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16' Bonefisher Issue- All Advice Appreciated


chsbonefish16

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Hey yall, I just bought a 98 16' Bonefisher and couldn't be happier with it. The guy I bought it from maintained it well and I didn't see any issues other than normal wear and tear when I bought it. Took it out the first time and no issues whatsoever. Second time I took it out it had been raining a lot beforehand and the bilge had kicked on the night before and I watched it pump. Went to put it in the next day and before I backed it in I put the plug in and didn't see any water coming out so figured all the rainwater was gone. Additionally I plugged the interior drain holes on either side of the floor behind the console since we had three people on the boat.

Go fishing and for the first couple hours no issues until we had nosed onto a sandbar to hang out for a second. The back was squatting in the water some but nothing crazy. Fish a little more then I go to open the back back hatch with the batteries in it and it was full of water with the next hatch over being full of water. The livewell to the far right was also full of water but I hadnt thought anything of it. Long story short we slowly made it back to the dock and after I pulled it out I stuck my finger in the bottom plug opening and cleared it. Water drained for a solid 10 minutes while we tried to figured out what was going on. 

Normally I would think this was just an obstruction in the plug hole where I stuck my finger in and cleared, but the hole on the side of the hull where the bilge pumps out appears to have something that used to be screwed into it.  

So my question is if it is possible for the bilge hole to have sucked in water while we fished and filled up those back hatches and then having a combination of rainwater it created a perfect storm of almost submerging the back end of the boat? I'm not sure if it's my bilge messing up or what, but the bilge pumped fine the night before. I have looked to see if I can get a one way bilge cap to maybe stop the problem. I'm not sure if plugging the inside did anything and I don't see anything compromising when I look in the back hatches down into the inside of the hull. I'm even questioning if water is getting in through the poling platform bolts. 

Any and all advice will be appreciated as I dont want to sink this boat I just bought but I can't figure out what to do. I'll try and send pictures to better explain the issues. Thank yall in advance. 

 

 

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First work out the bilge pump issue. It should pump when a level is in the bilge automatically. 
 There are so many possibilities as to water intrusion. Could be the live well over filled and didn’t drain properly thus overflowing into the bilge. If the bilge discharge got low enough water could have ran down into the bilge. Leaking through hulls,, the list goes on 

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 What HB said ^^^.  You'd have to be careful not to back up too far, but for a test, and with a completely dry bilge, you could leave the boat strapped down securely to the trailer, and back it down the boat ramp just enough so that all the thru-hull fittings, motor mounting bolts, etc. you can see in the bilge, are submerged below the water line.  This will create some additional water pressure from the outside.  Take a flash light and look everywhere in the bilge.  The water intrusion may not be easy to see.  Look for the slightest trickle or drip down the side walls and transom.  If needed, put water in the live well, and see what it does as well.  I've found leaks this way, where water was coming in through the motor mount bolt holes, and a slight trickle you could barely see, was getting in between the outer transom and inner liner (transom splash well).  Took bolts out and smeared Boat-Life Life-Seal all around the insides of the bolt holes to fix it.

 

Edit:  If the trailer starts to float when you back it down the ramp, you've gone too far, and you should get the wheels back on solid ground quickly!!

Edited by geeviam
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48 minutes ago, geeviam said:

 What HB said ^^^.  You'd have to be careful not to back up too far, but for a test, and with a completely dry bilge, you could leave the boat strapped down securely to the trailer, and back it down the boat ramp just enough so that all the thru-hull fittings, motor mounting bolts, etc. you can see in the bilge, are submerged below the water line.  This will create some additional water pressure from the outside.  Take a flash light and look everywhere in the bilge.  The water intrusion may not be easy to see.  Look for the slightest trickle or drip down the side walls and transom.  If needed, put water in the live well, and see what it does as well.  I've found leaks this way, where water was coming in through the motor mount bolt holes, and a slight trickle you could barely see, was getting in between the outer transom and inner liner (transom splash well).  Took bolts out and smeared Boat-Life Life-Seal all around the insides of the bolt holes to fix it.

 

Edit:  If the trailer starts to float when you back it down the ramp, you've gone too far, and you should get the wheels back on solid ground quickly!!

Your My HERO, NO 5200 for once. 😀👍😂️Fin. 

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Got it figured out guys I really appreciate the help. There was dirt blocking the filter of the bilge keeping it from turning on and pumping properly. Additionally the pvc pipe running to the live well from the back of the boat was loose and would let water in. Took it out this weekend after fixing these and it ran like a dream. Thank yall again. 

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