1988 268 Sundancer - rain water issues

I have a 268 on a swing mooring with an intermittent bilge pump that needs attention, but my actual problem is with water after heavy rain. This morning after 2-3 hrs of heavy rain, I went out to the boat to find around 3 inches of water (maybe 5 -6 gallons) below the twin engines. it is definitely fresh rain water. I had always assumed that the self draining floor was overloaded, but the floor channels under the engine cover seem quite dry and the actual rear floor area below the canvas is relatively dry, There is a small sign of water around the outside of the engines ie the side vents area but I would be surprised if this large quantity came from there. The main lower cabin floor is relatively dry and I had to manually activate the float switch on the cabin/shower pump to remove the small amount of water there. Has anybody had this rainwater issue with a 268 and can give me a clue of where and what to look at? thanks Darrell

Look at the drain hoses under rear of engine hatch drains and the rub rail if there is a gap on top water can get in thru the rivet holes.

I have the same issue. My forward bilge is always bone dry and the rear bilge stays bone dry until a good rain. I thought the water was running into the side vents so I made snap on canvas covers for the side vents. That helped a little. You can see them on this photo:



My next step is to get down into the engine room during a good rain and wait for the water to start trickling in..

I'm thinking the hoses that drain the water from the floor to the side outlets may leak or something. Although, it seems to leak even with all the canvases up and in place. Everywhere I look, the boat seems to be sealed up really good and we corrected a lot of things when we rebuilt the stringers/transom/supports and bulkhead. I don't know, this has always baffled me.

This drives me nuts also. Bilge filling after a rain. After watching my engine hatch drains while washing and not seeing any leaks there, water must have to enter via the engine room vents. I just love how the design of the sides channels all the bow water back towards the stern and over the first vent. I have thoughts of building a channel into the top gel coat before it reaches the vent and attempting to direct it overboard there. A temporary trial might be running a large bead of clear caulk ahead of the vent to see if that works before diving into a huge gel coat project.

I get the same thing. Where I see it coming in is at the air intake and exhaust hoses air boxes that connect to out side vents. Those air boxes get brittle and crack so they don't fit tight on the vents.
I always get water on hull sides where there's a "channel" and then it goes into the bilge.


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My 87 does the same. I rebuilt everything on it last winter including new vent boxes and vents and with either my mooring cover or full camper top I get water in after a rain. I noticed the vent boxes are full of water this last time it rained so it's gotta be there? I think I might try installing some drain hoses into the boxes then connect to the floor drains.

I to had rain problems with my 1988 230 pulled the step off the engine vents resealed with butyl rubber seal tape and installed a rain flap on the leading edge of the step.