[steve]

Hi Fellow Mariah Boat Owners. I Have Recently Purchased AN 18' 1996 Mariah "shabah", With A 195 Hp I/o Chevrolet Engine.
I Know Nothing About Mariah Boats, Other Than The History Of What Happened To The Original Owner.

I Bought It From A Dealer, Ugh!! And Was Given Very Little Help In Understanding Such A Complex Boat.

I Would Really Appreciate Some Help With A Few Questions Regarding This Magnificent Boat And I Thank You All In Advance For Your Help.

The Storage Well Between The Driver And Passenger Seat Has About 6" Of Water In It. I Empty It Out And In The Morning The Water Is Back. I Also I See No Way To Automatically Empty This Water, As I Have Been Using A Plastic Glass And Doing It By Hand.

Has Anyone Else Experienced This Problem And If So What Did You Do?

Thanks Again, And I Look Forward To Some Very Helpful Replies.

Steve

[ShabahZ280]

Welcome Steve, and congrats on your new boat. You've come to the right place to get your questions answered. We've got lots of resources, and lots of members willing to help you out. In our contributors section, there's original manuals, brochures, and just about anything else you'd need.

Have you pulled your main drain plug on the transom? Sometimes water backs up from there into the forward compartments. I've run into this problem myself! If you've pulled the plug already, do it again, and get something like a coat hanger and run it up inside just to make sure there's no blockages. Also check for drain access holes inside the floor and make sure they aren't blocked up too. We had a discussion about this recently on the Z302 models, apparently a drain hole wasn't routed into the bilge at the factory and was causing a similar problem. One thing you don't want is water in your boat. Over time, it'll do much more damage than you'd ever imagine.

If you've got any more questions, ask away! If you've got the means to post pics, be sure to do that too, it makes explaining things much easier. Plus we all love looking at each other's boats.

[Z 202]

On mine there is a drain hole towards the stern. It empties water from the ski locker into the blige which can then be pumped out with the bilge pump in the engine bay.

The bigger question is where is the water coming from? 6" is a lot of water... Is the boat docked at a slip? Has it been raining a lot lately?

On mine (a bowrider) I can get a lot of water leaking in below the pass through winshield. The two pieces of canvas (bow cover and cockpit cover) come together there, and if it rains any appreciable amount it runs in the seam and down into the ski locker. It's not a very good design IMHO, but at least mine drains correctly.

[steve]

Tyvm.
My Well Is Carpeted. I Felt Around On Top Of The Carpet And I Do Not Feel Any Open Holes To Drain Into The Rear Of The Boat.
I Did However Feel ( Like ) A Plastic Cap Was Over Something ( A Hole ?), But Was Not Sure If I Should Rip Up/remove Carpet Over It?
Your Advise Is Truly Appreciated.
Steve

[180diablo]

Hmmm, I have never had standing water in my ski locker before. I have managed to fill it partially with water after I swamped the bow of my boat this summer.

My locker doesn't have a visible drain hole, but I do know that any water in the locker eventually makes its way into the bilge. There is what seems to be a fabric liner of some sort that allows water to pass through it.

A good thing to have along with your hand bailer, a hand pump bailer similar to this one here:

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...=78&classNum=0

Mine resembles the one on the right. I do have a hand bailer bucket as well.

I have used the pump to suck water out of the bilge when the bilge pump wouldnt suck out any more water. It is very fast and efficient at pulling water out with each up and down motion. About 4 pumps and a hand bailer is full.

[ShabahZ280]

Originally Posted by steve

Tyvm.
My Well Is Carpeted. I Felt Around On Top Of The Carpet And I Do Not Feel Any Open Holes To Drain Into The Rear Of The Boat.
I Did However Feel ( Like ) A Plastic Cap Was Over Something ( A Hole ?), But Was Not Sure If I Should Rip Up/remove Carpet Over It?
Your Advise Is Truly Appreciated.
Steve

It would seem to me that the plastic cap would be the drain to the back. On my old Sea Ray, there was a cap in the ski locker that did just that. I'd possibly try and see if I could cut the carpet around it, and see if it's truly a drain. Try an x-acto knife or small blade and just cut around where you feel the cap and see if you can remove it. I'd be willing to bet that's where your problem is.

I guess some boat designers figured we'd want to use the ski locker as a livewell?

[mikeyt]

Mine has a drain hole at the rear of the ski locker that allows any water to drain back into the bilge area.

[moondance100]

Like Z202 said, the bigger question is where the water is coming from. Your bilge pump (even if its not automatic) should pull the water in the bilge down well past the point of entry into the floor cooler. I'd investigate the bilge pump if you have the boat in the water, or if it's on a trailer, pull the plug in the transom. It would take nearly a foot of water in the bilge to get 6" in that cooler. You're going to see a huge performance increase then you get several hundred pounds of water out of her bottom!

Good Luck!

[grommett]

Originally Posted by Z 202

On mine there is a drain hole towards the stern. It empties water from the ski locker into the blige which can then be pumped out with the bilge pump in the engine bay.

I also have this problem. In my Z202 Shabah, there seems to be a drain point at the stern end of the ski locker under the carpet. I put my finger in to feel for any blockage and the hole is only about 2 cm deep before it gets to a hard flat surface so I am not sure now if it is a drain hole. Is this the same as yours?

Also, the bow end of the ski storage drops deeper: by approx. 8-10cm, as this is the lowest point it would make sense to also have a drain hole but I cant find one there either. The only use I could find for the deeper part was to push all the water into it and then bail it out with a small cup and a sponge.

[Tilted]

What a fantastic resource this site is. I was about to ask the same question. Someone installed the fishfinder transducer onto/through the butt plug and I've been afraid to take it out for fear of damaging wiring. I guess I'll just have to go at it tomorrow and see what's holding up the flow from the locker.