Chaparral - 2000 186 Sport, water in ski locker

[ByronFaust]

Every time I take the boat out the center ski locker under the floor fills up about halfway full of water. It does not drain out to the bilge because the drain is plugged with sand. I have to pump it out manually but it just fills up again on the next boat outing. But the question is where is the water coming from to start with??? The bilge is dry. It is not rain water as the boat is stored in a garage. Is it possibly a thru hull hose leak? If so how is it getting into the ski locker from the hull, and why is it not draining to the bilge? I took it to a Marine shop and they did not have any luck trouble shooting this problem. Not sure how qualified the mechanic was, but no help from them. Any ideas on what might be causing this and ways to troubleshoot it and fix it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Byron Faust
Slidell, LA

 

[Iggy]

If it was my boat. I would drill drain holes into the bilge and epoxy any wood or glass so water does not get into it. Easy and simple to do which you should have anyways.

If its not rain water, than its water from running the boat. Yes? I would look at vents and drains as the boat is running on the water.

But thats me...................

 

[Denny]

If it was my boat. I would drill drain holes into the bilge and epoxy any wood or glass so water does not get into it. Easy and simple to do which you should have anyways.

If its not rain water, than its water from running the boat. Yes? I would look at vents and drains as the boat is running on the water.

But thats me...................

+1, make sure that the locker is completely dry have someone with you, open the locker cover or take it off.
Launch your girl and let her set for a short period, if you see no water then idle around while someone is looking into the locker.
If still no water then increase your speed in small increments.
When you see water now you can look and try to determine where it is coming in at.
We use to find water leaks on cars in a similar way.
We would have one person in the car and another one outside with a hose.
Using low water pressure and starting at the lowest point they would run water across the area gradually moving higher until the person inside could see water coming in.
Looked this issue up on line, many have this issue, but know one had an answer.
Hope this helps, please keep us posted.
It may help someone else.