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We are discussing two very different areas here.

Chris, you are correct that the forward locker is not watertight unless you plug the forward locker drain. At rest, some water will fill the locker and will drain out while underway. If you want everything in here to stay dry, plug the drain and unplug it once your back up on the trailer. Rain will get into the forward locker.

Walter,
BW never anticipated that the tank compartment would be water tight. In an open center console boat, there is no way. I also don't believe that BW ever envisioned that the foam would not absorb water, if water was allowed to stand on top the tank. And that is the difference. A lot of folks, didn't keep up with the caulk around the tank cover or replace the seals in the inspection ports. Those, need to be done every couple of years. If you get water under your tank cover, make sure that it drains toward the sump, mine actually drains to the port side not the starboard. Leave the inspection plates open to allow the water that does flow under there to evaporate. It was all one big system, designed to move water from the front of the boat out the stern if you took a big wave over the bow, that would make the boat unstable to handle and prone to flipping. If you keep the tank cover caulked, the amount of water under the cover should be minimal and should evaporate quickly.

If you want to keep all the water out, then you need to leave the boat on land, short of that you can caulk the deck plates and caulk the wooden strip that the access panels screw into. Make sure you do both sides since the port side has the fuel/vent lines and the starboard side runs right into the rigging tunnel. If this backs up with water there are two ways to access the tank area, the obvious one is the stern sump, but there is an opening forward of the console from the rigging tunnel to the tank area as well.