Heavy stern, possible water logged, listing to starboard.

[sitka]

Windknotnc-

Finally getting back to this...sorry for the late reply.

Here's a pic of my deck showing the slight sagging. Not the best pic. I wouldn't call them "soft spots" and i'm guessing this is just typical normal wear for a well used parker. let me know if folks believe otherwise.

thanks

 

[sitka]

Here's a pic of my deck hatches. I opened them and the gas tank is below both of them and there's no way to really look around the tank to see if there is water below causing extra weight. I emailed Parker and got a diagram of the stringers. The layout is a bit different than the pics Shawnee83 posted earlier for the 2320. I'll post the diagram on a new post just in case some 2120 owners are interested.

There was lots of moisture on top of the gas tank along with typical aluminum oxidation. My guess is the seals weren't the best and there was water leaking thru these hatches. i added some grease/sealant to the hatches and seals and will check into ordering some new seals. We get lots of rain here (90"/year) so making sure those hatches are well sealed makes sense. should have thot of that before : (

On a related topic to gas tanks (i'll search for posts on this) i have heard from other parker owners that the gas tank will eventually rust out and need replacing. hoping that isn't' true altho i'm guessing given enough time it's likely to happen eventually.

Would sure be nice to just leave my boat in a warm dry storage for a month or so to let everything dry out and see if that would lighten stern, but i don't have access to such a place and i'm using it too much.

let me know of other suggestions
thanks

 

[sitka]

Here's the stringer diagram for a 2120 showing the tank placement in case folks are interested.

 

[sitka]

Here's a pic of my boat's stern. Kind of hard to see with the glare of a rare sunny day...will try to get a better pic soon. Would be interested tho if other 2120 owners have about the same free board. I've been tilting both motors to the port side which helps counter the list to the right. Water pools up in the starboard back corner on the deck. Not a big deal but is an indicator i believe that the stern and starboard side is heavier than it has been in the past.

 

[johnfbushjr]

Did you ever end up solving the listing problem? I just purchased a 2005 2510 and have what sounds like a similar problem. I can see a difference in the waterline when looking at the stern. Its driving me crazy. I figure its listing to starboard and it takes about 150 pounds on the port side to level it out.

 

[Antidote]

I know it's apples to oranges...My 2520 XLD lists to Starboard also if my water tank is empty. The only thing I can think of is all of the boat's wiring runs on the Starboard side of the boat. If I fill the fresh water tank it sits level in the water.

 

[fccvpc]

Are you guys still having that list problem? I found on my 2510XLD that when motors were up and tilted to one side there was a list.

 

[johnfbushjr]

I am still having the list problem even when my engines are straight. I moved all of my fishing tackle to the port side and that helps a little. I'm starting to think it is the weight of the helm station and wiring causing the list, everything else checks out okay.

 

[sitka]

My problem was water trapped in the compartment that contains the gas tank. the water leaked in there thru the deck inspection plates as someone earlier suggested. i was able to remove the water by drilling several holes thru the deck around the gas tank that allowed me access into that water tight compartment. Yes, it was very nerve wracking to do so : ( Once thru the deck, I slowly drilled down thru the foam to access the water at the bottom. There was just enough room between the gas tank wall and the compartment bulkheads to do this with a 3/8 " or so bit. i then used a wet vac with a pvc tube attachment to suck out the water. the foam was saturated and i let water settle over a day and then vacuumed water out again. and repeated this several times. i figured there was more than 10 gal of water trapped in that compartment. the main areas of trapped water were on the starboard side and dead center. i fiberglassed the holes and replaced the deck hatches with aluminum plates caulked and screwed to deck. Hopefully Parker has upgraded to better deck inspection plates. Mine was a 2006 2120
This reduced the weight of the boat and removed the list. let me know of other questions or suggestions

 

[bfloyd4445]

My problem was water trapped in the compartment that contains the gas tank. the water leaked in there thru the deck inspection plates as someone earlier suggested. i was able to remove the water by drilling several holes thru the deck around the gas tank that allowed me access into that water tight compartment. Yes, it was very nerve wracking to do so : ( Once thru the deck, I slowly drilled down thru the foam to access the water at the bottom. There was just enough room between the gas tank wall and the compartment bulkheads to do this with a 3/8 " or so bit. i then used a wet vac with a pvc tube attachment to suck out the water. the foam was saturated and i let water settle over a day and then vacuumed water out again. and repeated this several times. i figured there was more than 10 gal of water trapped in that compartment. the main areas of trapped water were on the starboard side and dead center. i fiberglassed the holes and replaced the deck hatches with aluminum plates caulked and screwed to deck. Hopefully Parker has upgraded to better deck inspection plates. Mine was a 2006 2120
This reduced the weight of the boat and removed the list. let me know of other questions or suggestions

The foam seems like a good idea but it can cause problems when water logged or it decomposes.

 

[johnfbushjr]

My problem was water trapped in the compartment that contains the gas tank. the water leaked in there thru the deck inspection plates as someone earlier suggested. i was able to remove the water by drilling several holes thru the deck around the gas tank that allowed me access into that water tight compartment. Yes, it was very nerve wracking to do so : ( Once thru the deck, I slowly drilled down thru the foam to access the water at the bottom. There was just enough room between the gas tank wall and the compartment bulkheads to do this with a 3/8 " or so bit. i then used a wet vac with a pvc tube attachment to suck out the water. the foam was saturated and i let water settle over a day and then vacuumed water out again. and repeated this several times. i figured there was more than 10 gal of water trapped in that compartment. the main areas of trapped water were on the starboard side and dead center. i fiberglassed the holes and replaced the deck hatches with aluminum plates caulked and screwed to deck. Hopefully Parker has upgraded to better deck inspection plates. Mine was a 2006 2120
This reduced the weight of the boat and removed the list. let me know of other questions or suggestions

I'm willing to bet that's my problem. I'd like to give it a shot but am not exactly sure where the edges of my tank are located given I've just acquired the boat this year. Are there any reference points above deck? Also, that must have been one heck of a long 3/8" drill to reach the bottom of the fuel tank compartment, isn't the bottom of the compartment about 12" below the deck surface?

 

[sitka]

I'm willing to bet that's my problem. I'd like to give it a shot but am not exactly sure where the edges of my tank are located given I've just acquired the boat this year. Are there any reference points above deck? Also, that must have been one heck of a long 3/8" drill to reach the bottom of the fuel tank compartment, isn't the bottom of the compartment about 12" below the deck surface?

I have heard that water logged foam in parkers and many other boats is a common problem so it's probably worth checking it.

I found the edges of the tank compartment by using the stringer diagram attached below. and i also was able to get some measurements to bulkheads by removing deck plates and using a tape measure to find their location. You might search this forum for more info on stringers. Then i marked the deck and double checked my measurements numerous times and drilled holes thru deck. (I had a friend who does fiberglass work patch the holes afterward).

I actually originally thot the water was trapped in other compartments, especially the one forward and starboard to gas tank compartment, since the list was to that side. I should also note that i was having a problem with overall increased weight of the boat as well (stern heavy). See attached file for location of holes drilled. I believe they were about 1" holes. All other compartments were dry except for the gas tank compartment.

I wished now I had taken pics of the process. Drilling holes in your boat deck is obviously a drastic measure, not to mention down along an aluminum gas tank and clear to the hull but I couldn't think of any other way to remove the trapped water. You should really search this forum for other less drastic methods.

I used a 1/2" bit that was 18" long (with round point not a sharp tip) so it was really obvious when it was going thru foam vs hitting hull. There was plenty of room between tank and starboard bulkhead to do this but the aft foam space hole was very tight. I also had a flex cam I used to help with this. I think i had to use the 1/2 pvc pipe as a drill bit to get the final way to bottom of the midship aft water logged foam.

Again, really think this thru before trying it. Get lots of other advice from knowledgeable folks. I fortunately had that available here to me or I probably wouldn't have tried this. And as mentioned earlier, there very well could be less drastic measures to accomplish removing water trapped in this compartment. Also, you still won't remove all the water logged foam obviously, altho it was surprising how much water i was able to get out over time as it settled back the the low points.