Have a good look along the chines underneath mate, I've just done a repair for a bloke with a cracked weld along there. What size and type of boat is it BrockO?

 Hey mate, old boys boat had a leak. While it was dry on the trailer we put a hose in the transom inspection port and waited to see where the water came out. Ended up being the sikaflex around the bung housing had degraded, was an easy fix.

Hope you get out cheaply.

Fibra glass...5.7m, have had a quick visual inside and out, bilge seem to be holding water too so dont think its getting in that way...did have a few small floor cracks but re-glassed those. 

How much water came out when you got back to the ramp and pulled the bung out?

We had the same issue on our rig and ended up being the bung not being tight enough. Bungs theoretically should seal with finger tightness, however, ours was leaking at a rate of 10L/hr.After tightening the bung with pliers was bone dry. Easily check by filling boat up, and see if it drips from or around the bung.

Other possibility is the bilge outlet is too low and could be drawing in water, whilst taking off. Unlikely, but possible.

 Also check any thru hulls if you have live bait or raw water washdown pickups. If you have a sealed floor then you must also have floor drains with pipes under the floor and scuppers for the deck. Also check where the anchor well drains to ensure that is still sealed.

I had a similar problem after a trip out with about 30L or so coming out of my sealed outer hull. My bung washers were quite hard and wouldn't seat properly at times and I must not have cranked it hard enough this time. Bought new Ronstan bungs and haven't had a drop since.

 was taking on water and couldnt find the problem , but later turned out that the sealed deck really wasnt all that sealed ,washing down & sprey over the bowe was the cause 

 In mine . Put rubber bung in with small air line from compressor . Showed up straight away . Fine hair line crack. Also leak on bung

boat would take in fair bit of water under floor when underway at slower speeds, would take in some but not a lot when drifting but didn't take on any when boat flat out on the plane. Turns out it had a tiny crack in the chines forward of the cabin. When going along the water pressure would blow water in fast through the tiny crack but on plane the crack was out of the water so no leak. Found it by accident when I parked my boat on an incline (bow lower than stern) and saw slow drip of water coming out was quick and cheap to repair.

 Had the same problem on our boat and got quite worrried but it turned out to just be the washer on the bung was not sealing. Hope that's all it is for you to

Cheers Guys,

Ill do another check of the cabin floor, anchor well and underside chines.

Bung is new and i do this tight by hand, its not the water in the bilge im worried about as this will take and hold water pending weather, sea anchor or dive gear etc, its under the bilge inner hull that i believe is collecting water..

Only other thought was the rear wood board that holds the motor, this is old but still seems solid and is built into the hull.

Cheers Stevo, appreciate the offer.

Ill have to drill a hole either the rough the deck / floor or bilge in any case to determine if it is collecting water first, then ill likely use the dye method im thinking.

Few photos from the clean and inspection after purchase...shes an old girl but does the job. Thinking to drill and add bung to side wall of bilge.

Any body else have a bung through to underdeck.

Why is there a hole with no bung in it under the outboard well?

And where does that other bung lead to on the centreline stringer?

Do you have any bungs below deck from the outside of the boat?

How does the rain water drain that goes in the mystery hole get out again? 

First hole is the bung hole...bung screwed from other side....ill check timber is sealed also through this area.

Centreline thingy seems to me like a door stop rubber....this doesnt make sense but is sealed as the bilge will hold water. ill remove this and the rear bung on the weekend to check and re fit / seal.

Ill re-fit centre line thingy with a bung unit so inspection for inner hull water can be completed.

I'm assuming theres no water above deck towards the front (likely rules out anchor well drain and gunnel rubbers) so it's below the deck line.

That leaves cracks and bungs or any other hole or hatch (transducer mount) - process of elimination

Hows the oil reservior held down - hard to see but the wire apears to go into floor (sealed?) check this and any other such possible entry points could be an unsealed screw hole

Which side did it lean to??

Cheers Paul,

Pulled back a lose gunnel rubber today and resealed. unscrewed the door stop like thing from the bilge tank...bit of a supprise....water pissed for at least 15min solid. dont like the colour thats for sure. completely drained....took it for a drive down the hill and back up to try get all remaing water to the rear below drying, clean and refitting both bungs.

I have had a few cracks up front in floor and a few holes from the old seat poles which is the only main sourse of water entre i cant think off...so thinking over time this water has accumulated......cant rule out a hair line crack yet but cant see anything else....unlikey gunnel rubber but at least thats resealed for now.

Old boat which still seems to be solid...not sure what damage could have been done to wood or fibre glass below deck.

 Wood rot . Or you park under tree?? Hope tree. Otherwise cut top deck of.:(:(

No tree unfortunately, guess is the water has been sitting a while. Will keep checking for more through winter...hopefully the entre point is sorted and it dries out. Won't go to the extent of cutting floor of yet.

 Nasty smell to water? 

Lol, yes....its a rotten / good fart smell for sure.

 Any water getting in under the gunnel rubber would likely remain above deck (ie if its leaking on the outside of the cabin it would leak into the cabin).

check the anchor drain hose - is there any way water can get under the floor upfront.  otherwise its getting in through eitehr a crack or through some point in the floor.

certainly concerning particularly given the colour/smell.  I'd be making a few inspection ports in the floor to have a look.  This will also allow airflow when not in use to dry.

Hopefully not a worse case senario

Good luck

 Deck off . Not trying to panic you but I would cut inspection port . Have a look 

 Hopefully you can nut out where the water is getting in .. the tea colour water presumably is wood rot of sorts though not necessarily structural ie : stringers . I had a old tub before same water colour after sitting for a bit there was rain water somehow getting in , upon opening inspection plate the bottom glass skin was formed over some thin unsealed plywood which was the bit going soft and rotting . I ended up just angling the tub up and leaving bungs and inspection plate open for aeration when not in use and it slowly dried . Can’t say 100% the stringers weren’t effected but had it for a few more years without any indication of integrity issues . One or two inspection plates so you can have a squizz would be the go   

Cheers Gents, Truely appreciate the comments.

Away for work next week so it will sit for 3 weeks unfortunatly, rear bung is out and bilge bung is in, will check the condition / level once back which should give an indication on whats getting through from top at least.

Agree...a few inspection ports are required from the top to see what lies below...the water colour is a worry...but im not jumping just yet to the thought its wood in colour from wood, water will turn to shit if left sitting inclosed ha ?

Is the inbuilt timber below deck left unprotected or is it useally sealled / covered in fibre glass / gel coat for protection and strength for incidents like this ? guess it would vary from builder to builder on the quality below deck.

Any one got photos below deck ??..1979 trailer but not sure on my boat age.

 now you need to get your hands dirty and sort it ,IMO  its been neglected for too long &  not sea worthy  , last thing we want to hear is another sea rescue!.......

Cheers Salty...so stop taking it out 35ks for a fish...is that what your saying ?

Done plenty to the old girl mate, complete engine rebuild as well as fibre glass repairs since its purchase 3 years ago....but yes the few holes in the floor should have been fixed straight away. 

 ass heavy ...lean to one side... water hit the floor below... 35ks out ? all im saying is taking a risk if weather turn to shit ... in order to get back it needs to float 

 If there is stress cracks in glass over top of wood ( wood fu--ed) even when dry.( brown colour water) no strenght . Peel like sardine can gel coat will rip of ( outside). I honestly would get circle inspection cap from boat shop (20 mins work) cut hole to suit  inspection port . Good thing once checked marine grade sica then screw case down put cap on if all good. If it is rotted at least you will know where and how bad it is. 

OK....decided to follow the advice, Cheers LJ and Saulty2.

Enjoy heading wide so would be silly not to have a look now....cant believe i never clicked onto the bilge having a bung to below deck....previous boat never did so it never crossed my mind.

So quick check once home to find the bilge bung is not holding.....undid the bung to have water piss for another 5 plus minutes...it must be still draining down through the stringers....this would be another entre point, although slow when the bilge was full, so have jacked it up to let it continue to drain.

Bought a few inspection caps and marked out the stringers the best i could by feel with body weight.....now were to place the two inspection ports, this to inspect plus let some air in to dry it out.

 Good luck I hope it's not that bad

 bend a piece of wire at right anle half the diameter of the inspection plate insert and turn full circle and if it hits stringer then you will know , continue with holes until it is clear all around and then cut out 

If I understand this correctly, this hull has only 1 external bung, which drains the bilge.

The bilge has another internal bung, that drains into the hull?

Is that system common? Our old glass boat had 2 bungs, 1 for hull, 1 for bilge.

Yeah correct Bucko....

Cheers again Gents, just seeking a bit more info through other links on the hull before i start putting holes in the floor.

Might be a good idea to get a second bung put in so you can drain the hull to the outside of the boat.

That way, you can undo it after each trip to make sure there nothing in the hull.

Sounds like you have been slowly filling up over the past few years and have never drained the water out.

Pretty scary mate, I think you are a lucky boy.

I recon your spot on Bucko....slowly filling over past few years....cant believe its taken this long to find considering im out almost evey second weekend. 

Cut the first hole last night closest to bilge and will cut the second up front tonight to allow more air through. Took some photos of below and have spoken to a ship wright / boat builder, he believes it will be fine as is given the floor and bulk heads are still holding strong given what they have been through. He stated to make sure i let it dry out completely, fix any leaks and do regular checks to ensure it stays as dry as possible. He stated most hull's accumulate some water as well as codesation to due the heat.

The bulk heads have been glassed to the top proving a savior as apparently there not all built this way, currently there is no sagging or soft spots throughout the floor even though the underside does show some colour staining......Bucko, yes lucky !!

 Very lucky . See what's up front.

 Looking at that mat, looks like not nearly enough resin was applied to wet the mat thoroughly, but there's nothing you can do about it now. I have seen another source of freshwater in a cuddy cab boat owned by someone I know--water was coming in somewhere, turned it was actually where the cab moulding and the hull moulding joined, covered by the bump rubber. It was a poor fit, and water was coming in, probably both fresh and salt, and running down inside the moulding. Had to have the bump rubber refitted and sealed to cure it.  Can't really see from your pictures if you have a separate moulded lining for cab or not..

 Had the same thought re the glass not appearing to be wetted out - that said given the colour of the water if the "tanin" water was wicking through the glass it would be obvious and stained - unsure if the darker cm at the bottom is seeping through the glass or just "sloshed up".

Jury is still out on this...few other opinions is the timber would have been saturated "tannin colour of water" and that although some of the floor and sections may dry out, the timber between the bulk head will never dry out completely and that rot is a given and will continue to spread, not sure how true this is but getting a few from both sides of the fence...as mention no soft areas to the floor atm but could defiantly be underlying in the bulkheads. Not sure how rot works / affects marine ply.

Boat is covered with deck drying out for the next 3 weeks, was going to drill a few 1/4 holes through a couple of the bulk heads when I get home to see what / how the timber looks internally.