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Best place to drill to drain water in the hull.
Gamalot	#1  Posted on 06/25/10 - 6:41 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 1086 Comments: 3 Joined: 06/21/10	I am sure the hull has water in it. The drain tube is completely gone if there ever was one and I will be replacing it in my restoration. The boat is a 1974 Montauk 17' that has been neglected. I think I should drill some drainage holes and allow any water to drain while I am doing the work and out of the water for a good while. Is there a "Best" place to drill holes for this purpose? I have read the articles regarding replacing the drain tubes and flaring the ends and I know there are diagrams here to show where structural wood is located inside the hull and transom. I measured the drain tube hole and it is 12.5 inches from inside the wire well to the transom out hole. I am thinking I should go a few inches forward from the transom keel and a few inches out to each side and drill a couple holes about 1/4 " to allow water to drain out. There is likely a good descriptive thread here already but I am not doing too well with searching and being specific so I end up thousands of hits instead of a few that have the answers I need. Gary
Tom W Clark	#2  Posted on 06/25/10 - 7:12 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 4280 Comments: 7 Joined: 09/30/05	I recommend not drilling your boat full of holes. Water will not drain out beyond a little trickle that might represent water between the foam core and the laminate skins. Whaler foam can hold water but it does not let it go easily. Even a suction device will not pull it out. The best thing you can do is remove all the drain tubes, strip the hull or hardware, tilt it bow up if you like and leave it somewhere warm and dry....for a very long time. Why do you think your hull has water in it?
Derwd24	#3  Posted on 06/25/10 - 7:18 AM
Member Posts: 1607 Comments: 9 Joined: 05/09/07	The idea of drilling sounds appealing but as I and others have found out, the return is minimal and the difficulty of then sealing back up the wet holes can be a task. Better to concentrate on sealing up any other points where water can get in and preventing any further ingress as once the foam gets wet it's nearly impossible to dry it out without more extreme measures. Weighing the hull will give you a good idea of how much water is in there. Dave - 1983 Outrage 22
Gamalot	#4  Posted on 06/25/10 - 7:27 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 1086 Comments: 3 Joined: 06/21/10	The boat is in the driveway on the trailer and it has been 90+ for the past few days and dry. There is water dripping out the transom drain hole while the inside of the boat is bone dry. As I said, There is no metal drain tube from the hole in the bottom of the wire chase through to the transom drain hole. Not sure if there ever was one or should be one there but there is a flared metal tube through the splash well hole. Thanks for the No Drill advice! I was not very comfortable with doing that any way. Gary
Tom W Clark	#5  Posted on 06/25/10 - 8:02 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 4280 Comments: 7 Joined: 09/30/05	Gary -- Get the bow as high as possible and let it drip. If there are any other penetrations in the transom you can open up, screws holding a transducer, pitot, etc, remove them. If you are ever going to take the motor off the transom to clean it up, now would be a good time to do so.
Gamalot	#6  Posted on 06/25/10 - 8:28 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 1086 Comments: 3 Joined: 06/21/10	Thanks Tom, there is a transducer and also what looks like where an old removed TD was, only the screws remain, so I will remove them and all the dripping to continue. Do we know if hulls made back in 1974 ever had flared metal drain tubes or not? Gary
Tom W Clark	#7  Posted on 06/25/10 - 8:40 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 4280 Comments: 7 Joined: 09/30/05	Yes, all Whalers from 1958 through 2000 or so had flared brass drain tubes with neoprene O-rings. The drain tubes should be replaced periodically, an easy chore with the right tools.