• Welcome to Jetboaters.net!

    We are delighted you have found your way to the best Jet Boaters Forum on the internet! Please consider Signing Up so that you can enjoy all the features and offers on the forum. We have members with boats from all the major manufacturers including Yamaha, Seadoo, Scarab and Chaparral. We don't email you SPAM, and the site is totally non-commercial. So what's to lose? IT IS FREE!

    Membership allows you to ask questions (no matter how mundane), meet up with other jet boaters, see full images (not just thumbnails), browse the member map and qualifies you for members only discounts offered by vendors who run specials for our members only! (It also gets rid of this banner!)

    free hit counter

Plywood panel in ski locker

BDOne

Jet Boat Addict
Messages
66
Reaction score
191
Points
92
Location
Cincinnati, OH
Boat Make
Yamaha
Year
2012
Boat Model
AR
Boat Length
24
I was poking around in the ski locker tonight trying to figure out if there is any way to get a bilge pump pickup mounted under the ski locker. So far no luck on the bilge access. But I noticed that the panel separating the locker from the storage closet was just plywood wrapped in fabric/carpet. The bottom edge of this panel was still wet, even though the boat hasn't been in the water for over a week. When I unscrewed the panel, water started running out of one of the screw holes (under the closet floor).
20191022_173727.jpg

So aside from the question of where the water is coming from... It seems like it would be good to replace that plywood panel with something that won't rot. (I just hope there isn't more plywood below deck.)

Does anyone have any thoughts on replacing the plywood here with a piece of Starboard. I can get a piece of generic HDPE (12" x 48" x 0.5") for around $40.

Here is the plywood panel. The dimensions are roughly 39" x 11".
20191022_192011.jpg
 

johnso30

Jet Boat Addict
Messages
45
Reaction score
50
Points
87
Boat Make
Yamaha
Year
2010
Boat Model
Limited S
Boat Length
24

zipper

Jetboaters Fleet Admiral 1*
Staff member
Administrator
Messages
7,618
Reaction score
20,659
Points
797
Location
Northern Vermont Lake Champlain
Boat Make
Boston Whaler
Year
1995
Boat Model
Other
Boat Length
18
I don't see why you could not use HDPE there instead of the carpet covered plywood. I found that plywood panel an easy way to pass wiring from one side of the boat to the other, head to helm or visa versa, along the ski locker ceiling forward of the hatch. I never notice any water weeping from the screw holes. That would have sent me looking for the source. That hole is up there and water can be coming from only a few places ie. Port bow storage locker?, leaking midship cleat/grab rail? Anchor locker drain? How much water drained out? Could it be built up condensation over the years that could not drain? The staining on the carpet looks like more than just condensation.
 
Last edited:

johnso30

Jet Boat Addict
Messages
45
Reaction score
50
Points
87
Boat Make
Yamaha
Year
2010
Boat Model
Limited S
Boat Length
24
I don't see why you could not use HDPE there instead of the carpet covered plywood. I found that plywood panel an easy way to pass wiring from one side of the boat to the other, head to helm or visa versa, along the ski locker ceiling forward of the hatch. I never notice any water weeping from the screw holes. That would have sent me looking for the source. That hole is up there and water can be coming from only a few places ie. Port bow storage locker?, leaking midship cleat/grab rail? Anchor locker drain? How much water drsined out? Could it be built up condensation over the years that could not drain? The staining on the carpet looks like more than just condensation.
Thanks. I just wiped it up with a towel, and there was maybe a half-teaspoon there 15 minutes later. It was wet-slipped overnight last weekend, but has been in the garage since then. I really don’t think it’s leaking in from above. From what @BDOne said in the other thread, I’m wondering if the space to the sides of the ski locker are supposed to be dry, but some water is leaking in from the bilge area under the ski locker? And if so, wondering if I should drill a drain hole in the ski locker on the side into the space under the head compartment, but also afraid I may just make it worse...
 

BDOne

Jet Boat Addict
Messages
66
Reaction score
191
Points
92
Location
Cincinnati, OH
Boat Make
Yamaha
Year
2012
Boat Model
AR
Boat Length
24
I did replace that plywood with a piece of HDPE. I bought it from the Grainger website.

I used the original as a template and then cut the panel with a small circular saw. I cleaned the "fuzz" off the edge with a utility knife.
It has held up through this season just fine.

As for the source of the water, I can only guess that it worked its way in from the port bow storage as @zipper suggested. Any screw or other penetration in the floor of that area could allow water to get into that dead space. Another possibility is the front cup holders. They have drain holes, but I'm not sure what route that water takes to get to the bilge.

I would be wary of drilling any holes around there. To be an effective drain it would have to be at the bottom of the dead space. But how do you know where the bottom is? Also, you might run the risk of drilling through to the outside! :oops:
 

drewkaree

Jetboaters Fleet Admiral
Messages
5,376
Reaction score
19,062
Points
672
Location
West Allis & Fremont, WI
Boat Make
Yamaha
Year
2019
Boat Model
AR
Boat Length
21

johnso30

Jet Boat Addict
Messages
45
Reaction score
50
Points
87
Boat Make
Yamaha
Year
2010
Boat Model
Limited S
Boat Length
24
Thanks for your thoughts. I tried lowering the trailer jack way down just to see if changing the angle of the boat changes how much weeps out from there - it doesn’t. When I get a chance, I’ll go the other way and see if I can get the front end any higher (it was already sloped towards the rear) to see if I can get it to actually drain out the bilge like I would expect.
 
Top