Good day all, new member and owner of a 1968 20' Offshore Camper. Put the boat in for the first time after a long dry storage and had the aft most floor board out to watch the aft bilge pump. Unsurprisingly, took on a liitle water during the short test. I decided to take out all the floor boards, clean the bilges well and let it dry before launching again (hopefully today) so that I can see the leaking areas and mark them. I found my wife had the ideal tool to wash down the bilge:
This long handled hose wand made it really easy to reach, no back bending at all (I sat in the seats most of the time). I angled the head to spray backwards starting at the front of the boat and just nudged the head when I needed a different angle. Just enough pressure to move the leaves and pine needles along to the transom drains. Some may already use something like this, just wanted to share!
Well,cleaning the inside was very helpful in locating leaks. The boat was nice and dry for the second floating, just eased her off the trailer into the water at the end of the winch strap. Only took a few minutes to see the garboard planks were leaking, then the next row up and the next row and....... all the bottom planks leak. I had hoped to use it for a season or two, but not now. Looks like I'll be posting a similar series of progress photos this winter as I flip the boat and remove all the planking, then replace the transom and if there is time, replace the decks. Not the project I was hoping for, but she'll look great when I'm done. Tim
