My Wahoo!

There are two things I’d planned to write about this winter: the Wahoo!’s above deck drain system and the Wahoo!’s below deck drain system. Both are among the quirkiest aspects of these boats and among most commented on/asked about. They sure had me stumped when I first bought my Wahoo! It’s the third week in February all of a sudden and Spring is just around the corner. So time to get writing before the boating and fishing season take over.

This post will be about the Wahoo!’s above-deck drain system. Specifically it will be about the self-bailing deck drain system employed by most smaller Wahoo!s , whereby water from the deck is designed to exit out of a scupper in the stern. I may not get all the facts complete or correct the first time. So if you are are a Wahoo! owner past or present and have corrections or additional info, please add a comment or send an email. I’ll continue to update this article as necessary.

The self-bailing design concept

Smaller Wahoo!s have a deck draining system that is designed to be self-bailing. The idea is that, when underway, any water that accumulates on the deck, be it from rain, spray, waves over the gunnels, or whatever, is designed to run to the rear of the boat and collect in a small sump basin located just inside the stern. A scupper connects the basin to the outside of the boat. Gravity from the boat’s forward motion forces water from the sump basin through the scupper and out of the boat.

The benefits of this design include:

• No need for bilge pumps (which can fail). The system takes care of itself.
• The boats bilge does not take on water because the self-bailing deck drain precludes water ever getting down there.
• When the boat is at rest, some water comes in through the sump basin scupper. But this water levels out and never goes above the top of the basin.

Worth repeating…it is the Wahoo!’s deck that is self-bailing, not the hull/bilge.

The components

The components of the system. the parts designed to make it go, arethese:

• Forward compartment drains: Wahoo!s, depending on the model, have several above-deck compartments. An anchor storage compartment in the bow is common to many models. Some also have a combination cooler/seat positioned just forward of the steering console. Both of these compartments have drainage holes that allow any water they take in to drain directly onto the deck.
• Rear sump basin: As stated, Wahoo!s with the self-bailing system includes a rear deck sump basin. Water is designed to drain into this basin and then exit the stern through a one inch scupper.  The drain basin varies in size with model. In my 1987 Striper 16.2 the basin is 18 inches long by 4.5 inches deep by 8 inches wide. Its capacity is about 2.5 gallons.
• The scupper: The scupper connects the sump basin to the outside stern of the boat. It consists of a through-hull PVC pipe (approximately six inch long and one inch diameter) with flanges at either end. Important to note: the exit is below the water line.
• Sump basin conduits: Some Wahoo!s had a solid fiberglass bench seat that spans the width of the cockpit (in some models the seat contains a built-in fuel tank, in others, a cooler, and in some both). Since the seat blocks water attempting to run to the rear of the boat, these models include a conduit…a hole in the deck just forward of the seat that funnels water into a pipe that connects to the sump basin.

Drain conduit forward of bench seat

Not all compartments drain onto the deck: Common in many models are two small compartments on either side of the stern. Wahoo! literature describes them as battery storage, or as optional coolers or live wells. Both of these compartments have drain holes but drain into the bilge rather than the sump basin.

Years and models

I don’t have a list of the years and models that use this self-bailing system. A 1995 Wahoo! brochure that covers 19 foot and up models makes no mention of it. Yet I’ve spoken to owners of 2100 CCs who said their boats have it. All of the 16.2/1650s I’ve seen have it, as do all of the 1750 Offshores I’ve seen.

Problems with the design

While the self-bailing system may have been forward-thinking, in practice there are a number of issues with the design:

• Most people simply don’t trust it. They are not comfortable with the below-waterline location of the sump basin’s scupper. That location means water enters the boat through the scupper when the boat is not underway.
• People do not like wet feet. Even if you’re OK with some water entering the sump basin through the stern, that water tends to slosh up an around out of the basin meaning the rear of the boat is usually wet.
• Contrary to Wahoo!’s implied claims, there are plenty of ways for water to enter the bilge. I’ll discuss this in detail in a later post on the below deck drain system. But obviously water in the bilge, if not dealt with immediately, can cause major problems such as rotting stringers and transom stringers (Wahoo!s do use wood in their transoms) and breakding down the inner foam liner. There are several ways that that the self-bailing deck design can contribute to water in the bilge:
  • Cracks in the flanges or PVC tubes that drain the forward compartments.
  • Cracks in the flanges or PVC tubes that channel water from the deck to the sump area.
  • Cracks in the scupper’s flanges or PVC tube.
  • Water from the sump basin draining directly into the hull via the upper drain hole in the basin.

Owner solutions

Different owners deal with the issues presented by the deck drain system in different ways, depending on their their comfort-level with the original design and whether or not they keep their boat in the water. Some options:

Solution 1 – Use it as is (no modifications): This could work fine if  you 1) Don’t store your boat in the water, and 2) Don’t mind getting your feet wet. This was the original design for the boat. In theory it should work even if you DO store your boat in the water. However few owners I’e spoken to choose this route, regardless of where they keep their boat.

Solution 2 – Install a one-way scupper adapter. This is a flap that allows water to exit the scupper but not enter it. This solution could work fine if you 1) Don’t store your boat in the water, and 2) Don’t want your feet wet. The one-way adapter is installed on the exterior side of the scupper and opens to allow water to escape when underway but otherwise prevents water from coming in. This solution won’t work well for boats stored in the water because it won’t allow rain water to escape. Here’s an example of a scupper adapter.

Solution 3 – Plug the scupper when using the boat. This solution could work fine if you 1) Don’t store your boat in the water, and 2) Don’t want your feet wet, and 3) Typically don’t take on more than a few gallons of water topside when using the boat (and for times you do you could always just bail the sump basin). This was how the previous owner of my boat used it. Prior to each launch he installed a plug on the inside end of the scupper (plugging the outside makes even more sense). At the end of the day when the boat was pulled he removed the plug and it stayed out until the next launch.

Solution 4 – Plug the scupper and add a bilge pump to the sump area: This is the approach most Wahoo! owners who keep their boat in the water take. Plug one or even better both ends of the scupper and install a small automatic bilge pump inside the sump basin. This solution should address any above-deck water issues…provided the pump doesn’t fail!

My Solution

This is not a suggestion to do as I did. But just a record for what it’s worth. I store my Wahoo! in the water in a slip. Like a lot of owners, I am not comfortable with the self-bailing system. Specifically, I’m not comfortable with the notion of water entering the scupper when the boat is at rest. And I have concerns that it won’t drain properly during rainstorms.

So my solution was to plug the scupper and add an automatic bilge pump to the sump basin. I plugged the inside end of the scupper but this season I’ll plug the outside as well. Why let water into the scupper where it could potentially leak into the hull? For a bilge pump I installed a Rule Mate 500. That’s actually a lot more pump than the space requires. I chose it mostly because of its low profile (which allows me to keep the wooden lid on the basin)  and because its float switch is A) built in (I didn’t want to have to install a separate switch), and B) float driven rather than chip driven (hopefully less drain on the battery).

The hose from the pump I have draining into the splashwell. In order to keep the original Wahoo! teak lid on the sump basin, I would have had to drill a new hole in it (to allow the hose to pass through). But I really hate the idea of permanently altering a part that is no longer available. So I bought some 3/4″ x 3″ oak from my local lumber yard and fashioned my own slatted lid to the sump basin. It looks good and I have no problem drilling holes in it to my heart’s content.

End Notes

So that’s a first pass at explaining the Wahoo! self-bailing deck drain. It doesn’t answer everything but hopefully it’s a start. I’d like to have a better understanding, for example, of why the sump basin scupper was designed to be below the water line. Was that the only place it could go? Or was there a specific advantage to placing it there? Again, if you have questions, thoughts, information, or corrections please share them with your fellow Wahoo! owners.

Here are a few links to online discussions where you might find more info:

• http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/210758-wahoo-boats-3.html
• http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=526189

Next up: an attempt to explain the Wahoo! below deck drain system (a.k.a., “And here I lost my mind”   ).

Completely by accident tonight I came across a web store that sells replacement Wahoo! decals–the decals that came on the port and starboard sides of every Wahoo! near the stern. Until I found these it hadn’t even occurred to me that the decals might still exist for purchase. A little Googling turned up a second site selling them. I didn’t find any others although there might be at least a few more.

So if the decals  on your Wahoo! are faded, peeling, or otherwise messed up, replacements are available. How cool is that? Prices ranged from $40 to $60 for a pair.

Two sources:

• vinylapproach.com (three different styles)
• greatlakesskipper.com (just the one pictured at right)

I have a tendency to forget what bills are due when. But those jamokes in the government never do. So for my own reference I put together this check list of all the annual government fees related to my boating. I included my Seatow membership dues in the list as it’s another fee I might forget otherwise.

Paperwork Storage:

As proof the afore-mentioned levies have been paid, I keep the following documents in these locations (with copies of each at home):

• Boat Registration: On boat. (Required by law.)
• Trailer Registration: In towing vehicle. (Required by law.)
• SeaTow Card: In wallet. Also keep copy on boat.
• Freshwater Fishing License: In wallet
• Saltwater Fishing License: In wallet. Also keep copy on boat.

The whole month of December without a single post! After a busy boating season I needed a little down time. But it’s time to get busy again. Been working on some bugs/enhancements to the gallery/upload pages and got most of it figured out yesterday while watching the NFL divisional round games (the Giants look like they’re peaking at just the right time…they’re going to be very tough).

Finally (finally!) in the first week of January got the boat tarp/cover fixed on in such a way that it won’t blow off in a high wind or cave in and pull loose  after a heavy rain/snowfall. Up to this point I had the tarp tied with sash cord. But a good rain would load the top of the cover with water causing it to belly down into to boat. This in turn would stretch and loosen the sash cord, and then the next really wind day would just lift the whole thing off. I solved the bellying issue by cutting a bunch of wooden slats to the width of the boat and then laying them atop the gunnels (plywood would have worked too but I figured that’d be heavier and more awkward to put on and off). I solved the loosening problem by doing what you’re supposed to do…affixing the cover with heavy duty bungee cords.

The battery is still in the boat, instead of down in the basement on a trickle charger like it should be. I wanted the option of still being able to raise and lower the motor. But now that we’re into the truly frigid months here in Massachusetts it’s time to put it where it belongs.

Tasks for the month:

• Get that battery stored.
• Gearcase Screw: When I went to change the gearcase lube last fall, I couldn’t get the top screw for the gearcase loose. It was frozen and the screwdrivers I had were in danger of stripping it. Just bought a larger screwdriver at Home Depot (the bigges they had…I’ve seen swords smaller than this thing) and will take one more crack at it. Maybe the cold will have caaused the metal to contract enough that it’ll loosen more easily. If it still won’t budge it’ll have to wait until spring.
• Boat and Trailer Paperwork: I am habitually late when it comes to certain forms of paperwork…most especially registrations, inspections, excise taxes, and things of that ilk. Between the trailer and the boat, I still don’t have a clear list of what needs to get filed/paid for every year. AND in the off-season I picked up a second, smaller boat that needs to be dealt with as well. And then there are fishing licenses, Seatow membership fees…creating a list of this stuff seems like a good way to get organized.
• Safe Boating Course: I took one of these when I was a kid, sponsored by the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Time for another one, especially as the waters of Boston Harbor are much, much more dangerous than the Pennsylvania Lakes and upper reaches of Chesapeake Bay I knew growing up.

Shopping lists for boat/trailer parts and fishing equipment will have to wait until February.

Thanks to forum member Stickball, the Download Page now boasts a Wahoo! brochure for 1995 1900, 2100, and 2400 CC EFS models. Thanks Stickball!

Winter haul out of the Seatoad went smoothly, thanks especially to my friend Dave who was in town for the weekend and helped out. Dave is a serious sailor…owns a 45 foot catamaran, the Luna Sea, which he and his lady Susan sail year round between Maine and the Caribbean. Dave is well-versed in all things nautical, including engines. In fact, when it comes to boats, I can say with confidence that Dave knows what he’s doing.

So I asked him about something I’ve been puzzling over recently …is there a real difference between the gear case oil they sell for cars (which goes for as cheap as $4 a quart) and the gear case oil they sell for outboards (which can go for as high as $9 for eight ounces–$36 a quart!). By gear case oil, I mean the lubricant that goes into your outboard’s lower unit. Depending on the brand it may be marketed as gear oil (or lube), lower unit oil (or lube), and a bunch of other names. (The various names, I suspect, are partly aimed at keeping you guessing.)

The standard viscosity for both auto and marine outboard gear case oil is the same…SAE 80W-90. So is there really a difference? Or is this just another case of boat owners getting ripped off?

Dave was refreshingly candid. Not missing a beat he said “Regular old gear oil is all I’ve ever used in my engines” (he has both outboards and inboards). “It’s the same stuff.”

But I’d heard that marine gear case oil was different: that it has additives to keep it low foaming–important to keep you from blowing a seal. And it’s tackier, so that any moisture finding its way into the unit can’t get between it and a metal surface, causing separation.

Dave shrugged. “Yeah, they might add a little anti-foaming agent, but a good oil shouldn’t be foaming anyway. Foaming is usually caused by water contamination not by some failure of the oil itself. And a lower unit is sealed. Keep the water out and you won’t have an issue. Get water in and no oil’s gonna make up for that.”

So after talking to Dave there was no way I was ever spending $9 for an eight ounce tube of Mercury Gear Lube again. But I also wasn’t quite ready to go with the very cheapest WalMart has to offer. So I compromised: Lucas Heavy Duty High Performance Gear Oil (Trans and Diff Lube), $8 a quart at Auto Zone. And to make me feel a little more comfortable with the choice, the back label states “Excellent for use in outboard final drives.”

Good enough for me.

A few loose notes…

• Caveat emptor: While I would not post something I do not feel comfortable with, when it comes to deciding whether or not to follow your engine manufacturer’s specs for oil, grease, and other stuff, that’s your call. Your experience may vary from mine.
• I asked Dave what’s the difference between “oil” and “lube” and whatever else? He said there are two kinds of lubricants, oil and grease. If you can pour it, it’s oil. If you can’t, it’s grease.” I like that.
• In general, when it comes to lubricants, there is almost always a good lower priced alternative to what the manufacturer calls for. The one lube that might  not ebe asily be substituted for is OMC’s Triple Guard Grease. That stuff is tacky as heck. It really adheres.
• For Evinrude and Johnson owners, here’s a great post from iBoats.com that lists alternatives to OEM lubes.

Even as I look for fair days to eke the last out of the fishing season here in Boston, I’m looking ahead to winter. And with a boat in a slip that means two things: haul out and winterizing.

“Haul out” is the day the boat needs to be gone from its slip. The Point of Pines Yacht Club has decreed that to be this Saturday. Given the screwy and limited access to usable boat ramps around here, haul out means first driving the trailer down to the Nahant Town Wharf, then hitching a ride over to the POPYC six miles away by car, and finally running the boat three miles across Broad Sound to the trailer. The many rocks and shoals between Point of Pines and Nahant make that journey a lot safer to undertake when the tide is high. Unfortunately this Saturday high tide is at 6 a.m.

Winterizing of course is the process of getting the boat ready for winter storage; basically six months of sitting. The goals of winterizing are pretty simple but worth listing out:

• Protect the boat, trailer, and engine from rust and corrosion
• Protect the boat from incursions of water, that can cause mold, mildew, rust, and freeze and expand causing breakage
• Ensure the fuel system is protected from moisture and breakdown of the fuel (which can gum up the lines and engine)
• Protect the boat from leaves, animals, birds, and other things that can damage or dirty it
• Remove any marine growth from the hull before it hardens
• Ensure the boat is fully serviced and ready to go in the spring

There is a lot that goes into winterizing,  which is why many boat owners pay a boatyard to do it for them. My boat is small enough and I’m frugal enough to want to do it myself. So I’ve put together the checklist below. (Tell me if you think I’ve left anything off.) Not everything on the list absolutely has to get done now. Some tasks, like checking out the electrical system and accessories could wait until spring. But it would just be better to get it done prior to winter storage if possible: spring is a busy time. Also, it would have been a lot better to done the trailer work over the summer when the boat wasn’t sitting on it. Some of those tasks, like servicing the springs, will have to wait.

Several things I’ve explicitly left out:

• With the exception of pressure washing the hull, I haven’t addressed any tasks related to bottom-painting. With everything else that needs doing, bottom painting, if needed, will have to wait until spring. I did bottom paint this past spring so I’m probably OK.
• Many experts also recommend that you change the water pump impeller every year. That means ordering a new kit and changing a number of gaskets (and the lower unit oil at the same time). For this year I’m going to let it go–it was replaced at the beginning of this season and the water pump is working fine.

The process looks something like this:

Washing and Drying

• Pressure wash the hull exterior
• Wash the hull interior, including bilges, basins, compartments and other areas
• Remove and store seat cushions
• Drain the hull
• Air out all compartments
• Flush the engine in fresh water
• Wash the engine exterior

Prepping the Fuel System

• Fill the fuel tank
• Add stabilizer
• Run the engine dry of fuel
• Fog the carbs and cylinders
• Replace the spark plugs (clean the old ones and save as spares)

Lubrication and Fluids

• Replace lower unit (gear case) oil
• Remove prop and grease prop and splines
• Grease steering, pivot points, hinge points, and throttle
• Check the hydraulic fluid the power tilt/trim unit and top off if necessary

Prepping the Electrical System

• Check all lights to make sure they’re functioning. Replace if necessary.
• Inspect connections for corrosion and correct as necessary
• Remove battery and store, hooked up to charger/maintainer

Prepping the Trailer

• Inspect the tires and replace if necessary
• Inspect lights and other parts of the electrical system and replace if necessary
• Remove wheels and grease wheel bearings
• Clean and service springs
• Service winch and straps
• Inspect and repair bunks as necessary
• Grease rollers, gears, and telescoping tubes

Accessories

Inspect, and as necessary repair or replace:

• Hardware including chocks, clamps, cleats, screws, bolts
• Lines, bumpers, and anchor
• Safety equipment including vests, cushions, extinguishers, signaling devices, first aid, and man overboard devices
• Tool kit and other on-board necessities
• Communication and navigation devices including radio, GPS, fish or depth finder

Covering the boat

Finally, cover the boat to keep out rain, snow, and leaves. I don’t have a garage to store it in, so the boat will stay outside in the elements.

• Remove stern light and cap hole
• Store engine vertically (to enure water drains)
• Place wood across gunnels (to prevent snow from collapsing cover into boat
• Install boat cover and secure it

Winterizing Supplies

At a minimum to perform winterizing I’ll need:

• Pressure washer + cleaning fluid
• Fuel stabilizer
• Fogging Oil
• Grease for steering/pivot points and prop
• Wheel bearing grease
• Lower unit lube
• New spark plugs

Links

More reading:

• Winterizing an outboard motor
• Winterize your boat

I’ll update this list as I think of things I left out.

It rained the other night in Boston. Or said another way…it RAINED the other night in Boston. Six inches in two hours! At times the rain was so loud it sounded like a freight train. I lay in bed listening and smiling, thinking of my Wahoo! in its slip, warmed by the thought of the two bilge pumps I’d installed this past year (one in the deck drain basin and one in the true bilge), doing their job. No worries.

Until I remembered that the day before I’d taken the battery out of the boat and brought it home to charge it. Shoot.

It being a weekday, I had to go to work that morning and couldn’t check on the boat until later. All day I wondered if I’d find it full of water up to the gunnels or worse. It wasn’t though. I walked out onto the dock that evening to find it bobbing in its slip. Well not bobbing, exactly. Actually the stern was sitting pretty low in the water. I hooked up the battery and the pumps went to work, removing about 100 gallons of water, most of it from below deck.

Once the season is over and I have more time I’ll write a lot more about the Wahoo!s plumbing…the supposedly self-bailing system, the deck drain, the true bilge, what drains into where and so on. It’s one of the most confusing aspects of these boats and one of the most asked about by Wahoo! owners. For now, though, I’ll just say that in my (limited) experience: A) If you keep your Wahoo! in the water you most definitely need a bilge pump, and quite likely two; B) Even if you don’t keep it in the water you may prefer a pump in the deck drain basin to Wahoo!s self-bailing design; and C) Rule pumps…ummm….rule. They are rugged, dependable workhorses. And made right here in the great state of Massachusetts.

One of the projects for the off-season will be exploring ways to get the nose of the boat down more when underway. One approach will be to investigate ways to get the boat up on plane a little faster; I’m currently reading the pros and cons of adding a hydrofoil to the outboard.

Another approach will be to investigate weight reduction or redistribution. Weight, especially in the rear of the boat, has been causing me problems two ways: the first is the high bow when underway and not on plane; the second is that when sitting in the slip the rear of the boat rides about an inch lower than the bottom paint covers, allowing a ring of marine growth around the stern. It didn’t do this when I fist got the boat but the new engine, with its extra cylinder and tilt/trim unit increased the engine weight by 70 pounds over the old one.

I could, of course, bring the bottom paint up another inch. Another idea I read today came from a Wahoo! owner who brought the battery forward from its traditional (on a Wahoo! 16) location in one of the stern compartments to inside the console. That would move about 30 to 35 pounds forward. Of course, it might also require a pretty fair amount of rewiring. Or maybe not. Something to ponder on a long, snowy night.

Baptized Seatoad as a fishing boat with its first fish today. With my friend Gary Cwyk of Philadelphia on a warm September afternoon, we went cruising looking for birds. We found them off Revere Beach, working over a mix stripers and bluefish. In the next couple of hours we caught both, most around 30 inches long with a few bigger ones. At times the boat was surrounded by boiling fish.

Nice.