New owner with concerns about, water!

andrewsc · **Joined:** Mon Jul 07, 2014 6:38 am **Posts:** 11

Hello, new owner of a 2003 240 Horizon. We have been boating since the mid 80's and have owned everything from canoes to our last boat, a 94' Grady 208 Adventure, great boat, but not suited to the growing family. I was in the right place at the right time to find this boat, it had low hrs and was in mint condition, literally not a scratch or worn vinyl anywhere. Being used to the Grady's ability to shed water I was looking forward to seeing how this boat did with the drains under the rear quarters that emptied out at the pods, last Friday we were able to experience 3'-4' waves that broke over the bow, the kids loved it. I'm a little disappointed in that the engine cover contacts the floor and doesn't really leave a space adequate to let the water thru. This may be my first real mod once it comes out of the water this fall, perhaps seal the bottom and drill holes to allow water to flow to drains unimpeded. The other concern with these drains is that it appears to have one way floats at the drain and not where the water exits, which is under the water line which means the hose is filled with water. On mine it would appear that one of the fittings has a crack, and it corresponds with some water getting into the bilge from yet undiscovered places, but in this general direction. I'm wondering if anyone has relocated these drains directly thru the side, above the water line. Finally, I have two holes in the bottom of the bilge, looks like old mounting holes, but don't really know what for. I recently used a shop vac and took water out of one of the small holes. I'm wondering if once I pull water out, let it dry for the winter and seal up next spring I don't need to be concerned with water being in that space any longer, or is there a space between the hull and bilge floor that will take water from points unknown and perhaps I should do something else? Other than this, I've had to re-epoxy the windshield screws because the frame pulled up. We really like the boat and just this past weekend spent the day on it with 11 people on the big lake in. Oh, I did add trim tabs, love them.

This hole, there are two are just fore and aft of the current float switch, maybe a little more than an 1/8th". I'm really wondering what's in this space, besides water.

This is the starboard side drain bottom, also curious, no clamp? Looks like a crack, maybe froze? But hose always full of water, concerning since it's docked all summer.

This was us trying out the boat in heavy NH seas on Lake Winni, not unheard of in the broads.

atlmover · **Joined:** Mon Jun 09, 2014 10:02 pm **Posts:** 52

That's nuts! I can't believe those waves coming over the bow like that. Was the floor deep with water? A couple good friends of mine were out in Panama city coming in from fishing on a 28-30ft donzi center console and a big wave crashed over the bow and he had to beach it and run the bilge. They said there was so much water in the boat the coolers almost floated out. He floored it and it was a slow go but hit the beach and bilged it out.

andrewsc · **Joined:** Mon Jul 07, 2014 6:38 am **Posts:** 11

The boat drained adequately enough with the bilge pump. But ref my post most of the could have gone directly out the drains, if it could have flowed under the engine cover. Most of it went to the bilge via ski locker or under unsealed engine cover.

LouC · **Posted:** Mon Jul 07, 2014 9:36 pm

OMG

These boats are NOT designed to be run like that, they do NOT have the ability to get rid of water that comes over the bow, keep in mind you have an inboard engine and a relatively small bilge, with batteries on the deck level. All of which, means that doing that one time when you get unlucky will leave you with a stalled engine and in big trouble. Honestly the Grady is far superior for rough water boating. If you run in conditions like that, build a better support for the bow cover and keep it on, with the windshield closed! That's what I do when the water is rough or when I go out in LI Sound.

Jafo4U · **Joined:** Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:33 am **Posts:** 1026

I was in the same situation in my 220 and boy that picture sure brings back some terrifying memories on my maiden voyage. Make sure your bilge is clean because mine wasn't and after a while my bilge clogged with debris from a speaker install and raised the pucker factor tenfold. Glad you made it back ok WOW! :shock:

andrewsc · **Joined:** Mon Jul 07, 2014 6:38 am **Posts:** 11

Wasn't as bad as it seems, after the picture I was able to adjust my heading and using trim tabs I lessoned the impact. Any thoughts on the questions I had?

ric · **Posted:** Tue Jul 08, 2014 6:18 am

Buy a cuddy cabin with a self bailing cockpit.

Paul I. · **Posted:** Tue Jul 08, 2014 7:29 am

Yes, glad you made it back.

I say this all the time. Install a 2nd pump :idea:

or even a 3rd one. There short money, great Ins. protection if something goes wrong. If the pump can not keep up and you lose the engine, well....

As Lou mentioned, the Grady is great in rough waters. It was built for that.

NiagaraChillin · **Posted:** Tue Jul 08, 2014 7:45 am

Like LouC said, these boats are not designed like a Grady or Boston Whaler center console with outboard. Modifying the engine cover area or the factory scuppers is possible, but in the end, ya need to figure out what you want a boat to do for you. If it is to bang thru 3-4 footers, you have the wrong boat. Those holes in the bottom of the bilge look pretty ragged, and I can't think of any reason for them to be there, unless a previous owner installed a secondary bilge pump?

Walt · **Posted:** Tue Jul 08, 2014 7:48 am

Yes, I would be concerned about the crack. may have had water in it when it froze. There definitely needs to be a hose clamp there.. that's your hi-pressure side of the water pump, correct.

The screw holes look like for mounting wire management throughout the bilge area. Dry them and fill with epoxy IMO.

I've taken a wave or two over the bow as you pictured, but I don't typically operate in water such as that. As the others are saying, I would NOT put a b/r through those waves intentionally. That would be a great time to have the bow cover in place. You would have had almost no water enter the boat that way. A FW has less freeboard than some other boats (but more than others); Cobalt for example would sit higher in the water.

andrewsc · **Joined:** Mon Jul 07, 2014 6:38 am **Posts:** 11

Thanks for all the replies. Rest assured that we will not be frequently going out in such conditions, but having had the only for a few weeks, and really only last week on vacation I wanted to see what she was and was not capable of, let's call it sea trials. Anyways I'm very impressed and as I said earlier, once we took that water over the bow I used my new trim tabs to find a comfortable angle and we island hoped. Lake Winnipesaukee is famous for having such conditions creep up with just a small wind change. I was just pointing out there are two very capable drains in the back, but because of the design of the engine cover water can't readily get to them so instead seeking the path of less resistance it goes into the bilge. I will be adding a 2nd and larger pump if for no other reason than it's docked all summer with little supervision. That hose with no clamp is the cockpit drain, but always full of water.

LouC · **Posted:** Tue Jul 08, 2014 1:25 pm

One thing you can do to make it safer, is to build a better support for the bow cover just in case that happens again. You can use one of the support systems that uses straps and a triangular piece of plastic mounted to a support pole. I have 2 of these and reinforced the mounting point with a piece of PVC pipe and a wood mount to support the pole on the deck. You could also make the plastic part out of 1/2 plywood. If you make up 2 of these, that would support the cover against the weight of the water pretty well. When I go out fishing in the Sound, I always have that cover on because it can change fast.
I want to look into having a removable bow cover made up of composite foam/'glass construction but I think it will be expensive and hard to store when you want the use of the bow seating.

http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product ... rt&i=39609

I had bought one of these years back and made a better system for my winter cover. I took those plastic pieces and used a short piece of PVC pipe epoxied around the mounting piece to make it stronger and made up some wood supports to hold the pole up on the deck. I've had em for years and they work very well.

www.iFourWinns.com

New owner with concerns about, water!

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