Torn out through-hull drain please HELP (with pix)

[ledfoot]

Love the site, haven't made many posts but hopefully one of you guys can advise a solution to this problem. The boat is a 1977 20' CC, one owner for 30 years always lift kept. I bought the boat from my dad's neighbor last year and the second time I took it out there was quite a bit of water entering the hull between the rear livewell and the hull bottom. As far as I can tell the bottom of the livewell and the inside of the hull bottom are bonded together and the through-hull goes through both parts. Well, on my boat the trough-hull drain broke from the hull bottom, leaving a small hole where water could enter the hull and pour into the bilge.

We had the spot "repaired" but as you can see by the pix it is a plastic fitting and lots of 5200 or something similar just gooped into the suspect area.

I have used the boat several times like this but am uncomfortable and want to fix it correctly. I don't fish much so one logical option would be to just remove the plastic thru-hull fitting and plug the void and glass over top & bottom, but I worry about the flex in the hull between the livewell and the hull.

Take a look at the pix and PLEASE offer any suggestions. The boat is GREAT otherwise and can't wait to continue using her.

Here is where the problem lies, in the aft livewell:


This is what it looks like up close, from the topside. This beauty of a repair featured a cut-down plug shoved in to this plastic fitting like an oversized cork!


Here's what a good through-hull drain looks like from the bottom, note the wedge:


Here's the botched repair (note wedge missing too):




Thanks,
Jeff

[McGillicuddy]

Don't have a solution for you but thanks for the pictures. I have those scupper wedges on my seafari. Was that original, or someone's solution to bending flared copper as the boat slid up the trailer bunks?

Why not blend some epoxy & glass and shape a wedge rather than the glues and screws?

Very interested in this, Thanks for bringing it up. Strick? Billy the Kid? Fiberglassman? et. al., ?

[Bushwacker]

The wedges fwd of the scuppers were BOM, to create some suction to improve drainage thru the scuppers. I believe they may be a Potter addition, as the late Moesly-era 20's (~1969) had scupper drains in transom.

You'll definitely have a leak in hull with the condition of the plastic thru hull if that's the scupper location. When the boats were built, they installed a 4x4 wood block in hull at scupper location, dropped in the inner liner, and then drilled hole for the scuppers. There's a good chance the wood block may be rotted out as one of mine was. You can fix by either installing a piece of PVC with epoxy as I believe Big Shrimpin did on his, or try filling the hole with epoxy and redrilling as I did. (Search for "scupper fix" to find that post. Caution - it only works if wood block is not rotted out!)

[CaptLloyd]

YES, you really need to do something.

Looks like the pick-up for the live well is missing. The pick-up is a bronze fitting mounted to the bottom of the hull that "scoops up" the water for the live well.

Remove the plastic fitting and install a bronze pick-up with a seacock(valve) bedded properly with 5200.

If you don't use it as a live well, fiberglas over the holes.

Good luck!

Lloyd

[ledfoot]

THANKS for the replies! I don't recall seeing a wood block at all but I'm heading to the boat and I will see if I can get some pix of that area. I have the batteries out and am replacing the bilge pump and deck hatch so I have good access right now. Keep the ideas coming please as to how to specifically solve this problem.

-Jeff

[Trayder]

I am 99.999999% sure that fitting was an afterthought by the previous owner. Most of the original 20'cc livewells I have seen have a 4" hole in the transom with a removable pie plate and drain holes for filling and these were on the port side.

Since what you are showing is on the starboard side (I think hard to tell from pictures) i think someone put hat hole in afterwards for something else, wash down sys perhaps???

If you want to keep it the hole as a thru-hull do as capt loyd suggests with a bronze pick up/thru hull and a ball valve inside to turn it off.

If you want to fill it you will have to grind/feather the outside back and lay glass. What concerns me (not really but more effort will be needed) is the liner from the livewell on the inside of the hull. I would want to lay glass inside the hull, under the livewell liner. So you would have to cut out a section of the liner to lay glass from the inside.

What I an stumped on is the fact you have an inner liner for the livewell (not doubting this) but on my 1969 when you lifted the aft hatch boxes you had access to the inside of the hull, there was no liner?

[PipeDreamsMarine]

That's the same thing that has me sratching my head too, it looks like a liner in the bilge.. Battery box maybe?

[ledfoot]

This livewell is in the center of the boat forward of the motor well. Here is the view from underneath, please give me your opinions on what is happening down here.


-Jeff

[Trayder]

yup the previous owner did a no no. you can patch it from the underside of the hull feather the hole out with a grinder and lay glass and be done with it. Or take out the saw and rip out the area in the livewell that is obstructing the inside of the hole and lay in new glass there and then do the same on the underside.

Just putting in a new thru hole or just glassing from the underside may work but you will never be 100% sure unless you have access to the area under that well.

[Blue197320]

This livewell is in the center of the boat forward of the motor well. Here is the view from underneath, please give me your opinions on what is happening down here.


-Jeff

the water pickup on my 20 is the same way. i think it is leaking a little also so i need to change it out. so that is the wrong way to have the water pick up? what other easy options do i have?? i want to remove the livewell because i think it will come out and put a strainer on the bottom of the boat with a seacock inside the livewell and the pump mounted to it just like it is now. i will put pictures on tomorrow of the current set up. any opinions for now would help. thanks