Baitwell drains out...why?

[red herring]

Ok - I've had a chance to poke around the splash wells and try to figger out why the boat was heavy enough to allow water to back up through the scuppers and ultimately into a fish box and onto the deck itself.

Pile Driver suggested inspecting the splash wells for water, suspecting additional weight hidden there. They did have some water - one about 3/4 gallon, the other about 2 gallons. These wells were factory installed with sealed plastic tubs/plugs inside of them to fill most of the well space so that only about a gallon of water could ever occupy the splash wells (the reason one side had 2 gallons is because the tub/plug had a leak and allowed water inside of it. Becuase the splash wells didn't have enough water in them to add significant weight, I am at a loss for why the boat sat so low in the water to allow back wash into the fish box. It was a calm day - no waves crashing into the stern, plus I was at anchor.

I suspected inner hull water intrusion, but that was dry.

Also, I had the deck plate off washing out the mold back there and came across a black plastic screw in plug with a red rubber gasket (very similar to the thru hull plugs for fish boxes) that was not screwed into anything. Found where it goes - on the port side of the bilge compartment about half way up the side. I screwed it in. Anyone know what this is for? There is not a similar hole/drain on the starboard side of the compartment.

Thanks for all your inputs.

[PileDriver]

Yes those are drains for if you get water in the inner hull, since it was out I am guessing you may have gotten some in the inner hull. There should also be one on the Starboard side.

Problem is they can only drain out what is above them, I would raise the tounge of my trailer as high as you can and open these plugs up again, if you get any water to start dripping out of them I would say you found your issue.

Just curious but was the side you stood on and fill up the fishbox also on the port side? And does your boat list any?

[ILLOGICAL GGC]

red
i find it hard to believe but feasible that the ping pong ball scupper checks could be deformed at install and not sealing and allowing water to flow past them when the transom is heavy. on my 01 210 the "seat" where the balls should seal were so worn out of round i really didnt have any checking at all . there is a brand of ball checks i saw an owner of an 01 that had his rear deck so weighted down with engine and on our 01's 85 gal fuel tanks that his checks were below the waterline and the splashwell was dry. i forgot his name but they were down from new york at last year's mackfest and i will post a help post to see if he sees it and will respond. it is critical that you stop the water from entering the deck from the splashwell

[red herring]

Yes, I was mostly standing in the rear on the port side - the side the water migrated to and filled up the box. The boat does not have a noticeable list.

The ping pong check valves/seals seem to be in good order with no damage or wear. However, upon close inspection I noticed that there is room inside of the plastic housing for the ball to float above the level of the opening it is supposed to seal when immersed. The balls can get trapped above the opening it is supposed to close by nearly a half inch if the conditions are right.

Logically, I would have thought that the construction of the pastic housing would have been such that the ball would have no option but to float right into the opening with no extra "ceiling room" in the valve.

For now, I am going to relegate this issue to the "wait, watch, observe" pile since there was no water in the hull. Perhaps there was debris in the valve, or perhaps the angle of the boat was just right to allow the ball to float too high in its housing and not plug up the hole when immersed. I'll report back if I discover any more facts that may influence this discussion. Thanks for all thoughts.