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

[KenB]

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.

[TunaMeltdown]

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. You shouldn't need to back down on a fish in a Center Console. Put the angler in bow and drive the boat as it is meant to be, with the pointy end (bow) forward.
- 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. The factory put them there so that would be enough reasoning for me to leave 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. Practice Docking
- Not too many other boats have vents, so you don't need to air out your bilge. If it is an i/o or inboard they still have blowers.

- 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. Again the factory installed them and if you fill them in there is no visible way to tell the boat from a classic or a newer model.
- The hull looks better with a smooth profile. I got nothing on this one.

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. There is no way in hell the vents could ever be the main cause of the boat sinking. They are so high above the waterline, I just can't see that happening.
- 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.

[77SceptreOB]

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

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

[Lenny]

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

[Wildman]

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.

[riptide]

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.

[BigLew]

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.

[Capt Chuck]

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.

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

[pelican]

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

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 ?

[Fr. Frank]

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

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?

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.