Newbie with Procraft Questions/Situation

[Tim87]

Hello all. My name is Tim and though I am new to the site and "bass boating," I am not new to fishing. My primary interests have been pond and small lakes from a jon boat and typically, by fly rod.

My situation is this:

My uncle recently GAVE me a 1989 Procraft 180. The boat had been used on Kerr Lake in Virginia for fishing Rock fish, primarily during the winter months. The boat is outfitted with a Mercury 150 XR6, Motorguide trolling motor and the old Humming Bird ringer type depth finders.
Since bringing the boat to Georgia, I have had it on the water about three times without incident. Today, however, my brother I went out and after approximately two hours on the water, I notice a small area of wet carpet just in front of the drivers seat - seeing this, I then realized the boat was taking on a lot of water. Fortunately, we were able to make it back to the dock and load the boat. After doing so, pulling the plug revealed an obvious need for draining. Nothing unusual I'm guessing - until I raised the cover to the batteries and found that they had actual been UNDER water prior to us getting the boat out of the water.

As stated, being new to [bass] boating, this was a bit alarming. The boat has never been mistreated nor has it been damaged by hitting, dropping, bumping into trailer, etc. Would those of you here, be so kind as to help me understand where I may need to begin looking for my problem and what may have gone wrong. The plug is new and was in the boat.

As you can imagine, I am grateful for the gift and do not want to discard (sale) the boat but obviously, something needs attention and being a newbie, I'm not sure where to begin. I appreciate all the great remarks I have read here about Procraft boats (as well as all the other discussion); I find them encouraging and they make me proud to own the boat my uncle so graciously gave me. Thanks to all in advance.

Tim
Midland, GA

[Mickstix]

Check your live well pumps.. The inlet and outlet "nipples" get brittle and crack. That's most likely where the water is coming from..

[Tim87]

Hi Mick. Thanks for the reply. The way these boats are designed, would that lead to water being in the battery compartment?

[procraftokie]

Yes if they are cracked or the hoses are cracked Or loose that's a direct leak into the boat. I had a cracked pump housing and I was taking on 40 or 50 gallons of water on a trip of maybe 3 or 4 hours. Replaced my pumps and no more water when I get it out of the water.

[Tim87]

Okie ... thanks for your input. I'll check into this asap! Much appreciated.

[TobyG.Mo]

as suggested, a leaking live well connection or pump could very well be the culprit, very common, Try plugging off the intakes at the transom next time and see if you take on water,if not you can start chasing the live well plumbing. Another possible problem, although it might sound silly is backwashing, I have known people who thought thier boat was leaking and turns out they were letting it backwash without realizing it, they also thought water was getting over the batteries because the tops were wet. When you let it backwash water will get on top of the batteries. Something to check. You would be amazed at how much water can get in your boat this way and it gets worse as more water gets in the hull because of the extra weight.

[Tim87]

TobyG ... thanks for the reply. In the case I described, my brother and I were in a lake that did not permit use of the [big] engine above idle speed. As described, the boat is aged and without doubt, needs looking into at the area's mentioned by you and others - as well as a total look over.

I will begin looking into matters tomorrow and will post up, as a measure of appreciation and perhaps use by others, what I find. Thank you for your insight and comments.

[Tim87]

All, I removed my batteries today and found one of the three pumps connections broken completely in half. To all, thanks for your input, assistance and advice.

Tim

[procraftokie]

Yep procraft is a heavy bird to get out of the hole anyway. Add 50 gallons of water at 8 plus lbs per gallon and it is a slug.