JFB wrote:
Thank you for answering once again. I know I'll eventually get to the bottom of this, it's only a matter of time.
Water in between the hulls would explain, IMHO, why water comes in, for about an inch or so, then stops coming in. It seems to me, with my engineer brain, that if water was coming through the drain plug because it is not seated properly, water would keep coming in until the level inside the boat would equal the level outside the boat.
As I've indicated, I've emptied at least 10 gallons worth, maybe more, through my shop vac. I wouldn't expect there to be that much water in between hulls, but I do not know as I have no idea how much space there is in there. I know there is/was water in there last year as I sucked out a bunch out of a screw hole in the forward bilge last fall.
When you say it can take "a long time" to empty the water in between the hulls, what do you mean? Do you mean I need to shop vac many, many times? Or do you mean it takes a lot of time for all the water to make it out of the hull to the bilge, meaning I'll be using my shop vac all summer?
Today, even though the water is at 50F, a diver is going in to re-torque my drain plug. According to the marina owner, using teflon tape is mistake number one, as it prevents a good seal. Mistake number two is the fact that with teflon, you need more than a quarter turn to tighten the plug as it is not seated as well as without teflon tape.
We'll find out soon enough. If we re-torque and water still comes in, we're pulling the boat out. Once it's out, I'm getting all the water access points re-sealed and replacing the drain plug assembly. Then, when it goes back in the water, if the same situation occurs (let's hope not), then I would assume it can only be water in between hulls, in which case, I'll shop vac every day until it's dry.
Thank you for the guidance, it really does help give me a lot of perspective.
My pleasure. After owning a few of these, I have learned many of their quirks! Honestly, that's why we went with a 358 after the 318 vs different brand (didn't really want to learn the ins and outs of Regal, etc). I agree with your thoughts on the drain plug, however I will caution you to avoid letting them crank on it. It's held to the boat with three philips head screws and if they tighten it too much, they will cause the housing to move, breaking the sealants seal.
No idea on the amount of water you'd get between the hulls. I had an issue on the 358 with my shower sump getting an air lock and thus overflowing. Due to a cracked caulk seal where the waste hoses go from the tank to the engine room, overflow shower sump water made it down between the two hulls. It took forever to shop vac it all out (barely a stream would come up), as I could only put the shop vac where that caulk was broken, but I'd say I got 2-3 gallons at most, over 20-30 minutes until no more water came up. My comment was that since you can't stick the shop vac hose into the water directly, it takes some time for it to get sucked up, not necessarily that you'd be doing it all summer, unless the source of the water wasn't corrected. Trust me, I know how frustrating this is. It took too long to figure out my shower sump was air locking (after they sent me a new one under warranty due to a design issue causing the new one I purchased to airlock from day one!).
If I read that right, you've shop vac'd out 10 gallons, from the main engine room bilge? Do you have stern drives? IIRC, the engine room floor on that boat should be just the liner with the only holes through it being for the depth sounder? On my shaft drives, the liner stops where the shafts come through the boat. That area still appears to be sealed well.
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