Another leak story

[AJack]

I just received my SX240 in July, and have about 30 hours on it in the Tampa Bay and Gulf of Mexico. I usually go to a spot and let the children swim around the boat near a beach. This past weekend, we drove about 4 miles to an island and anchored about 30' from the beach due to the sandbar. This meant that the children were not jumping in and out of the boat. When I got back to the dock and removed the drain plug, nothing drained out, completely dry. Normally, there's a good amount of water to drain.

Is this solely from the children not jumping in and out? Do they drip that much water?

 

[Julian]

I think a lot of the water these boats take on is from wash over on the swim deck. Water can get in through:

1. The joint between the lower and upper hull at the gunnel
2. The clean out tray edge (which is often not siliconed well) - not only does water wash over the top of the step, but water gets forced up through the clean out tray drain into the clean out tray.

 

[2kwik4u]

I can't hardly get water over my second step. I've tried. I have to get 3 adults across the back and stop from about 11-12mph to get a splash. With a normal load of 2 adults and 2 kids I can't make it happen.

I have video (that I still need to upload) running with the rear hatch open. Most of the water comes from the drain into that area. Rushing water coming towards the stern on deceleration gets pushed backwards up the drain and into the rear tray. From there.....the tray is sealed Very Very poorly and leaks into the bilge.

If I go out and spend the day at anchor without kids climbing all over the rear, boat is bone dry. If the kids are active, we do water sports, or the normal combination, I get leaks into the bilge from the rear tray.

I'm hoping to remedy the poor seals this winter.

 

[AJack]

If you have a mod for the rear tray's inner cover, let me know. I would assume that's an easier fix than the rub rail that I've read about.

 

[2kwik4u]

If you have a mod for the rear tray's inner cover, let me know. I would assume that's an easier fix than the rub rail that I've read about.

Best I've seen is to simply remove it, scrape all the old sealant away, and then reinstall with new sealant. That seems to keep the leaks away from the rear tray area.