I bought an aluminum Seaark about 3 weeks ago. It's 18' long with two live wells. I've taken the boat out twice and used the live wells both times. At the end of the day, on both outings, I would end up with a ton of water in my hull. I have already figured out that my bilge pump is not working, which will be an easy fix, but the amount of water in the hull is ridiculous. The live wells have drains that go out the side of the boat below water level. Does the water drain out of those holes while the boat is in the water? Is all the overflow in the wells draining directly into the bottom of the boat? Is this right? or do I have a leak? Should a new bilge pump solve my problem? How much water is typical to have in your hull at the end of a day out on the lake? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The way you describe it your boat is LEAKING somewhere. Check all the through hull fittings and hoses going to the livewells and hoses going out from the livewells for leaks. And get your bilge pump fixed before you put it in the water again.

If it's a riveted hull I'd say it will leak forever. Get an automatic float switch to turn on the bilge pump. That's what we did with the old Bass Tracker.

Livewell drains? You mean overflow drains? The overflow should be located in the top portion of the live wells and shouldnt drain unless you over fill them. Are you leaving your livewell's LOWER drain plugs out ? The lower drain plugs usually empty into the bilge.

Put the boat in the water and dont turn the livewell pumps on. Keep the livewells dry and let it sit for a while. Then see if it's taking on water. If so...it's rivets. If not....it's the livewell drain, overflow or the tubes.

The next time you use the boat do not drain the water out, take it out of water and let set on leval ground for short time then look the boat over good this will help you find the leakes.

Bernie

Like BERNIE said. But if you can't do that, put it on level ground at your house and put water in it with the water hose. Just keep filling it until you get to your normal waterline. If there are leaks then mark them, drain the water and fix them. Do the same thing once the leaking areas are fixed.

Water in the boat that's not from rain or splash over is bad water.

Its not a riveted hull. I think that I have a leak in one of the hoses either leading to or from one of the live wells. Whats the best way to figure out where the leak is if its one of the hoses?

Also, would a leaking drain hose from the live well take in water through the drain holes that are under water on the side of the boat while sitting in the water? even if the pumps are not turned on?

I started taking on a lot of water in my boat and it turned out to be a cracked housing on my livewell pump. It would leak under normal pressure without the livewell pump turned on. I removed everything until I could see the rear area and took it to the ramp and backed it in. Could not believe how much water was coming out out the crack. Replaced the pump and now my boat does not take on any water. You didn't say how old your boat was but my bilge pump housing also broke this year so I would have to assume that the plastic housings get brittle over time.

Its not a very old boat (2001) but the man who had it before me let it sit for a while.

Yes. It shouldn't take much pressure to find a leak in the drain hose...try this - block the drain inside the livewell & hold the garden hose up to the drain end.

Question: Your livewell drains, with thru-hull fittings below the waterline - are those draining from the bottom of the livewells or the top? If they're at the bottom, then water will enter your livewells up to the waterline of the boat. As you pump more water in, it'll drain down to the waterline.

If there's a hole in the hose, the boat will fill up to the waterline. Of course as more water comes in, the waterline will keep rising...

Check your engine mounting bolts for silicone. I had this same problem with another boat. I checked every hose, fitting, pump and then finally found the engine mounting bolts had not been siliconed. Pulled the engine, siliconed the bolts and then no more leaks at all.

do you have a fish finder on your boat. if you do check all the screws, make sure they are in and if they are make sure they are tight. I had this problem on my aluminum boat. the best way to fix that is silicone.

don't use silicone on your boat...it doesn't adhere well enough - use 3M 5200 or 4200 instead.

Since I just went through checking for a leak on my boat, I'll toss in a couple more ideas. On mine, the problem was water in the splashwell. Where the splashwell joins the transom, there is a seam on my boat which had caulking. This was leaking. With a heavy person in back, the water level would get up just past the seam. I also suspected at times that I was getting water in my bilge outlet, which could get occasionally submerged with a heavy person in the back, in rough water.

Please post what you find out when you get the problem resolved.