Noob here with a question.

Hey fellas, I've been lurking on the forum for the last few months and finally ran into something worth posting about.

It seems I've developed a small leak somewhere around my middle bench seat. How do you fellas recommend finding and fixing the leak? I was going to put some water in it and wait to see if I could find the leak. What do yall think? Its an 03 Alumacraft 1436.

Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks!

With your boat on the trailer or saw horses put a few inches of water in the boat. Then get under the boat and look for the leaks.
The simplest way to fix leaky rivets is to re-buck them. Re-bucking is taking two hammers one on the inside one one the outside. Hold one hammer against the rivet and hit the rivet with the other. You not trying the smash the rivet just tighten it up a little.

Yup, fill it with some water and climb underneath.

Or, if its an open floor .... go put it in the water and look closely.

Either way, if its a leaky rivet .... better off just drilling it out and replacing it. Its completely worth the money to get a pack of aluminum blind pop rivets and a good rivet gun. Drill out the old one, smear a bit of sealant on the new one, pop it in. Done.