Boat leans starboard at rest

[llama 27]

now that boat is in the water all the time I notice that she does not sit on her lines. She leans starboard. I kind of knew this already from the scum line and scraped barnacles above the boot stripe on the aft quarter. It’s also the same side the engine is on. Engine is also on a bracket so sheet doesn’t get caught on the motor when sailing. Could it be the weight of the engine?  It’s a 4hp Yamaha where a 2.5 would be more than sufficient. Could it be something more sinister like wet foam under the starboard benches? With 2 people on that side it heels a lot even at rest. Not so much on the port side. I’m not worried too much as the boat has been in water all season every season for years. It’s not a new thing. Just wondering how to go about identifying if it’s a real problem and if so how to correct it. 

[longy 848]

Take the engine off. Take off any loose gear stowed inside, Check for heel.

[llama 27]

Port. Not starboard. Too late for me to edit. 

[Grande Mastere Dreade 4,131]

yeah nothing like having a 60lb engine on one side of the boat

[Feisty! 17]

If it's not the motor, check that your mast is centered - tape measure from masthead to gunwale on each side.

[El Borracho 2,615]

12 hours ago, Grande Mastere Dreade said:

yeah nothing like having a 60lb engine on one side of the boat

This thread is a joke, right?

@llama — your fenders appear to be in the water.

[Caustic 6]

Is it just me or does it look like the shrouds are a bit loose? The mast seems canted in both images.

[See Level 1,171]

Store beer cooler to starboard.

[llama 27]

3 hours ago, Borracho said:

This thread is a joke, right?

@llama — your fenders appear to be in the water.

No it’s for real. The horizontal fenders are tied to the pier. They were there before I rented the slip. Just trying to determine if the engine could really have that much influence on how canted the boat is or if it’s something else. It came with the boat. May sell it and get a 2.5. I’m fairly new to all of this. 

[llama 27]

27 minutes ago, See Level said:

Store beer cooler to starboard.

Best advice yet. I actually arranged some ballast to starboard and it helps. 

[llama 27]

2 hours ago, Caustic said:

Is it just me or does it look like the shrouds are a bit loose? The mast seems canted in both images.

Shrouds seem ok but I am going to measure and adjust as mentioned earlier if necessary. The entire boat does not sit level on the boot stripe. 

[Autonomous 1,232]

Assume nothing, including the boot stripe being even side to side. remove everything from the boat including the engine. Do you have a good level?

[See Level 1,171]

1 hour ago, llama said:

Best advice yet. I actually arranged some ballast to starboard and it helps. 

The advantage is by the time you drink all the beer, everything else has a bit of a list as well, so it doesn't matter.

[Zonker 5,236]

You can measure freeboards. Pick a calm day. Measure 2-3 points that are easily identified both sides (like stern cleat or stern quarter, shroud, lined up with front of cuddy).  Measure down from the gunwale to the water. Record each as you go. Compare port / stbd. 

But an off center mast is just as likely as the off center outboard. I'd put my money on the outboard.

[longy 848]

^^^ Note: you have to be off the boat doing this.

[Ishmael 10,553]

28 minutes ago, longy said:

^^^ Note: you have to be off the boat doing this.

Also note that jumping up and down quickly doesn't work.

[llama 27]

I think there is water inside the bench seat on the port side, and wet flotation. I think it gets in through the screw holes where the bench is screwed down. Once I have made the bench attachments watertight again what is the best method to drain the water/dry it out? Inspection port(s) on the the side of the bench? Drill a couple of small holes then epoxy them closed once its drained?

[Kenny Dumas 408]

Maybe transom plugs?

[Ncik 413]

10 hours ago, llama said:

I think there is water inside the bench seat on the port side, and wet flotation. I think it gets in through the screw holes where the bench is screwed down. Once I have made the bench attachments watertight again what is the best method to drain the water/dry it out? Inspection port(s) on the the side of the bench? Drill a couple of small holes then epoxy them closed once its drained?

If it has foam flotation and it is waterlogged, it needs to be replaced. It is both making the boat heavier and will not do its intended job of keeping you afloat when swamped/capsized.

[Crash 1,007]

On 10/25/2021 at 6:54 AM, llama said:

I think there is water inside the bench seat on the port side, and wet flotation. I think it gets in through the screw holes where the bench is screwed down. Once I have made the bench attachments watertight again what is the best method to drain the water/dry it out? Inspection port(s) on the the side of the bench? Drill a couple of small holes then epoxy them closed once its drained?

Boat leans to starboard and port side settee space/floatation is wet?  That's even worse.  Looks like foam is totally encapsulated/glassed in.  I suspect you are correct in the assumption that water got in thru the screw holes for the wooden bench tops.  Unfortunately no real "quick and easy" way to just drain the water.  Best answer is to remove wooden bench seat boards, the cut through top skin of fiberglass bench seat, remove all wet foam.  replace with dry foam, reglass top back on, then re-attach wooden seat boards.  I'd make the top skin thick enough in the area of where the screws go that the screws never actually penetrate the fiberglass skin...

[Son of Hans 53]

It might be worth pointing out that a lot of small boats aren't actually stable at zero degrees of heel because of the weight of the mast.  They tend to flop one way or the other a couple of degrees to reach a stable position, and it wouldn't take much of weight bias in the boat itself to make it always go one way.

[European Bloke 861]

15 hours ago, Son of Hans said:

It might be worth pointing out that a lot of small boats aren't actually stable at zero degrees of heel because of the weight of the mast.  They tend to flop one way or the other a couple of degrees to reach a stable position, and it wouldn't take much of weight bias in the boat itself to make it always go one way.

That's very true 

I'd still want to get the wet foam out, it's not good for the other side of the wood that you don't see and don't look after. I had a similar issue in an old racing dinghy. It was a pig to get out and I wouldn't recommend the solution that only a 16 year old boy could come up with.

[Son of Hans 53]

Yeah, I certainly didn't mean to suggest that the fix was unnecessary!

[Grrr... 2,217]

When you fix it, don't glass the foam down to the bottom.  Leave a half inch of space down there, and drill a hole that leads into the boat.  Plug that with a removeable plug.  Make sure there are ways that water that intrudes can run down around the foam and into the bottom, where you can drain it in the future.

[Bull City 2,582]

I had an Alberg Typhoon many years ago (1800 lbs.; 900 ballast; 18 feet). It had a Johnson 6 HP 2-cycle on the stern bracket. The boat sat quite a bit down at the stern. The scum came to the top of the boot stripe, maybe a little higher. The motor probably weighed 55 lbs. I started storing it in the cabin, and that solved the problem.