Tempering Expectations - How much water is too much?

[Frankenfish]

Hello everyone, I had a questions this morning and hoped to draw for the wealth of experience and opinions on this forum.
How dry should I expect a tin boat to be? Riveted tin? Welded tin? New tin? Old tin? Ancient tin? How much water leak over a day of boating is acceptable to you?

I have a 78 starcraft that I've been replacing/bucking rivets on and am having trouble knowing when to say enough. Last time I took it out, I had maybe a half gallon in the boat after 2 hours of fishing. Not too bad in my opinion, but not the driest.

And every tin boat for sale says "Bone Dry". Surely I didn't buy the only boat on Craigslist that leaks! Haha.

Just something of interest to me and I'd like to hear your opinions. Thanks!

 

[MrGiggles]

Hello everyone, I had a questions this morning and hoped to draw for the wealth of experience and opinions on this forum.
How dry should I expect a tin boat to be? Riveted tin? Welded tin? New tin? Old tin? Ancient tin? How much water leak over a day of boating is acceptable to you?

I have a 78 starcraft that I've been replacing/bucking rivets on and am having trouble knowing when to say enough. Last time I took it out, I had maybe a half gallon in the boat after 2 hours of fishing. Not too bad in my opinion, but not the driest.

And every tin boat for sale says "Bone Dry". Surely I didn't buy the only boat on Craigslist that leaks! Haha.

Just something of interest to me and I'd like to hear your opinions. Thanks!

For me it is whenever I have to worry about running the bilge. IMO, a bilge should be for emergencies only.

A little bit of water in the bilge is not really a concern to me. I'm not going to spend hours upon hours bucking every single rivet to stop a drip.

 

[BillPlayfoot]

My 1976 Starcraft Mariner never had any leaking rivets. It developed a crack that ran along the hull for about 18 inches so in 2015 I retired that boat. My current boat, a 1961 AceCraft runabout, has no leaks, rivets or otherwise.
I think I am just extremely lucky that no rivets leak.
Some of my friends have rivets leaking in their boat. I help them replace and buck rivets every few years.
I have rented riveted boats in the past that leaked. At the end of each day these boats would have maybe a half inch of water that I would try to bail most of it out.

 

[gogittum]

Many years ago I had a 14 ft Valco riveted boat and it drove me nuts. I get picky at times and that thing had a single leaky rivet in the bottom, where a longitudinal exterior stringer went down the hull, like a rub strip parallel to the keel.

I got a friend to hold a bucking block against the outside while I went inside with a drift and hammer. I will promise you that rivet was tight when I was done - and it still leaked. Trying to seal something on the inside is a waste of time that I'm well aware of, so drilled some holes in the stringer and pumped it full of silicone. It STILL leaked. I dunno. I cussed that thing every time I took it out.....why, I'll bet it leaked a cup of water all day. :shock: Bugged me, but I did give up on it.

 

[Weldorthemagnificent]

I have an old 16' Naden that doesn't leak a drop. First boat I've ever had that doesn't and I have found that I like it! I think the question is, how much water is acceptable to you? I know guys that could care less and run the bilge every hour. If you're happy, fish on. If not, keep at it until you find all the leaks

Sent from my CLT-L04 using Tapatalk

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Check it on the trailer by filling it with water.


I had a leak like yours that I was bound and determined to find.

I chalked around all the rivets to indicate a leak, i put it in the water and stared at the bottom for an hour waiting for a leak.

I cursed, I swore and pulled out what little hair I had left.

Then I noticed it worse on some days than others.

I filled it with water and only got condensation evenly over the whole hull.

After about two months of fretting I noticed when I wore one pair of shoes it was worse than if I wore another, and almost non exstant if I launched barefoot.


Yes, the water was coming from my shoes.

The boat didnt leak at all, I was telling myself it was leaking and overlooking the obvious.

Never thought shoes could hold that much water.

 

[ktoelke54]

I own two riveted boats. An old, built in the 60’s, V hull. And a newer 2002 mod V. Both boats have been used hard and are dry with no fussing or bucking with the rivets. My son bought a new 16’ Alumicraft Mod V and it started to leak after a few times out and has been a pain in the rear since. It has to be a difference in the care taken in the manufacturing process. What I find amazing is how well a properly riveted aluminum boat holds up—definitely capable of a lifetime of service with no leaks.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[MrGiggles]

Check it on the trailer by filling it with water.


I had a leak like yours that I was bound and determined to find.

I chalked around all the rivets to indicate a leak, i put it in the water and stared at the bottom for an hour waiting for a leak.

I cursed, I swore and pulled out what little hair I had left.

Then I noticed it worse on some days than others.

I filled it with water and only got condensation evenly over the whole hull.

After about two months of fretting I noticed when I wore one pair of shoes it was worse than if I wore another, and almost non exstant if I launched barefoot.


Yes, the water was coming from my shoes.

The boat didnt leak at all, I was telling myself it was leaking and overlooking the obvious.

Never thought shoes could hold that much water.

Similar story with my 17' Tracker.

Some days it would take on 4-6 inches of water, on others I only got a few drops out of the drain when loading up. I filled it and checked for leaks, never really found any.

One day I looked over my shoulder while underway and noticed a good sized stream of water coming in around the side of the transom. The transom caps have a lip on the back, if the boat was listing because of wind or an uneven load, the spray coming off the side of the boat would hit that lip, turn and go inside the transom, filling the bilge.

A bead of silicone fixed it right up.

 

[Frankenfish]

Thank you everyone for the stories and opinions. I knew this wouldn't be a one size fits all scenario, but have had a great time reading everyone's thoughts. I've never owned a boat prior, but even my experiences have ranged widely. A buddy with a newer tracker where we'd park it in the mud at night and have to pump it out in the morning due to a bad livewell fill hose. Then there was a family friend's ski boat from my childhood where they kindly requested you fully dry off on the back before you got in the boat - kids climbing in and out of a boat can add more water than you'd imagine!

The more opinions the better, keep 'em coming!

 

[JL8Jeff]

My Lowe welded jon does not leak at all. I leave the boat in the water at a dock from Apr through Oct and a good battery and properly funtioning bilge pump/float switch are very important. My old jet sprint boat used to leak water in around the jet drive O-ring until I finally got it all lined up and leak free. That boat actually had 2 bilge pumps because the backwash wave was pretty big when you came off plane and if that water got in the boat, it needed to be pumped out fast before another wave could wash over. If you're just taking the boat out for the day, some water getting in isn't really a big deal, annoying but not a big deal. But I still wouldn't go out in a boat without a working bilge pump. If you got caught in a downpour, it would start to fill up quickly. I had the shaft log go bad in my old Jersey Speed Skiff and water started trickling in at a good pace. I had a bilge pump so I wasn't worried, but I headed straight for the boat ramp.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

When I was about 10yrs old we had a neighbor at our camp spot that had a wooden boat that would leak infrequently and in varying amounts.

Until one day we were pulling skiers and the engine log (Runner?) on one side ripped off of the bottom of the boat.

Me and the owners daughter had to shimmi down alongside the hot engine and stick out fingers in the holes so they could paddle to the nearest shore.

Poor little ond ChristCraft had its last day on the lake that day as it sunk at the dock.

 

[CedarRiverScooter]

Goin' down memory lane here . . .

My brother had the last boat built by this steamboat yard.

40 foot wood houseboat, 40,000 lbs of oak. Sorry, can't find a picture.

Anyway, it had 2 inch thick planks for the hull. It had to be soaked in spring for 2 days, hanging on the lift, before it would float.

The joints between planks were stuffed with tarred rope called oakum.

He had to crawl into the bilge & chisle oakum into the leaks before any outing.

His bilge pump had a 2 inch hose.

Sadly, the boat's stringers got so soft it was not salvagable, at about 40 years old.Note that steamboats were only expected to last 5 years, they didn't even bother to paint the hull.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Cedar thats awesome, I love houseboats!

I almost bought a river Queen 20yrs ago but I came to my senses.

It was a deal like this: https://boats-from-usa.com/not-specified/river-queen-232481

Not much money to buy, but it would have taken a small fortune to fix up to seagoing standards plus 3k year for storage.


Twin 383 Chryslers and two of the biggest outdrives you have ever seen with 22" props.

With the 383's at full song it would hit the 35mph indicated on the speedo and then some.

A 22Klbs houseboat on plane at close to 40mph, think about that.

Fuel consumption was in inches per gallon.

 

[CedarRiverScooter]

Yeah, we talk about how big a PITA leaking rivets are, just think about fixing rust pin holes in a 40 foot steel houseboat hull.

 

[ppine]

The older a tin boat is, the more I want to be welded. Fishing and climbing in and out of boats can cause a small amount of water to accumulate.

I hate the idea of dealing with a leaky boat. More than a cup of water would be unacceptable. I carry a hand bilge pump to remove water that comes over the rail of the drift boat. Running rivers, large waves can splash inside and accumulate.

 

[ppine]

Wolves,
"Inches per gallon." Good one.
My Dad used to have a 42 foot power boat on Puget Sound. Twin Ford Lehman diesels and a planing hull. It had 3 fuel tanks that held 900 gallons. Dad liked to cruise at 17 knots. Even 20 years ago, I watched him spend $2,000 to fill the tanks for a trip.