those with 209 escapes

[joesmo86]

i just put in a new salt water washdown system in, an in doing so i had took off the floor panel to gain access to the seacock and noticed all the dead space in there, an theres even a plywood shelf in there, so my question is why didnt grady what put like an in deck storage or fish box there with a hatch, is it possible to make that floor panel into a hatch?

 

[seasick]

If you don't have the fresh water option, that space may be where the fresh water tank goes. I am not sure though

 

[joesmo86]

i do not have the fresh water system, so with no tank being in there, there is a lot of empty space but cant access it thru just the little round access hole

 

[seasick]

i do not have the fresh water system, so with no tank being in there, there is a lot of empty space but cant access it thru just the little round access hole

On my 208, there is an access panel over the water tank but it is screwed and caulked in place. I suppose a hatch could be installed over the space. The space is not acessible from the bilge (transom well).

 

[joesmo86]

yea i have the same hatch that is screwed and caulked in, if that had a hinged hatch u could access the tank if need be but in my case with no tank i could store a bunch of stuff down there with easy access

 

[seasick]

yea i have the same hatch that is screwed and caulked in, if that had a hinged hatch u could access the tank if need be but in my case with no tank i could store a bunch of stuff down there with easy access

I am not sure if that space drains into the bilge. If you use it, it should drain since it will get wet in all likelihood.

 

[cedarholm]

On my 209, I simply unscrewed it, removed the caulk, and leave it loose.

I built a shelf in there and store two downrigger batteries and misc stuff.

On a 1993, it does drain to the bilge pump.

 

[OldCarolina]

Yes that plywood shelf is for the freshwater tank. If you do not have that option, there is no reason why you could not use that space, especially since storage is an issue on our 209's.

And that space drains into bilge all day long.

SJ