To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

Why is the definitive answer? Yes, I know there are many threads on this topic, and many many posts arguing for filling in the vents versus leaving them be.

Here is how I read the FINAL break-down:

REMOVE THE VENTS
- when backing down on a fish, the vents at the transom can take on water, and the boat can sink. For Safety reasons, they should be filled in.
- they were originally put on i/o and inboard seacrafts to vent the engine space. If you have an outboard/bracket, you don't need them.
- When docking, they can get smashed or beat up. Especially if you get the plastic ones, you are going to buying new vent covers every year.
- Not too many other boats have vents, so you don't need to air out your bilge.
- The key to the seacraft shape is the bow flare, variable dead-rise, and pointy bow. There is nothing "classic seacraft" about some vents on the side.
- The hull looks better with a smooth profile.

KEEP THE VENTS
- They were originally put on i/o and inboard seacrafts to vent the engine space, but soon all seacrafts had them. They are part of what makes a classic seacraft classy looking.
- You need to air out your bilge.
- If you are worried about sinking, double check your bilge pumps.
- The original vent covers were made out of much tougher materials, see if you can find those, and they should last longer.
- Strick originally removed them from his 23, but then put them back later.
- The hull looks better with some nice stainless vent covers.
- Why do more work?

Other notes
- Some argument about orientation. Usually, the front vents (up by the bow flare) point forwards. The ones in the rear face backwards. This is so that when underway, air goes through the bilge.

Ok. I set up a poll.

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

Keep the vents. Orient them properly (Front facing forward, Rear facing the back).

Old SeaCrafts are like women, better to let them vent! LOL!

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

It was easy for me as they were on the top of the engine housing which I cut off and trashed. But I do like the look of a nice set of shiney louvers on the sides of the hull

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

The more I look at, help repair and work around the more I appreciate the design of these boats. I see some boats that are 30-40 years old, that still have the original decks in them, maybe with a soft spot or 2. The majority of these older boats in my area (which has big temp changes and a TON of moisture in the air) need complete deck jobs. I think the hull vents have alot to do with this. After discussing it with a pro boat builder who has seen hull vents first hand help to save decks, it pretty much made up my mind for me.

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

I think facing the front vents forward is a bad idea.
They could act like water scoops if you hit rough seas.
All my vents face aft and the bilge still gets plenty of ventilation.

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

No one has mentioned that regardless of the engine configuration, virtually all of our boats have FUEL tanks mounted below deck! What happens should a small leak occur and the automatic bilge pump or electrical discharge, i.e.- spark, occurs?

The vents are as important at rest as they are underway. A moored boat almost always has a significant wind direction component in it's orientation on the mooring. Thus the bow into the wind takes air into forward mounted vents and exits the stern aft pointing vents, thus continuosly preventing large volumes of water accumulating from condensation, etc. Dryer bilges tranlates to less rotting of compromised coring, etc.

I voted for keeping them. I have seen dramatic results of improperly vented bilges. Up to and including death.

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

The chines deflect the waves aft of the forward vent. Those vents are just below the rub rail and if by chance your(you should not be) in seas that are so rough that your burying the nose of your boat so far into the sea that they are scooping in water your are in deep Doo-Doo regardless of which way they are facing :eek:

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

ain't that the truth...

aft vents taking water while backing down ?? the vents are slightly below the rub rail-if you've got water up to that point,you're sunk-literally !!

gotta have hull vents brother...
"tuna meltdown",he's got it right-a center console,you fight a big fish from the bow-angler's in the bow-cappy's at the helm,you can see what's going on-let the fish pull the boat-boat's run better when the pointy end's moving forward..."back down" ? what's that ?

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

I have seen many occasions where I was far enough out to sea that I could not outrun a squall or summer pop-up thunderstorm, and had to turn into the weather and waves, taking seas over the bow of several of my boats. With the Seafari, close the cabin hatch tightly and I'm fine, but I have even twice had waves wash all the way up and over the windshield, with the bow being buried to the rub rail on nearly every wave for as much as half an hour.

In the winter of 1984, I ran down from Jupiter to Lake Worth Inlet in a Seafari 20' when seas were running 6'-9', with the occasional 12' thrown in for good measure. (I was unwilling/afraid to run Jupiter when it was breaking as high as 15' at the mouth of the inlet). And no, it wasn't forecast to be that big, forecast was for 4'-6'. Yes, I was scared spitless, and I was sure we were going to die. Doesn't this reveal how stupid I was in my 20's? :o

However, even had I the bow vents present on the classic 23 SF, I would still expect my paired stern bilge pumps to keep up. I don't think the bow vents are going to ship over 2400 gallons per hour. That being said, redundent bilge pumps are a must, complete with separate power and ground supply. I have always done this.

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

Big Lew is absolutely right - All Moesly/Potter vintage SeaCrafts ventilate the bilge BECAUSE OF THE FUEL TANKS! One of the early Potter brochures said it cost them more to do that, but was required because they didn't foam in the fuel tanks, as was done on cheaper boats! (All knowledgeable surveyors agree that foaming in the fuel tank is a BAD idea, as the foam can hold moisture against the aluminum, greatly increasing corrosion rate!) Moesly had it right. Ventilating the bilge will prolong the life of everything in there - tanks, wiring, decks, etc.

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

Not the 18's Denny. Their tanks are in an unvented box below deck. Seems kind of strange to not vent a sealed compartment containing a fuel tank. When I installed a 60 gallon tank, I cut out the front wall of the compartment to accept the longer tank. Should I vent my hull? The bilge does have a wet, musty smell to it.

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

All are good points but for me I would remove the vents. It looks alot cleaner to me. There were to many times when I had my 23' that the bow would push through waves and if there were vents there, would have taken on water. From the factory there is foam on the outside of the stringers and to me the vents would just keep getting this foam wet. Also you would want to make sure there is a way for the water to drain into the bilge from the outside of the stringer if not the water would stay between the stringer and the outside of the hull. Now I do understand they help keep the bilge dry and everything when it is on the trailer or at dock but my Master Angler did not have vents and the floor lasted 34 years. And really the biggest concern with my floor was it had broke loss from the stringers.

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

Hi Richard,

What can I say, I'm not too familiar with the 18's, but they and the 23's were strictly a Potter design; Moesly was not involved with them. As for adding vents, it probably wouldn't hurt anything, might even help. Might be able to use the scoops up on the gunnel like on the Seafari, with the hoses from there down into the bilge. Stbd side scoop faces forward, port side scoop faces aft. Denny

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

Are you saying that this did happen or could have happened?

I honestly cant remember anyone that has sunk their boat or complained of major problems from water getting in the bilge due to the forward vents. The main reason I put them back on my 23 was because I got lazy and did not feel like doing the extra glass work required to fill them. I never had a problem with mildew in the bilge on my 23.

My 20 has no vents and if I do not keep the hatches open when not in use then I get lots of mildew in the bilge. The bilge needs ventilation as mentioned earlier due to gas vapors weather IO or outboard IMHO. I also don't like the way they look but what the heck we cant have everything want...... can we? :D

strick

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

It takes a 700+lbs tuna hanging on a Tee top, 3 knuckle heads on the wrong side of the boat, and a pair of twin suzuki's to put those rear vents underwater. I vote for leaving the vents open.

http://firstlightanglers.com/wp-cont...img-column.jpg

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

It appears a dead horse is being whacked here http://forums.floridasportsman.com/s...iley/horse.gif

But let me just mention a few points to ponder. I have been reading these "to vent-not to vent" scenarios on this website for 9 years. It appears people are (1) afraid of taking on water that will sink their SeaCraft or (2) they don't like the looks of them. I have crossed the South Fla Gulf Stream in some very snotty seas, which made me nervous but I have a lot of confidence in my SeaCraft's integrity. I never took swamping amounts of water thru them. I would just slow down and manage them not fight them . Any size boat can sink given the right conditions. The picture below shows a wrong decision by the boat's captain. You should be enjoying your boats by fishing & cruising, NOT putting your family, friends and yourself at risk! Check the weather before you pack up and ship out. It is not hard for me to say "Well the weather is deteriating and I'm calling it quits"

As far as the backing down issue, I must admit that I can back down slowly without an issue since I enclosed the transom and added the bracket but when fishing I still put the angler on the bow and follow the fish (remembering the 400lb Class Blue we caught a few years back)

BTW: If you decide to remove the vents because you want that clean look, you can always cut in a flush vent thru the inner liner into the vent channels up under the cap and still get some ventilation down into the bilge.

Just my thoughts & enjoy your SeaCrafts!!

Don't do this in your SeaCraft, It just proves how stupid you are :eek:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...iterInlet1.jpg

Don't back down if your catching large gamefish, if possible put the angler up on the bow ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...back/29_29.jpg

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

Capt chuck I believe that is the whole purpose of the CC design to begin with - the reason bigger boats back down is they have no bow to fish out of. A 23 ft boat is manuverable enough to chase a fish much easier than backing down on them, people watch too much TV.

The vents were probably a manufacturing issue - just put them in all the boats was easier than figuring out the power option it would have, as they are needed in I/O and inboard.

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

I guess it must of just been my 23' that had water come up the side of the boat and hit the rubrail. The chines must not of been doing there job.

How about all the foam that is not in the stringers and is under the floor? Wouldn't it get wet when water enters the vents? That is probably where alot of the odor and were some mildew comes from. I know when I dug out my foam it was wet and stunck.

And no I dont think a boat will sink beacuse it has vents in it.

I bet the reason alot of boats that get restored still have the vents are people that dont feel like messing with it. You would either have to remove the top cap or liner or cut a hole in the liner, in order to get to the back of where the vent is, to properly glass behind it.

Like I said, me personally, I would not have the vents and would not buy a restored one with the vents in place.

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

Hmm... seems pretty simple to me.
1) remove the vent covers
2) prep inner surface (i.e. sand and then wipe down with solvent). Specifically, the inner surface of the hull around the ends of the cutout.
3) resin/epoxy tape inside each end of the hole. let this cure. In another words, stick some glass tape to the inside of the hull, so you have a tab you can stick the rest of your stuff too.
4) with cabosil/fillet, stick on a replacement piece of glass, precut to fit inside the cutout.
5) Cabosil around the edges.
6) 6 oz or 10 oz glass over the whole thing.
7) fair and paint.

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

How do you get to the inside of the hull to put a piece of glass tape?

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

you fold it in half or roll it up. then stick it in the vent hole. then unroll it and flatten it out.

I should add that I always use those disposable medical exam gloves every time I glass/epoxy. That way you can do stuff like roll up tape, stick it complete under the epoxy and squeeze the bubbles out. Or use your fingers to get corners to lie down. When done, you can do that cool doctor trick where you take off one glove, roll it into the palm of your second hand, and then pull the second glove off, pulling it inside out over the other glove. Now all the epoxy and first glove are on the inside of the second glove. Sort of like the dog poop trick where you put your hand in a plastic bag that has NO holes, then pick up the poop, the pull the bag down over the poop, and dump the bag which now has poop in it.

Without the gloves, I think it would be pretty hard to tape the tabs in.

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

You have really got me on this one :D

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

My 23' had the vents filled when I bought it ~ 5 yrs. ago. I recently cut the holes and will install the vents. You may reach the rear without a lot of trouble but the front are inside the "channel" off the casting deck. The liner would have to be gone or cut through the liner and glass both.

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

and,how did you prep in the inside of the hull,before you "unrolled the matting" ?

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

Didn't do it and don't plan on doing it (based on this thread).

But I would take the sandpaper off the sander and do it by hand. I think epoxy would stick pretty well. Mine has a pretty rough surface in there, so I think you don't need to prep the inside surface of the hull too much beyond getting it clean and solvent free.

Also I suggested using 6 or 10oz cloth. Matt is probably too thick for this step.

This is my picture, but it's crappy so worth much less than 1000 words... the red part is much smaller than what I would actually use, and I am only showing one of 4 sides:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...y/Untitled.png

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

Anyway, thanks to everyone for the great comments. I don't think we solved anything, but I feel like I have more than enough good information all in once place to make a good decision.

For the official record, I will keep my vents.

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

Gotcha chief. Makes sense now.

Re: To Vent or not to vent. That is the question.
 

on my 23 rebuild the previous owner had filled them, but did not do a grest job and the patch was printing through the paint. There was just a piece of foam core in the hole layered with a thin piece of mat.

So after Im finished with the rebuild and before I paint, i will make a real repair and blend them in. I dont think they look terrible, but personally, i do not care for them. My boat will not have a liner so i would not even be getting the perceived benefit of venting the bilge.