Water on deck!

[1arunem]

I have a '93 Playtime Pontoon boat. It is 24 ft in length with an older (early/mid 90's 88hp Evinrude).. When running at any significant speed (it doesn't go fast), with people up front, my front carpets (front 3ft plus just behind/inside the fencing) gets wet from the 'wake/splash' underneath..

The motor has no power trim so I can't really 'plane' it any differently.. Water is hitting the plywood underneath and causing the carpet to get wet. Not really a big issue, but hate to ask people to ride more to the rear!

Any thoughts?

[Mrtoler]

Mine does the same thing, water is being forced through the seams in the wood and soaking through....you mey could try silicone in front of the cross members but underskinning will fix it the right way plus help with performance and quiten down the ride!

[GregF]

They really should have bedded the plywood in silicone or 5200 so there is no gap in the seams and no way to get water in the stringer to wood joint but you can't fix that now.
You might be able to seal the joint from the bottom with 3m 5200 now. Just be sure it is dry and clean before you put the goo in there.
This is also where deck rot starts. (edges and penetrations)

[Bamaman]

My 1985 model pontoon boat has a little bit of seam leaks, but it's just too old to underskin.

Easiest thing would be to go to Home Depot or Lowes and get a roll of aluminum roof flashing and install it over the plywood seams with silicone and wood screws.

I've been meaning to do that for years, and I intend to do that next week when I'm doing my spring cleaning on the boat.

[gramps]

Don't you have any adjustments under the motor to raise & lower it?

[1arunem]

I do have adjustments under the motor and may trying raising it one but haven't tried it yet.

Also, the floor (plywood) was redone by the previous owner (a few years ago) along with the carpet and upholstery. He did a nice job but not sure why he didn't seal the seams. I may try the flashing idea if I can ever get time on the weekend!

[lakerunner]

Your the captain and passengers should have no problem moving to rear. I just yell ass to the back, front,right or left.

[Tallykenj]

They really should have bedded the plywood in silicone or 5200 so there is no gap in the seams and no way to get water in the stringer to wood joint but you can't fix that now.
You might be able to seal the joint from the bottom with 3m 5200 now. Just be sure it is dry and clean before you put the goo in there.
This is also where deck rot starts. (edges and penetrations)

This will work. I hada SunTracker before my current boat. The wood was exposed. It didn't matter how well the motor was trimmed, water still hit the floor when underway. Tracker sent some type of tar-based chaulk to my dealer and it solved the problem. It may have been the 3M product. Standard silicone won't work. I tried it. It peeled off weeks after it was applied.

[GregF]

5200 is white but it only works if the surfaces are bone dry. You can use silicone when you are decking the boat for the places where the silicone is actually captive in the joint.
I am not sure what they sent you but it sounds like some kind of roof compound.

[ronb]

Your the captain and passengers should have no problem moving to rear. I just yell ass to the back, front,right or left.

bwahahaha, I thought it was just me that did this.. I am still fairly new at beaching the pontoon but when I do, I make everybody sit in the rear until we come to a complete stop. Then for people who sit on the 'toon while beached I make them sit in the front (which is making me think about adding a second Bimini). Come time to leave, I reverse the orders.. everybody to the back and then after we get underway I let them sit wherever they like..

Its not just old boats that have this problem either, the 2008 Bennington that I had on the lake last weekend (not mine) had a seam that leaked about 1/3rd of the way back from the front of the platform. I will let the boat salesman that loaned it to me know about the 5200..

-ron

[Shopguy]

what about that stuff they advertise on TV called flex seal. I use something like that from Oreily's auto parts. Rubber coat all kinds of things like tool handles, slick steel steps, around vents on roofs. Works pretty good so far. The auto undercoat in a can is more porous than this stuff. Just thinkin.

[GregF]

Bed liner would work too I imagine but you still have to have the wood underneath very dry.

[ronb]

won't encapsulating the wood (or preventing it from drying from the bottom side) accelerate the rotting process? For example when I painted my wooden fence I was instructed NOT to paint the bottom of each board. That way when the boards got went from rain the moisture could settle to the bottom and the 'exposed' wood would 'wick' the moisture out or at least allow it to air dry by not completely surrounding it with a non-permeable substance (latex paint in my fence example)

-ron

[GregF]

I am just talking about the seams where the laminations are exposed.
Not treating the bottom is up for discussion. I used Thompsons on mine but that is not really a sealer.