe I`m missing something. But if water gets in the front of the hull from any source. I do not see anywhere it can escape. No holes or openings to the bilge area. Or the rear of the boat. I took the driver seat and the foot pan out when I first got the boat. To replace a vent hose under the hull. And I found about a 1/2 gallon of water under the foot pan. There is a drain pipe in the side of the foot pan that leads to the bilge area. But the foot pan would have to fill with water before it would drain there. Due to the pipe being on the side, instead of the bottom of the foot pan.

[Ontarion]

I have never had my foot tray out although I couldn't help but notice the poor design of drain. Not a major concern unless I swamp it. The water coming in at the gunwhale seams is another story. I know there is a fair bit and some could certainly get trapped. We don't have wood to worry about but water freezing in the hull can't be good. I think there is a thread on a newer comp with a crack in the hull near where your water is coming from. And then there is that stupid foam; as if a comp wouldn't sink like a rock. I don't think the ts6m hull changed from the 80's thru 97. I think I am going to go back through some of the stringer/floor replacement threads to see if I can see what we may be dealing with. I had always planned for a second bilge pump. Maybe it will need to be a vacume hose setup.

[Ontarion]

Hi Fox
I went back and looked through the pictures of rickr's 1986 Ts6m Stringer and Floor replacement project.

https://forum.supraboats.com/showthread.php?t=2855&highlight=rick+restoration

http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/fib...ent-20668.html

It appears that whatever void there is in the deep keel where your water is coming from is supposed to be sealed between the inner and outer hulls. I can only assume that water is not supposed to be able to get in there.(period) I would suspect that there is potential for cracking if you leave it and it freezes. Maybe one of the guys like rickr or Salty87 that have been in there can wade in and give you an opinion?

[foxriverat]

After looking at the pics. I wonder if water comes in at the gunwales on the side of the boat. Gets down into stringer area. Then runs along first stringer to the front of boat and gets in the keel. I did drill the hole larger. And sucked all the water out. Around a gallon. Come spring. I am going to drill it larger and install a plug. And just drain the area after each use.

[Ontarion]

Could you see what was in there? Filled with foam or just an empty void? A gallon of frozen water can exert a lot of pressure. I would sure think it is supposed to be sealed water tight.

[foxriverat]

Did not drill big enough to look in there John. Just talked to Anthony at skiers choice. He said it most likely came in under the rub rail. He agreed with putting a plug in the area. Once water is in there it has no escape. He also said that if water were to freeze and expand in there. It would burst the top. As it is very thin. (I noticed that drilling through it.) Before it would ever crack the hull.

[Ontarion]

OK. I feel better. That means I can wait until spring to take a look. My boat is all put away and a 3 hour drive from my house. I guess sealing the rub rails needs to go on my to do list for the spring. It should have been on the list anyway. It would be so much easier if you could get to it all from the inside.