[DCB_MINDED]

I have a 238 Shabah, and it is trapping water under the floor. The bilge where the engine compartment is staying dry, but there is a large partition between the engine area and the area in front of it (where the fuel tank is) that is trapping the water. Logic tells me there should be a hole in that partition for the water to drain through, but there is not. Any suggestions?

[jmorgan]

Yes...there is a hole. Find it and clear it out with a straightened coathangar.
Jim

[DCB_MINDED]

I have looked..... and felt.... and poked and prodded with a wire..... I cant find a hole anywhere. Also, it seems to be an inch or so deeper in the front part than in the back. So, that's even more confusing.

[jmorgan]

DBC MINDED,
Crank your trailer jack up as high as you can, slanting the boat to the rear. I always leave my boat this way for drainage. See if this desn't move the water to the rear, up against the partition. The hole should be at the lowest place. In my boats it isin the bottom center. Can you probe from both sides of the partition? I am new to Mariah's, but all other boats we have had are this way. I will be going to work on my boat this afternoon, and will locate the pass through hole on mine and reply again, with a photo.
jim

[DCB_MINDED]

@jmorgan, I have tried this as well. I've come to the conclusion that there is no hole in the partition. I can get to both sides of it relatively easy, and nothing.... not even a rough spot in it where a hole should be. Could the drain be somewhere else? maybe a bilge pump under there that should pump it out? I find it hard to believe that the previous owners had it for 13 years and never noticed a couple hundred gallons of water under the floor.

[jmorgan]

I found the drainhole on my z212. It is the biggest one I have ever seen. At least 3/4", maybe 1". Dead center, at the bottom. Couldn't get you a photo as it was too congested wit stuff to get the camera in there. I also noticed tha both my ski locker and "cooler" have sinklike drains. This is unusual. I'm assuming they simply drain into the bottom of the hull and flow out though drainholes to accumulate in the bilge. Got a lot to learn about this new boat. I found the original manuals (in a cubby I found behind the backrest of the bow seats), maybe they will show something...I will read them tonight
Jim

[mikeyt]

Maybe its time to create a drain hole thru the partition?

[DCB_MINDED]

Here is a crude layout of what I'm dealing with. The bilge area in front of the partition is about 2-3 inches deeper than the engine area.... I'm lost on this one.

[ShabahZ280]

Do you have the fiberglass floor, or are you fully carpeted? I was just thinking in my boat, there's a separate center fiberglass piece that unscrews for access to the tank. If yours is set up the same way, I'd definitely consider doing that and taking a very good look around before drilling a drain hole around the tank. If you drill low, it may not seem like it'll empty the tank, but remember the principles of physics while boating. Throttle makes the bow rise, which will push water to the back, and if the drain hole you made is a few inches higher than the bottom of the tank area, it will still help it drain. A small amount of water in there won't hurt anything as it's all fiberglassed in, but the excess should drain right into your bilge if your plan works!

[DCB_MINDED]

Originally Posted by ShabahZ250

Do you have the fiberglass floor, or are you fully carpeted? I was just thinking in my boat, there's a separate center fiberglass piece that unscrews for access to the tank. If yours is set up the same way, I'd definitely consider doing that and taking a very good look around before drilling a drain hole around the tank. If you drill low, it may not seem like it'll empty the tank, but remember the principles of physics while boating. Throttle makes the bow rise, which will push water to the back, and if the drain hole you made is a few inches higher than the bottom of the tank area, it will still help it drain. A small amount of water in there won't hurt anything as it's all fiberglassed in, but the excess should drain right into your bilge if your plan works!

This is true. I didn't think about the bow rising, but still when the boat is trailered it is holding water. It just seems to me that Mariah would not have missed such in integral step in building a boat. Everything is fiberglassed in under there, and if I drill through the stringer, I will have bare wood exposed to water which I don't want unless I have to.