Water coming in, from where?

[FSH 210 Sport]

Just to add to the statement above, my bilge pump will automatically turn on (if water is detected) whether the batteries are on or off. I have tested this with a hose on the trailor, it does take a few minutes running the garden hose to kick on. 2020 212S

Without going and checking his owners manual… I think in the pre 18 boats the batteries had to be on or the bilge pump won’t work at all.

 

[sunbyrned]

I understand his puzzlement though. The pump is in the engine compartment but that’s not where he notices accumulated water.

 

[JPow]

The bilge is below all the compartments.

Does the bilge pump only run when you turn on the switch? It is supposed to run automatically as well. There is a separate fuse for the automatic side of the bilge pump, it’s usually located in the battery compartment.

With the boat on the trailer, Pull the bilge pump out of the mount by squeezing tabs on the sides. The filter basket will be left down there, check for debris in the filter basket and the pump. If there’s a lot of debris in the basket, clean it out by hand, then use a hose to flush the bilge out with the drain plug out. Reinstall the bilge pump and make sure it is securely locked in.

With the boat on the trailer put the plug in and then put a hose into the bottom of the engine bay. Make sure your battery switches are on and Fill the engine bay until the bilge pump is submerged. If it doesn’t come on automatically there is an issue, probably a blown fuse.

It kinda sounds like the auto function is not working and water is collecting in the bilge above where the auto function would remove it.

Yeah I had some kinda of questionable mechanic change out the bilge pump literally two weeks ago. It does work but it doesn’t seem to work automatically. When i kick it on it will pump essentially all of the water out of the engine compartment and then eventually water stops being pumped out bc there’s none left in the engine compartment. Are you saying it’s also supposed to pump water out of the area below the engine compartment that I can’t see? Why would that much water be getting in in the first place?

 

[JPow]

I understand his puzzlement though. The pump is in the engine compartment but that’s not where he notices accumulated water.

Exactly. I can pull the boat out of the water with little to no water visible in the engine compartment and then pull the plug out and the boat will drain for 5+ min without stopping. Just a steady flow of water. I was thinking I could put it in the water and just sit on the dock without turning the engines on at all for like 30min. Pull it out and see if any water got in. If no water got in I’d put it back in the water, turn the engines on for 20min and just sit there and pull it out and reassess the water. Then take it the next logical steps. All of this sounds great except it takes times and it also takes up a lot of space at the boat ramp. I’ve kind of made up my mind to take it to Barney’s in St Pete and let them do whatever they need to to sort it out.

 

[Michael Guzzo]

So does anyone have a clear description on where the water could be sitting if the engine compartment is empty when it is taken out of the water, yet drains out for 5+ minutes when the drain plug is removed on the trailer? Seems to me a bilge pump in the engine compartment is no help/not relevant in this situation.

 

[Troch1]

So does anyone have a clear description on where the water could be sitting if the engine compartment is empty when it is taken out of the water, yet drains out for 5+ minutes when the drain plug is removed on the trailer? Seems to me a bilge pump in the engine compartment is no help/not relevant in this situation.

My boat sits in a slight bow down attitude at rest while floating. Even when on the lift, with the lift bunks flat/level, the boat is pitched towards the bow. In the resting position on the water or the lift, the stock bilge pump will see no water, even though there's considerable water sitting in the bilge forward of the engine compartment. I suspect that the first time the OP's boat is in a sustained bow-up position is on the trailer and therefore the water has an opportunity to drain.

Interestingly, my boat is having the EXACT same issue at the OP. No water entry at rest or low engine speeds, but when I'm cruising at 6k rpm, my bilge pump will turn on every 2 minutes and run for 20 seconds (bay temperature water). Since I store on a lift, I simply haven't had the ability to diagnose, and I'm not willing to lose any of the season as long as the "leak" remains manageable....yes, it's a risk. I will, however, look at the excellent suggestions given in this post and see if it's something simple like a loose hose clamp.

 

[JPow]

My boat sits in a slight bow down attitude at rest while floating. Even when on the lift, with the lift bunks flat/level, the boat is pitched towards the bow. In the resting position on the water or the lift, the stock bilge pump will see no water, even though there's considerable water sitting in the bilge forward of the engine compartment. I suspect that the first time the OP's boat is in a sustained bow-up position is on the trailer and therefore the water has an opportunity to drain.

Interestingly, my boat is having the EXACT same issue at the OP. No water entry at rest or low engine speeds, but when I'm cruising at 6k rpm, my bilge pump will turn on every 2 minutes and run for 20 seconds (bay temperature water). Since I store on a lift, I simply haven't had the ability to diagnose, and I'm not willing to lose any of the season as long as the "leak" remains manageable....yes, it's a risk. I will, however, look at the excellent suggestions given in this post and see if it's something simple like a loose hose clamp.

Yes exactly. And to even take it a step further, the most recent time we took it out we opened the plug on the trailer on flat ground and it drained water for over 5 min. We then backed it down the ramp close to the water so we were on an incline and it drained even more water. So this water is definitely sitting somewhere not just or even mostly the engine compartment. I just don’t know where it sits or how it gets in. The guy at the shop mentioned the cooling hose as well so maybe that’s it? I have no clue at this point. I also don’t know if the water only gets in when we’re running the engine or it’s passively accumulating and only appears in the engine compartment once we start going. These are all experiments I could do if I had time.

 

[sunbyrned]

The water flow is explained fairly well in this thread. (See link) I hope your guy can find the leak. It sounds like you see the water coming in but can’t pinpoint where it originates. That’s a start at least. Keep us posted if you can.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/water-flow-to-bilge.18244/

 

[drewkaree]

https://jetboaters.net/threads/the-ultimate-leak-finding-thread-your-opinions-are-needed.6684/

So does anyone have a clear description on where the water could be sitting if the engine compartment is empty when it is taken out of the water, yet drains out for 5+ minutes when the drain plug is removed on the trailer? Seems to me a bilge pump in the engine compartment is no help/not relevant in this situation.

You have a "bath tub", seen as your cockpit - the area where all your seating surfaces are. You have an outer hull. The two are mated up and fastened together during assembly with some sort of adhesive. Between the inner bath tub and the outer hull is going to be a large space where water will collect due to various reasons. See the link to @Julian's post for tracking down the multiple areas that water can find its way into your boat.

All of that info above means that the bath tub is NOT the lowest part of the boat, and the bilge pump is therefore not at the optimal point to remove all water in the boat, and will start to operate when the water fills up enough to reach the bilge pump in the engine compartment. Movement will make the water slosh around. Getting the boat up and on plane will cause the water to flow back towards the transom, at which point it will likely be pumped out by the bilge until it falls below that level. When you come off plane, the water moves forward, as these boats have a forward lean, for lack of a better term. When this happens, the water will then likely flow into the ski locker.

All of the water that is draining out is what's left between the two layers of the boat. There are MANY places the boat can take on water, and you will need to go through that thread to start to narrow down all the places you are having water coming in. There are the easy (and typical) places to start with investigating. To me, it sounds like every typical leaky Yamaha. If I were in your position (and I have been), I would start with the easiest and most vital thing - the scupper valve. If that's leaking, there's likely 90% of your issue solved. You CANNOT simply eyeball it and decide that it's fine because you don't see a crack. If it's plastic (and it likely is), it may only flex while underway, and allow water in. To check this, you will need to physically manipulate the hose and scupper to check it. There's more than a few threads here to check that out.

The next large item that's easy to check is the cleanout tray. Fill it with a garden hose and remove the inspection hatch to see if there is water leaking into the bilge. If that is indeed the case, the quick and easy fix for that is to caulk around the cleanout tray, and retest it until it doesn't leak. I would use some easy-to-remove caulk, perhaps something like weatherizing removable caulk, unless you're happy with that as a solution. The removable caulk will allow you to test it out, and address it later, after you've ruled out a few other items.

Now fill the cupholders on the swim deck. If you see them draining out somewhere, great, they're working. If you don't see any water coming out onto the swim deck anywhere, that sucks. Every time you come off plane, those will fill, and dump the water directly into your bilge.

The final easy thing to check is your anchor locker. Look for multiple threads around here to see what a crappy fitting looks like, and compare it to what yours looks like. If that needs fixing, follow those threads.

Those things are all the easy things to address. There are others, but those are the quick and dirty items that could be responsible for 95% of your water. You also may not have gotten all the water out of the boat, even with it running 5+ minutes. Jack up the front end before each item so you know you're starting with the least amount of water.

The intermediate bearing is the other big leaker, but to read your explanation, it sounds like one (or more) of the four things I mentioned is the culprit at this point, although anything is possible. If you've made it this far into this post, I"ve got bad news for you, there's lots more reading in that link above to try to track down all the places water can get in. The good news is, none of this is terribly difficult, and that link will point you to directions, threads, and pics of how to tackle your potential issues.

You can check all the things I mentioned while on the water, anchored at a sandbar, but I would NOT check the scupper while on the water. That is one item that I would simply order a stainless steel scupper for, and swap it out, no matter if it is broken or not. It WILL eventually fail on you, if it hasn't already (and is contributing to your issues).

Stop taking your boat to the questionable mechanic too LOL

 

[drewkaree]

Yes exactly. And to even take it a step further, the most recent time we took it out we opened the plug on the trailer on flat ground and it drained water for over 5 min. We then backed it down the ramp close to the water so we were on an incline and it drained even more water. So this water is definitely sitting somewhere not just or even mostly the engine compartment. I just don’t know where it sits or how it gets in. The guy at the shop mentioned the cooling hose as well so maybe that’s it? I have no clue at this point. I also don’t know if the water only gets in when we’re running the engine or it’s passively accumulating and only appears in the engine compartment once we start going. These are all experiments I could do if I had time.

Make yourself a list of things to check.

Find the best, most understandable thread to you, on the forums here, and bookmark it.

Take a tablet with you when you're going to be in the boat.

You can knock out some preventative maintenance checks on those 4 items, which will likely be the biggest contributors to the problem, instead of a shotgun approach of "I tried this, but that didn't work, so now what?" DEFINITELY bookmark @Julian's --- Ultimate Leak thread. You can rule out the more difficult things to check, like the rub rail trim. It really is easy to check, but if you don't know what you're looking for, or have the time at the moment, it could end up frustrating you either trying to get it off, or put back on, so move that to the bottom of the list of things to check, until you have ruled out other things. That is a "for instance". Basic troubleshooting steps, do the easy/big payoffs first, then move to the more difficult but big payoffs, then hard/small payoff, and finally the hard/small payoff.

If your cleanout tray is one of the easy/big items that is leaking on you, the caulk should be considered part of multiple items in the area - if the tray leaks, check your cleanout plugs to rebuild, check the hoses from the cleanout try to see if they're fastened and the clamps are good, and see if water comes in over the top of the inspection hatch. This is an example of "One thing is bad in this area, so I may as well check the rest of the things in this area". If the tray doesn't leak, these things MAY be the issue, but there are bigger payoffs to check first - the 4 listed above.

<Admin edited to add link to leak thread>

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Yeah I had some kinda of questionable mechanic change out the bilge pump literally two weeks ago. It does work but it doesn’t seem to work automatically. When i kick it on it will pump essentially all of the water out of the engine compartment and then eventually water stops being pumped out bc there’s none left in the engine compartment. Are you saying it’s also supposed to pump water out of the area below the engine compartment that I can’t see? Why would that much water be getting in in the first place?

This is to add to @drewkaree comments..

Your boat has three main components the hull or lower section, the upper section which is the deck/ski locker/anchor locker/ and possibly the head compartment and the liner which is sandwiched in between the upper and lower sections. This liner can be seen in the engine compartment for example, on my boat it is grey in color. If you look where the bilge pump is mounted, it is mounted to the hull through a cut out in the liner, this places the bilge pump a tad lower and allows water in the bilge which the area of the inside of the hull. The bilge is where all water drains to, this allows, in theory anyway, the other compartments to stay dry.

As drew was saying, water that collects in the bilge which runs the length of your boat will move around depending on loading and whether or not you are underway. When you accelerate and the bow is high all water in the bilge flows towards the transom/engine bay etc.. you could just flip the bilge pump switch on as you accelerate and the bilge pump will pump all the water it can. I think it is important to get the auto part of the pump working correctly. I mentioned the auto part of the bilge pump fuse that is usually in the battery compartment, did yiu identify that and if you did how was the fuse? There are threads in here where brand new boats had this fuse blown and once it was replaced the auto part of the bilge pump worked just fine. Let this be your priority right now! Get that bilge pump working correctly. Also, did you pull the pump out of the filter screen base to check for debris? If not get that done as well. Again, this is the device that removes water from the boat while on the water, so get it fixed first.

After that get after the areas that Drew mentioned, especially the scupper. Just get a new one from Atwood or GemLux. This is an item that if it fails catastrophically your boat will sink.

I know it seems a long ways off at the moment but you can have a dry bilge where no water comes out of the plug when you come off the water. Mine is that way now after I took the time to eliminate all leaks, some of mine were caused by me making modifications over last winter. At one point I was losing my mind and found I had made an error installing the scupper for my live well drain, it was the last leak I had chased down. I still get rain water in around the storage compartment doors, especially if it’s torrential and blowing sideways, that’s in the list of things to correct.

As drew said, make a list and when you get into say the rear area under the clean out tray, check everything while you are in there.

You will figure it out I’m sure.

 

[Julian]

Make yourself a list of things to check.

Find the best, most understandable thread to you, on the forums here, and bookmark it.

Take a tablet with you when you're going to be in the boat.

You can knock out some preventative maintenance checks on those 4 items, which will likely be the biggest contributors to the problem, instead of a shotgun approach of "I tried this, but that didn't work, so now what?" DEFINITELY bookmark @Julian's --- Ultimate Leak thread. You can rule out the more difficult things to check, like the rub rail trim. It really is easy to check, but if you don't know what you're looking for, or have the time at the moment, it could end up frustrating you either trying to get it off, or put back on, so move that to the bottom of the list of things to check, until you have ruled out other things. That is a "for instance". Basic troubleshooting steps, do the easy/big payoffs first, then move to the more difficult but big payoffs, then hard/small payoff, and finally the hard/small payoff.

If your cleanout tray is one of the easy/big items that is leaking on you, the caulk should be considered part of multiple items in the area - if the tray leaks, check your cleanout plugs to rebuild, check the hoses from the cleanout try to see if they're fastened and the clamps are good, and see if water comes in over the top of the inspection hatch. This is an example of "One thing is bad in this area, so I may as well check the rest of the things in this area". If the tray doesn't leak, these things MAY be the issue, but there are bigger payoffs to check first - the 4 listed above.

<Admin edited to add link to leak thread>

I added the link in your post to the Ultimate leak thread.

 

[JPow]

https://jetboaters.net/threads/the-ultimate-leak-finding-thread-your-opinions-are-needed.6684/

You have a "bath tub", seen as your cockpit - the area where all your seating surfaces are. You have an outer hull. The two are mated up and fastened together during assembly with some sort of adhesive. Between the inner bath tub and the outer hull is going to be a large space where water will collect due to various reasons. See the link to @Julian's post for tracking down the multiple areas that water can find its way into your boat.

All of that info above means that the bath tub is NOT the lowest part of the boat, and the bilge pump is therefore not at the optimal point to remove all water in the boat, and will start to operate when the water fills up enough to reach the bilge pump in the engine compartment. Movement will make the water slosh around. Getting the boat up and on plane will cause the water to flow back towards the transom, at which point it will likely be pumped out by the bilge until it falls below that level. When you come off plane, the water moves forward, as these boats have a forward lean, for lack of a better term. When this happens, the water will then likely flow into the ski locker.

All of the water that is draining out is what's left between the two layers of the boat. There are MANY places the boat can take on water, and you will need to go through that thread to start to narrow down all the places you are having water coming in. There are the easy (and typical) places to start with investigating. To me, it sounds like every typical leaky Yamaha. If I were in your position (and I have been), I would start with the easiest and most vital thing - the scupper valve. If that's leaking, there's likely 90% of your issue solved. You CANNOT simply eyeball it and decide that it's fine because you don't see a crack. If it's plastic (and it likely is), it may only flex while underway, and allow water in. To check this, you will need to physically manipulate the hose and scupper to check it. There's more than a few threads here to check that out.

The next large item that's easy to check is the cleanout tray. Fill it with a garden hose and remove the inspection hatch to see if there is water leaking into the bilge. If that is indeed the case, the quick and easy fix for that is to caulk around the cleanout tray, and retest it until it doesn't leak. I would use some easy-to-remove caulk, perhaps something like weatherizing removable caulk, unless you're happy with that as a solution. The removable caulk will allow you to test it out, and address it later, after you've ruled out a few other items.

Now fill the cupholders on the swim deck. If you see them draining out somewhere, great, they're working. If you don't see any water coming out onto the swim deck anywhere, that sucks. Every time you come off plane, those will fill, and dump the water directly into your bilge.

The final easy thing to check is your anchor locker. Look for multiple threads around here to see what a crappy fitting looks like, and compare it to what yours looks like. If that needs fixing, follow those threads.

Those things are all the easy things to address. There are others, but those are the quick and dirty items that could be responsible for 95% of your water. You also may not have gotten all the water out of the boat, even with it running 5+ minutes. Jack up the front end before each item so you know you're starting with the least amount of water.

The intermediate bearing is the other big leaker, but to read your explanation, it sounds like one (or more) of the four things I mentioned is the culprit at this point, although anything is possible. If you've made it this far into this post, I"ve got bad news for you, there's lots more reading in that link above to try to track down all the places water can get in. The good news is, none of this is terribly difficult, and that link will point you to directions, threads, and pics of how to tackle your potential issues.

You can check all the things I mentioned while on the water, anchored at a sandbar, but I would NOT check the scupper while on the water. That is one item that I would simply order a stainless steel scupper for, and swap it out, no matter if it is broken or not. It WILL eventually fail on you, if it hasn't already (and is contributing to your issues).

Stop taking your boat to the questionable mechanic too LOL

Thank you! So my questionable mechanic (haha) did caulk the edges of the scupper valve as he thought it was leaking a tiny bit. He said it was difficult to replace bc it was epoxy’d in so that’s why he went with the caulk. All your other info makes sense and is what I kind of suspected regarding the water moving to the rear of the boat and thus appearing in the engine compartment only when I get it onto plane. I’ve made the decision to just take the boat into the shop and let them do a full inspection. I’m out of town the next few weekends and don’t have time on weekdays to really troubleshoot. I’m just anxious to get this boat working properly and (mostly) stress free. I’ll let everyone know what they end up finding but obviously hoping it’s something small and easily repaired.

 

[drewkaree]

Thank you! So my questionable mechanic (haha) did caulk the edges of the scupper valve as he thought it was leaking a tiny bit. He said it was difficult to replace bc it was epoxy’d in so that’s why he went with the caulk. All your other info makes sense and is what I kind of suspected regarding the water moving to the rear of the boat and thus appearing in the engine compartment only when I get it onto plane. I’ve made the decision to just take the boat into the shop and let them do a full inspection. I’m out of town the next few weekends and don’t have time on weekdays to really troubleshoot. I’m just anxious to get this boat working properly and (mostly) stress free. I’ll let everyone know what they end up finding but obviously hoping it’s something small and easily repaired.

If your scupper is still plastic (it'll be white or yellowed) then I have no problem with calling out your questionable "mechanic" as either overbooked (perhaps lazy), or simply lacking in knowledge about your boat. It's almost definitely sealant, not epoxy, and it could have easily been determined by taking off the inspection hatch, sticking a light down in there, and taking a look.

The caulk on the Outside EDGES of the scupper is/was never going to last, and it was a band-aid fix, at best. It also points to him likely never checking to see if the scupper is/was cracked.

IF your scupper is nice shiny metal, the only thing that would be problematic is if it wasn't sealed properly. Since he caulked the edges, if it's metal, he never properly fixed any potential problem with it, which could only be done by at least loosening the nut, applying the sealant UNDER the flange, tightening the nut again, and cleaning up the squeeze-out. Even if you still have the plastic scupper, that's the solution, not caulking the edges.

Either scenario, and your description, point to the wrong guy looking at your boat. Now, going forward, you are proposing to let someone who isn't as invested in your boat as yourself try to track down several areas that have the potential to be the issue. Your situation is not dire enough to sink your boat, unless it's the scupper or the bearing. Checking the scupper in the parking lot should take less than half an hour, and I believe that's a wild OVERestimation. Testing for a possible bearing leak is laid out by @FSH 210 Sport in his post above.

I recommend you spend the half hour or less to check the scupper. At the very least, tell us what color it is, and snap some pics with your phone before you drop it off so we can do a decent assessment for you. No sense in wasting your time and money on paying for repairs that don't need to be done.

The off-season is a great time to fix the small issues you might have, less aggravation, and less expensive for you to tackle without worrying about loss of water time

The repair shop is going to be more frustrating, IMO, after you have paid them and you're still having water issues, or else it'll be way more expensive than it's worth - all while not having access to take it out on a nice weekend.

I'm not in your shoes, and I only drive past the Holiday Inn Express, but I hate to see easy things farmed out at such a potential cost of time lost, and money. Hope you can track down your issues

 

[tdonoughue]

It is educational, fast and free to pull the little plate off for bilge access back in the wet storage (between the jet cleanout ports). Shine a flashlight down there and several things will become clear. First, observe the scupper (as everyone has said above). Second, observe how deep it goes down there versus where your bilge pump is--that is how much water needs to be in the boat before it starts to pump (and why a lot of people add a pump down at the bottom there). That will also explain the 10 min drain... Third, if you are adventurous, you can shine the light aft side and see how the hulls come together (and connect that with the rub rail discussions). Finally, if you look to the aft corners, you will be able to see the nuts that hold on the aft cleats. Good to know where those are in case they get loose. Ask me how I know...

 

[JPow]

It is educational, fast and free to pull the little plate off for bilge access back in the wet storage (between the jet cleanout ports). Shine a flashlight down there and several things will become clear. First, observe the scupper (as everyone has said above). Second, observe how deep it goes down there versus where your bilge pump is--that is how much water needs to be in the boat before it starts to pump (and why a lot of people add a pump down at the bottom there). That will also explain the 10 min drain... Third, if you are adventurous, you can shine the light aft side and see how the hulls come together (and connect that with the rub rail discussions). Finally, if you look to the aft corners, you will be able to see the nuts that hold on the aft cleats. Good to know where those are in case they get loose. Ask me how I know...

I have looked down there and can again today. I think I’m at the point with this now I just want it fixed. I’m out of town the next 3 weekends and like I said before just don’t have the ability to really do much work on it after work. I’d rather pay someone to figure this out once and for all as opposed to spending more time trying to identify it myself and then still probably not be able to fix it. I think if I hadn’t just gotten this 3 months ago I’d be more willing to mess around with some stuff.

im almost positive the scupper is plastic and the original, it’s not metal. I will take a picture of it today. So it’s possible the scupper is leaking water into that area underneath the engine compartment and then also moving into the hull area I guess is what some of you are speculating? Sorry, again I apologize but this is my first time owning a boat.

 

[ripler]

Without reading every post here and I'm not sure if this was brought up. If my memory serves me right, when I had my Yamaha I don't think the bilge pump was mounted in the lowest point of the boat. The plug in the stern is actually the lowest point of the boat. All of the plugs in the boat drain into the hull and the water gets drained when the stern plug is removed. Water can get in a bunch of ways without it ever getting to the bilge pump with the biggest culprit is the inspection hatch when water splashes over the stern when coming to a stop.

 

[tdonoughue]

I have looked down there and can again today. I think I’m at the point with this now I just want it fixed. I’m out of town the next 3 weekends and like I said before just don’t have the ability to really do much work on it after work. I’d rather pay someone to figure this out once and for all as opposed to spending more time trying to identify it myself and then still probably not be able to fix it. I think if I hadn’t just gotten this 3 months ago I’d be more willing to mess around with some stuff.

im almost positive the scupper is plastic and the original, it’s not metal. I will take a picture of it today. So it’s possible the scupper is leaking water into that area underneath the engine compartment and then also moving into the hull area I guess is what some of you are speculating? Sorry, again I apologize but this is my first time owning a boat.

I get it. Only so many hours in a day. Still, before you hire someone to work on it, it does pay to understand as best you can so you can get your money's worth (and get it fixed right the first time). Also, the better you know your boat, the better you can tell them what to do and check when they have done it that they did it right.

All that said, understand also that leak hunting can take quite a bit of time and trial-and-error. So, having someone do it for you is possible. But it means probably you are going to be taking your boat back to someone multiple times... Heads up there, is all.

 

[Stan M]

Without reading every post here and I'm not sure if this was brought up. If my memory serves me right, when I had my Yamaha I don't think the bilge pump was mounted in the lowest point of the boat. The plug in the stern is actually the lowest point of the boat. All of the plugs in the boat drain into the hull and the water gets drained when the stern plug is removed. Water can get in a bunch of ways without it ever getting to the bilge pump with the biggest culprit is the inspection hatch when water splashes over the stern when coming to a stop.

Okay...forgive my ignorance. I have read it a thousand times in this forum about water coming over the stern upon stopping being the (or a) possible source of water in the cleanout tray. Can someone explain to me how? I know water comes into the swim deck upon stopping, but how in the hell does it get all the way UP to the cleanout tray? That's like 2 feet high on my boat? And I know it's not getting that high. Now, I understand water possibly coming up through the drain in the cleanout tray, or even through poorly sealed cleanout plugs, but over the hatch...no way.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Tube usually, mostly. Don't believe there is a check valve on it since it is so high up.