Boat Holding Water?

[davebuc]

I have a 1999 SN that I have owned for 1 year. Former ski school boat. 3200 engine hours. Recently we have noticed the boat is having a harder time pulling out skiers, the spray coming off the sides is different, and from the driver perspective, it also seems like the the boat may be riding lower in the water. I am unfamiliar with the hull of this boat. Does it have foam that can hold water? Is there something that could progressively be deteriorating to make the boat heavier and heavier? Are the stringers fiberglass? Wood? Any insight on what to look at would be appreciated. Thanks, Dave.

[Quinner]

A 99' should be all composite construction, no wood in the stringers. Not sure if the foam used can eventually hold water or not, hopefully someone with that knowledge can chime in. Is your bilge filling up with water, are you having to run the bilge pump often or if automatic, is it turning itself on often?

Any chance your motor may just be getting tired, 3200 is quite a lot of hours depending on how well it was maintained

[davebuc]

I have an auto bilge. We usuallly boat in the mornings 4-5 hours at a time. The bilge will run 3-4 times per lake trip, and does a pretty good job getting the water out. When we pull the plug at the end of a boating day, about a gallon runs out. Does anyone know what is under the floor on the driver side and passenger sides? foam? hollow?

It is possible that the motor is getting tired @ 3200 hours. We felt like the spray coming off the sides of the boat differently (farther toward the stern, and with more vertical spray @ 32mph) was an indicator of the boat sitting lower in the water.

[Quinner]

That is quite a bit of water, your packing should only be dripping slightly, assuming you do not have a dripless, beyond that just what comes in with your skiers still should not be what sounds like gallons of water in a few hours. I would really look into whether or not you have a leak somewhere first and repair as required.

Cannot say with certainty on a 99', but on the previous SN hull there is foam under the floor on both sides of the bilge, would bet the same is true on a 99'.

3200 is certainly a lot of hours, have heard that is about the extent of the service life on a typical inboard ford 351 however I would not be surprised if a well maintained motor could go beyond that.