Another newbie

[wrassinator]

Hey Guys,

Just bought a 530 warrior 115 yammy 4 banger. From Rockingham (rocko) WA, and looking forward to seeing some quality fish come over the gunwhales of the new tub. Noticed a few minor things on the tub that i'd appreciate input on;

1) stainless engine transom plate. leaking in corners I think into the bilge. is this common? Surely some sikaflex should do the job? Looks like a slack install job was done as it clearly has 3mm gaps both sides where the corners of the staino don'y meet the poly properly.

2) leaking bunghole (boat, not me). again, remove, sand back and remount with some sika?

3) bilge pump (rear one - mine has one forward in the kill tank? as well) has come awy from the floor of the bilge. OK to screw it down with a poly u plate into the hull with stainless marine grade fixings?

Huge thanks guys, sorry for ploughing straight into the nitty gritty of working on these hings but I immediately need to get this stuff sorted when I take delivery of the tub this week.

Cheers,
Ado

[Dave]

Hi Ado and welcome

The problems you decribe are typical inherent faults of the PC boats. I think almost everyone on here has had the two leaks you mention, and the fix is as you have said.

As a matter of interest did you buy the boat new?

With the bilge pump, I am not sure as I am not rich enough to own a 5.3 but I remember (pirate) Pete mentioning an issue with his pump. I am sure he will help you out on that one.

As for the fishing, I hope you are a better fisherman than most of us, and from history on the site, it seems if you want a feed, take the wife with you as she always ends up catching the biggest and the most. laugh1

[Zutta]

Hey m8, welcome to the site 2thumbsup

Nice buy, love to own a warrior someday :(

Screwing into the poly is fine but i would use a large gauge stainless screw so it bites in well and pre-drill all your holes ,

Not sure on the sikaflex but others and myself have used LEXEL which is hard too source but im sure u can order it from polycraft directly,

Thats stuff really works the treat:)

good luck with the repairs ,
zut

[wrassinator]

Thanks for the welcome guys. Not sure whether i should be reassured eveyone has these problems or not..? Hopefully they r only minor easy fixes, and otherwise the tub will serve me well. Was deffo impressed on the seatrial ! Bought second hand Dave, an upgrade from my quinny Dory 460 and will predominantly be an offshore fishing boat, but also with the cuddy cab due to my young family so I can take them out in comfort. The setup impressed me.
Cheers again,
Ado

[chin]

Hi Ado, hopefully you can learn to overlook the usual quirky Polycraft faults as the other attributes seem to make up for them.
Water getting into the bilge via the outboard reinforcing plate is probably number one annoying fault, but easy enough to fix.
It isn't the aluminium reinforcing plate that leaks, it's the bolt holes, where they have been drilled through the poly.
You can seal the hole by removing one bolt at a time and while the bolt is out, use your finger to get some sealant in the hole from the FRONT side of the transom.
It may be difficult to look in the hole from the front side on a 5.3, maybe use a mirror. You will see that where the hole goes through the poly, there is either one thick section of plastic or 2 thin sections very close together. If there is one thick section, no need to seal, put the bolt back. If two thin sections, about 4 or 5 MM apart, seal the gap between the two sections. That is where the water gets in.

[wrassinator]

Thanks for that Chin. Will also check the bolt holes as suggested, but on seatrial i saw water running down between the engine plate and the poly. Right in the corners, approx 2-3mm gap both sides. all boats have their quirks, guess i just gotta learn the new ones on the poly ;-) ...lol

[Dave]

Thanks for adding the bit about the holes Chris... I forgot about those.. I just remember sealing around the plate, then did the holes after. doh

Ado interesting that the problem wasnt recognised and fixed as its a pre-loved boat. Anyway its a bit time consuming but an easy enough fix... especially if you listen to the right person... (Chin)

wtf I am amazed.. no pressure for photos yet?

[wrassinator]

not got any decent pix yet mate, they're all close ups of trailer, cab, engine for the condition etc..lol. I will later this week honest. The prob was not fixed previously as the unit is only 70hrs young ! I suspect the prev owner just couldn't really be bothered - but I will be as a bit fastidious - and after all why not? who wants any liquids other than fuel, oil and BEER in their boat !! lol

[mitch]

Welcome to the forum. It does seem to be quite a common problem with the polycraft boats, not sure if good or bad but their anyway, and from sounds not normally too hard to fix.

[Brucesta]

Welcome Ado and another 5.3m Warrior owner at that, lovely marine environment around rockingham, my family are all down there and i had my first trip in my 5.3 off there as well. I'll have a look at mine when i get home and see what you are talking about and see if the sealant will do the job. Pics must be posted of the rig too when it's in your possession

[wrassinator]

rocko is a great spot bruceta, water 4 all conditions. thanks for guidance, hope to get tub thur/fri then watch out dhuies yr gunna get the poly treatment...lol !! hope weather keeps up like the last few days...magic ! some good fish taken www.wafishaman.com

[Keithy P]

Yo Ado, I see from WAfishA you get around a bit down there. I grew up outta Perth, I spent a lot of my time as an adolescent down in Augusta on school hollys at Grandmas, fishing and surfing around the coastline, lovely part of the world. I never spent much time out wide around the area, something I regret deeply now, though it wasnt an option at the time. The only times I actually caught fish out wide were on charters, coincidentally both on the on the Leuwin Lady ten years apart! Personally, I am a little afraid of winter (I havn't seen a winter in about nine years), but I do envy the accsess to the WA coastline. From Rocko there, with a decent bus and your new rig, you can be within the reaches of the southern end or the Gascoyne within a big days drive. Good on you Ado, trading up and living the dream!!!
Looking forward to the photos.

[wrassinator]

yeah Keithy, done Gnarloo last 2 years and addicted to the reds !@! hope the poly gives me some greater local offshore range as the 50's start 18NM out !! cheers

[Pirate Pete]

Welcome to the forum Ado

I have not had any problems with leaks in my 5.3 Cuddy Cab.

Both my bilge pumps are fixed down. One in the rear motor well & one inside the 2 skins. The one in between the 2 skins failed due to problems with the joint in the wiring. It was laying in the bilge water & just corroded out.

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee312/Polyboatowner/Wire3.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee312/Polyboatowner/Wire.jpg

[Bones]

530 warrior 115 yammy nice rig Ado welcome to the site mate heaps of pics to keep us all interested if not envious of your new rig.

Cheers Bones

[wrassinator]

Cheers Bones and Pirate Pete ! Pete, rewired the internal skin bilge yesterday. Exact same problem you described. Why they joined the wires and then fixed them to the balancing hose (between the 2 bilges) I will never know. Did that, then fixed the balancing hose (it was too short and the hose clamps shot and leaking), sikaflex the bungs and round the engine mount ali platework and she's as water tight as a politician ! Thanks for the guidance as all is now going well and was out on the briny today with the missis.

[Pirate Pete]

Im glad we could help Ado.

Enjoy the boat. :)

[Brucesta]

good looking rig there Ado and the boats not bad either!!! haha have any luck with the fish? apparently they have been getting some good sized blue swimmers in the sound as well. BRING ON WINTER!!!! i need my crab fix

[wrassinator]

the missis is stoked brucesta !! lol. Some massive blues coming from cockbuirn since the openning. Mandurah also producing this year as water temp and closure all working to their favour. Thanks pete, here for the advice and so forth so all is good mate !