Ski Locker Water - Where is it coming from, and how do I drain it?

[2kwik4u]

This has seriously been the summer of leaks for me. I feel like I've spent more time chasing water out of the boat than should be necessary. I still haven't figure out where it's coming from, or how to get it to stop. Boat in question is a 2017 AR190

This episode is all about the ski locker.

I've been leaving the plug IN as an attempt to keep water OUT of this area. Yet after every trip I have a couple "cup fulls" of water at a minimum, and often times have several inches of water in the bottom of the locker. These have all been sunny days without rain, so it's not coming in the "top" of the locker. Most of the "drippy kids" are kept the the back until they have most of the water off them before running across the deck to the bow. I've been pulling the anchor in slowly and trying to "wring" the excess water off the rope (it's thin nylon anyway) before stowing it, as I think the anchor locker in the bow drains to the ski locker......SO, where the heck is this water coming from? Where else can I check for proper sealing of this compartment from the remainder of the hull? Am I wrong in assuming that since it has a plug in it, that it should be water tight?

NOW......Once the waters in here. How the dang heck am I supposed to get it out. I read all about "tilt it up as much as possible".....Well I did that.

Here's the boat as far "tilted" as I can get it in the garage. Literally as far as it will go, the trailer is touching the floor in the back there. The articulating keel (rudder) is only about 1.75in off the ground here. I quite literally can't get it any further up without damaging something. My phone tells me this is a 3.86deg decline as measured on the trailer.


I get a little trickle from the drain plugs on the transom, but again, upon inspection there is STILL WATER under the ski locker. So then I decide I'll check it on the driveway. My driveway has a little downward slant to it, and if I pull the truck into the garage it leaves the hitch as high as possible, and the boat as far downhill as I can get. Phone tells me this is 5.86deg decline (roughly 10% grade).

After that decline, I got a few "dribbles" from the plug holes on the transom. STILL WATER under the ski locker....WTF Yamaha why doesn't this area drain?!?!?!?!?!?!
Nevermind the really gross dirt that needs to be cleaned, kinda hard to keep it clean when there is ALWAYS lake water in this area. You can see the reflection of the water in there in this pic. It's about 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep as measured by a toothpick and what part got wet when I stuck it in there.


I checked our ramp this past weekend, it's 4.73deg decline according to the phone. Clearly not enough to just open the plugs there and let it drain. I have a couple country roads nearby that are in the 15-18% grade range. I'm debating on dragging the boat over there and seeing if that will get it all out. I've also debated on driving the back wheels of the truck up on some ramps at the top of the driveway to increase the angle. Not sure what else I can do at this point.

What do I have to do here to get all the water out? Hang the damn thing from a crane and shake it upside down?

Does anyone have any insight on where I can look to figure out how water is getting in here, and how the heck I can keep it out?

 

[Hoyt]

I can't help with where it's coming from. Sorry, but a wet dry shop vac will get it out. Would suck to have to do that everytime you go out though

 

[Seibert74]

I had the same issue with my 2013 SX102 and it almost drove my bat poo insane - I can empathize with your plight!
Ultimately I was able to rectify it by opening the drain just in front of the engine - the water then flowed freely from locker to the bilge and out it went. I also had to tilt the boat to the max on the trailer for it to drain.
I do this a couple times in the summer and for sure when I winterize so as to not have ice in my boat over winter. Also just to be safe, after I drain all the water out for winterization, I add about a half gallon of RV antifreeze to the bilge just in case some water condenses there in the fall.

 

[bolivas]

Thinking outside the box here, but have you tried the shop vac to the drain hole itself? I know I have found lots of "assembly debris" throughout the hull of our boat. There might be something that is blocking the drain. Just a thought....

 

[4x15mph]

I would guess the water is coming from the anchor drain into the ski locker and since you have the ski locker plug in, it is filling up. Have you done the anchor drain fix?

 

[swatski]

I can sympathize!
Keep in mind the mid-ship hull is way lower than the bilge, so you need a pretty extreme angle with the bow up to drain everything, a plug between the fuel compartment and the engine bay will keep the water from draining back completely.
I wouldn't be surprised if the water comes up around the plug "housing" piece of plastic in the locker...

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[zipper]

In my first year of Yamaha ownership, I spent a lot of time figuring out the bilge drain and the deck drain issues. Here were my discoveries,
https://jetboaters.net/threads/water-in-ski-locker-drain.11968/ and the deck drain issue to the scupper, https://jetboaters.net/threads/rain-water-pools-at-front-of-bow-floor-while-on-the-water.14264/ Here are my thoughts, Taping a small dia. piece of tubing to the end of a shop vac. hose/wand does work, been there, done it. But doing that frequently is a PITA. Try turning your rudder to one side or the other. It will shorten the "hypotenuse" of the triangle and may allow you a little more upward movement of the bow. At least in my ski locker...water gets in there two ways. Up from below, from water in the bilge thru the drain, unplugged or bad plug and the other is from above. There is a continuous gutter system around all the hatches on the boat sole, ski locker and fuel hatch that leads aft to the scupper. The top of the ski locker, under the hatch is not sealed, so water that may be for some reason in the head locker, wet kids using head or the helm locker would easily drain to the ski locker. I have easily run wiring across the boat between these two lockers and the carpeted plywood panel at the base of these lockers allow wiring to pass by. If your bilge is dry, below the plug, and you are still getting water in the ski locker, it is coming from above. I suggest next time out lay a towel over the hatch and see how much these "drippy kids" shed while on the bow and is their weight there enough to change the pitch of the deck, gutter drain system allowing water in from the front of the hatch as I have witnessed on my boat. Just my thoughts this AM, Good Luck.

 

[haknslash]

I would guess the water is coming from the anchor drain into the ski locker and since you have the ski locker plug in, it is filling up. Have you done the anchor drain fix?

There is no thru-hull anchor locker drain fix to do on the 19' SX and AR since they don't have one. The anchor locker does drain into the ski locker though.

 

[haknslash]

To get the water out from under the ski locker you will need to open the engine hatch drain (located just in front of the bilge pump) and of course the transom drain plugs. Have your bilge pump turned on as I suspect you have a good bit of water trapped under there. Mine was like that once and that's how I got it out. Mine was in the garage too and dumped like 2-3 gallons out of the bilge all over my floor lol. While you're doing this you may as well open your fuel tank drain if you have water in there as well.