Major leak…?

[Kevbo720]

I have a major leak somewhere, and I’m assuming it’s coming from my ballasts. I have tried to observe my ballasts when I empty and fill them..short of the driver side, which was hard to get to… and I am not seeing any major leakage that will result in the amount of water I have to drain after a day of surfing.
I can’t imagine it’s leaking from any other hull intake… but I guess it could be at this point…?
I hate to pay for the boat shop to try and find a leak in my ballast…but it coming to that point, any suggestions??

[lee]

Do you have FAE? Sometimes the welds break and water comes in around the flange.

[Kevbo720]

I do not have any special exhaust on my boat.

[Zackdogg]

I’ve had quite a few leaks in my ballast, to the point I have all but given up chasing them, and just ran my bilge pump while surfing for most of last year. Definitely not ideal.

I occasionally take a wave into my surf locker, when super heavy, and stop quick for a rider. Some of the areas we surf are pretty congested, and I don’t like to get far away from the rider, mostly because people on jet skis and people pulling tubes are going way faster, and don’t seem to pay close attention going through those areas.

I’ve decide those are the 2 scenarios where I get the majority of my bilge water. Can’t do much about the surf locker, besides try not to get the waves over the back. Someone suggested chasing bilge leaks by filling ballast with a hose, through your vent, or dump, through hill fittings, which sounded genius, but I haven’t tried it yet. That’s my plan for finding what’s leaking, though. Should fill the entire ballast system, and should make it easy to spot, on the trailer. You can get leaks in lines and fittings, as well, so that should make it a little easier to chase.


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[scottspray]

Ah yes
Be sure it isn’t coming from your shaft seal or strainer.
I carry an extra bilge pump just in case

[scottspray]

If you have hard tanks under the floor they may be cracked. Usually at the drain pump connection. In that case they will leak and not drain all of the way. I had the shop fix that on mine. Don’t know if they welded it or glued it. So far do good.

[bsreid]

Tige hasn't used hard tanks for as long as I can remember.

But for what is leaking there are endless possibilities. The only way to really find them is putting the boat in the water with a completely dry bilge and following where the water is coming from. Filling the bilge with water might work but really not worth your time as you won't get enough water without submerging your v drive and will eliminate a lot of possible leaks.