22 ft seafarer 86 front bilge water

[hooknot]

I just got 86 seafarer inboard i/o,went to winterize the other day.took the outside plug out so the bilge could drain..looked in bilge,there is a stringer separating the front and it had a plug in it..I took the plug out,and a ton of water drained out of the stern..The front bilge pump may not have been on...I does not make sense to me,if I leave that plug out ,all the water would drain to the rear and pump out..What is the purpose of keeping it separate?????

 

[suzukidave]

if you mean the bulkhead right in front of the engine, is there one hole or two?

one hole will lead to your fuel tank compartment. if that was full of water it sounds like water might be leaking in from above either through failed caulking or failed deck inspection plate o-rings. it is debatable whether that hole should have a plug for the reason you just discovered.

in front of the fuel tank coffin you might have a further forward bilge compartment that should drain through into the open bilge through a second hole in that same bulkhead via a pvc pipe that runs underneath the fuel tank. that one should not have a plug.

i say "might" because i am not sure if there are one or two forward bilge compartments on a 1980s i/o.

 

[DennisG01]

Best reason I've ever come up with is to keep dirty bilge water from sloshing forward. On all of the boats I've owned (from Sea Rays to Seaways to Grady's, etc) I've always left it out. But I also keep my bilges clean.