Story of my Leaky Boat

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MrSimon

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Mar 30, 2011
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Location
Glenmoore, PA
Thought you guys might get a kick out of this story.

Last Spring I found a Craigslist add for a 16' Grumman with a 40HP Johnson and all aluminum trailer for $1500. I jumped on it and bought the rig for $1,200 the same day. I was pumped. What a killer deal!!

I put new tires on it, mounted a trolling motor, and built a basic casting deck up front. I was ready for my upcoming trip to Canada.
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Before taking it to Canada, I went to a local lake for a shakedown cruise. The motor ran like a top and the boat really flew. I did notice it was taking on some water, but I flipped on the bilge pump and didn't think anything of it.

We loaded up and headed for Canada.
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The first morning we launched the boat and headed out on the lake. I was having to run the bilge more than I'd like, but tried not to think about it. We fished all morning and pulled the boat up on a sandy beach for lunch. When we went back to the boat after lunch, the back third of the boat was filled with water and the entire hull was sitting on the the lake bottom. The rear bench seat was almost completely under water. My batteries were under water. My gas tank was floating. I didn't know what to do, so against my better judgement I switched on the bilge pump. Even with the batteries completely under water it started pumping. 30 minutes later the boat was dry and floating again.

We pulled the boat out of the water, took the floor up, and found this.
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Pulled up the brace and found this:
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We drove to the nearest hardware store and got some patch material .... propped up the boat and did a darn good job I'd say.
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Feeling good about ourselves, we launched the boat and headed back out for some fishing. It was a beautiful evening of fishing ..... but the boat was still taking on just as much water. WHAT?! After fixing an 8 inch crack its still sinking?? I was frustrated. We just ran the bilge a lot for the rest of the trip and never left the boat in the water on its own. We managed, but I got rid of that boat as soon as I got home!
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nothing is more frustrating then a leaky tin. I know I got one. I have sealed every rivet from the oustide but I am afraid that my seams still leak. I plan to gluv it the inside but I cant totally access all the seams without totally ripping the whole boat apart including the riveted in rear decking. The hull is in pretty bad shape from some salt water corrosion so I may just continue to run my bilge until I can get something else.
 
Troutman3000 said:
nothing is more frustrating then a leaky tin. I know I got one. I have sealed every rivet from the oustide but I am afraid that my seams still leak. I plan to gluv it the inside but I cant totally access all the seams without totally ripping the whole boat apart including the riveted in rear decking. The hull is in pretty bad shape from some salt water corrosion so I may just continue to run my bilge until I can get something else.

I considered that same option, but I was nervous about relying on my bilge. Mine leaked so bad that if the bilge quit on me, I would have to immediately head back to the docks.

I'm now searching for another boat. I think I'm annoying people because I refuse to buy a boat unless they let me launch and run the boat for at least a half an hour. Maybe I'm be paranoid :wink:
 
Running the boat I think is a good test for the motor, but you should be able to fill the boat with water enough to check for leaks from underneath.
 
worst comes to worse they have a product that they put on the outside of the boat that seals it up. Like 600 to 800 dollars though lol
 
Mines not to the point where I have to continually run my bilge, I just have to run once and hour or so and for only about 30 seconds.
 
Troutman3000 said:
Mines not to the point where I have to continually run my bilge, I just have to run once and hour or so and for only about 30 seconds.

Thats really not that bad ... I think I could live with that.

I had to run mine for about 5 minutes straight every 30 minutes.
 

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