Leaking Zodiac Pro wants to commit suicide

[waterboy120]

I've acquired a 2005 Zodiac Pro 650 with an Envinrude 150 that is determined to sink itself in the middle of my harbor. This boat takes on water like mad and I've looked everywhere ( short of taking the tubes off of it ) for leaks. After running around on the water for 2 or 3 hours this boat will take on close to a hundred gallons ( or more ! ) of water. ( I pull the drain plug and it'll run for almost twenty minutes )Add a clogged bilge pump, come down off of plane and bingo I've got a boat that thinks it's a porpoise! Thank goodness for those inflatable tubes! I've partially filled the hull with a water hose, hardly a drip. At certain speeds I can get a steady spray up between the tube and the port corner of the transom. I can see a little of that working its way under the seat and into the bilge but I don't think that's doing it. ( I don't notice any difference between the port or starboard tubes at the transom, they both appear to be intact and connected to the hull. I've tilted the boat on a trailer and drained every last drop and then taken it out on the water and voila,full of water again. I love the boat, but obviously at this point, it's too dangerous to use. Does anybody have any suggestions? This boat is my first RIB and I've fallen in love with it but it's determined to sink itself!

[BogMonster]

I don't know what the Zodiac design is like but on some boats - the Vipermax is one - I think if there was a leak between the hull and tube in the stern corner it could allow a lot of water in through the transom boxes (which are open if you take the tubes off) and this would end up running down into the hull. Maybe the Zodiac is suffering from a similar problem?

[Nos4r2]

Does it take on water when at rest?

[waterboy120]

You'll have to forgive me, this is the first time I've participated in a forum and I haven't the faintest idea what I'm doing. I put the boat in a slow moving river last week and stayed close to the dock for a while just doing slow circles. I didn't see any water in the bilge so I took a couple of high speed runs down the river. I did notice the bilge pump "cycled" a few times. When I got it back on the trailer and pulled the drain plug it drained for a good 10 minutes! Other than the spray coming up between the port tube and the transom from time to time I couldn't explain how i took on that much water in such a short time.

[biffer]

look at it logically, water is getting in, get it on the trailer and fill it up with water and see where it's coming OUT

[DGR]

Originally Posted by biffer

look at it logically, water is getting in, get it on the trailer and fill it up with water and see where it's coming OUT

He says he's already done that.

Is your bilge pump and auto one, or one on a float switch? If it's on a float switch, then when it cycles you know that water has gotten in somewhere.

Put it on the water, leave it there for a while, and then take it out and see how much water has got in. If there is a lot of water, you'll know it's getting in through the tubes/hull of the boat, rather than shipping it over the side when you are moving. If there isn't much, then it's probably coming in over the top!!

[Polwart]

Originally Posted by DGR

He says he's already done that.

I read it that he'd stuck a hose on the deck and partially filled up the boat from the top. I think biffer is suggesting sticking the hose (tightly) in the drain bung and leaving it running until it comes out somewhere - its not a small leak he's got it should be fairly obvious.

[BruceB]

I'd be wary filling up the hull completely with water. I know of one guy that left his cover off a fibreglass hardboat and the drain plug in and over the winter the hull filled up to the brim with rainwater.
The rollers came right through the hull due to the weight of all the water!

[matt h]

it sounds like when at rest and manual filling is not producing the leak so to speak, so i would look at the hypolon (or whatever) cladding, its likely the water is forced up under the rubbing strake and into the hull.

[biffer]

polwart's right, we had a boat in with similar problem, we found the deck had delamned from the hull, from the outside it looked ok because the tube were still attached to the hull, from the inside the tubes were still attached to the deck, the water was finding it's way along the attachment strap from the transom and filling the hull up, poking a hose up the hole for a little while won't do it, and i hope our usa friend has a better built boat than the one that ate the trailer rollers, didn't sound like he looked after it anyway