[bmaj319]

I too have a '76 eighteen, and yeah, drainage is pretty much the only gripe. Mine is the LOW cut (20') transom, and I have a Suzuki 140 that weighs in around 410 lbs., so I'm only sporting a few inches from waterline to transon top.

When I got mine the splashwell had already been removed. I've seen lots of different ideas for splashboards...one piece, two piece, sliding, hinged, with holes, self bailing drains, etc. I even saw a SC 20' that had two pieces of some kind of flexible plastic mounted on the outside of the transom that extended almost to the motor, effectively limiting the amount of water that could come over the transom (looked a little weird/crappy, but the owner liked it).

I also put a 6" round screw-in plastic access plate in the back of the livewell, as part of my installation of a new Rule 1100 gph bilge pump. That came in handy on a really ugly outing, when after taking a pretty good dose of green water I noticed that nothing was coming out of the discharge. I was able to quickly get at the pump, and found a bunch of &%$#@ clogging the intake.

Maybe the "ultimate" solution would be to enclose the transom and put the motor on a bracket, but have never seen an 18 done this way. Hang in there, once you pick your method of "managing" this issue you'll be a happy camper...no better riding or looking pocket rocket on the water anywhere!

Brian