Whaler Central - Boston Whaler Boat Information and Photos

Posted by jllohr on 07/13/09 - 7:15 PM

Drilled two holes, one in stern about 1 1/2 inch from bottom and another under the boat about 4 inches in, about 3 drops of water came out of the one in the stern and 2 hours later no water has come out of the hole in the bottom. i used a 1/4 inch drill bit and drilled in 3-4 inches. The reason i did this is because the right side of the boat sits about an inch - 1 1/2 lower in the water and i also weighed the boat and trailer today and it came out to 3,680, now that is with 2 engines (1994 evinrude 60's) and 2 batterys and 10 gallons of gas, all the wiring, a bunch of bottom paint, and the trailer. a 1989 shoreline that is galvanized steel. I think i am fine if the trailer weighs 1000 lbs, if not i either have water around the gas tank, which im hoping for vs water hiding somewhere else in the hull. any idea how much water could be in the gas tank area? Oh yea its a 20' 1988 outrage, so the hulls factory weight is listed at 1850. so im thinking hull 1900...+ battery/gas/wires 200+ engines 550 + trailer 1000 =3650. but i am thinking the trailer is somewhere between 600-850 but im just hoping its alot heavier but i cant weigh it till friday so i am freaking out. thanks for reading guys!

Posted by kamie on 07/14/09 - 4:34 AM

I think you have over estimated the weight for your trailer, 850# is probably better than 1000# Did you reach up into the holes that you drilled to see if the foam was indeed wet?
Assuming you removed everything not attached to the boat.
2 batteries - 100#
trailer - 850#
10 gal - 66# (are you sure it's 10?)
engines - 230#*2-460#
stuff (wiring, oil,bottom paint) 250#
Total 1726#
Total weight with hull 3576#
potential water weight 104#
You are well within the weight margin of error and while you probably do have water in places, I don't think your boat is waterlogged. I would look for a different reason than water for the boat to list.
Does the current waterline follow the paint line? Have you actually measured the distance from a fixed point to the water line on both sides of the hull? Do this when you are not standing in the boat but wading in the water. You have twins, are they installed correctly? Measure the distance from the engine bracket to the side of the boat, should be the same on both sides? If it's not that could be your issue.
At this point, photo's would be helpful.

Posted by Blackduck on 07/14/09 - 8:50 AM

If there was water in your hull, and yes, there is some, it would find it's own level, and weight down the stern equally. Something else is causing the boat to list to the starboard. Drilling holes is not really a good idea, in that even waterlogged boats won't always drip from small holes. A change in the humidity level will probably get them dripping again.

All, Boston Whaler boats, will drip water if you drill a hole in their bottoms, depending where the hole is drilled and climate conditions.

Edited by Blackduck on 07/14/09 - 9:33 AM

Posted by Eri on 07/14/09 - 4:35 PM

Some of the weight increase also comes from the wood that gets saturated between the hulls. Also it seems the foam holds the water within itself not so much un a pool. My deck cover had to be over 200 pounds, maybe more, and it was all wet. Although no delaminating, the transom wood was wet all the way up. Who knows how much that all adds up to. I bagged mine after disassembly and probably took few gallons out with the dehumidifier. Seal it up and go!