Hello.. Ive been working on my boat.. Cleaning the engine compartment and getting ready to build a sundeck engine cover. After removing the makeshift carpet job I noticed a lot of ply had been pieced in and not glassed or sealed... This allowed some water to get in of course. Well, I kept going a bit more and discovered that there was a rotted piece of ply.. the piece just in front of the motor that sits vertically between the stringers. It was completely glassed over creating a dam which was holding back a small lake. My question is.. Is it a good idea to put a new piece in that allows drainage without a plug. I was thi nking of leaving a small arch so water could flow in and out and air could easily dry the area out.. Of course a new floor is going to be installed soon, I just want  t o get the boat running and useable for a quick trip to see how it runs.

Thanks

just a thought but if you leave space for the water to get out , then it can just as well get back in there. seal it!

I have a small drain hole on mine that lets the water drain out the back to the bilge I also throw a fan in my ski locker to help dry it out faster I'd say small home so water can escape.


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I replaced my "dam" and drilled it for a transom plug. That way it was both sealed and if i needed to i could check for water. On another note i still have a brand new ski locker door if you want to put one of those in. That would eliminate your problem all together and add more storage space. And makes a pretty cool cooler.

ah quick question? when they made most boats where the stringers are covered did they put in a plug or seal them??  cause im thinkin they sealed them.

no i mean up front.

Yah i bet!!!  good smell also.    will need to do my floor also one of these days too but ... i just dont think i want water to get in there. I am sure it will make its way in there eventually but i will be dead or just not care by then!

No just one hole in the back, by the engine. Mine was clogged up bigtime and that is why my floor was rotted. Redid the floor about 5 years ago and is still like new

now that should work!!! prob 2 of them for a boat.

Well.. Thanks for the input. I decided to leave a good size arch so that air can get in and help dry it out, and hopefully if it goes in, it will come out.. It didnt before. There were two seams that varied between 1/8 to 1/4 along the sides of the floor that were forced to drain into a sealed compartment. I figure that when I redo the floor mid to late summer I can fix this huge flaw... I will probably raise the floor an inch so it spreads the entire width of the boat, and drains to the center at the rear.. Just in front of the motor... For now I got rid of a lot of rotted ply, and hopefully  things will drain to the rear better.. Thanks again for your replies.. Big help..!!