posted 08-18-2015 11:29 PM ET (US)        

[Is a 1991-model year Boston Whaler OUTRAGE 17] self-bailing?

There are four holes for plugs in transom. Are the outside holes for self-bailing? Or, do I plug [the outside holes] from the outside? I am not worried about the area of transom that is closest to motor mounting.

[I] can't find a bilge pump on the boat. [I] am still in big-time-discovery stages about this hull. [The 1991 Boston Whaler OUTRAGE 17 is a] much different animal than my [Boston Whaler SUPER SPORT 15 SPECIAL EDITION], which was light and small and much more simple.

[What are] the differences between 2012 Evinrude 115 H.O. and regular 115?

I'm sure I'll have more questions and will stay posted to this informative website.

ASIDE: [I] brought home to Georgia, today, August 18, 2015, from Florida, a [1991 Boston Whaler OUTRAGE 17 boat]. A tire blew out on the four-hour-ride home--not good--but [the tire was] fixed along the way around the Montgomery area. [A] lesson [was] learned about [a] spare wheel.

posted 08-19-2015 08:36 AM ET (US)            

Your 1991 Boston Whaler OUTRAGE 17 is self-bailing.

Generally the drains in the engine splash well of all Boston Whaler boats are not plugged. They are left open so that any water that splashes into the splash well from the sea can drain back to the sea from the splash well. The splash well is not intended to be a basin that collects sea water.

An electrically operated sump pump was probably an option; your particular boat may not have been ordered with one. Electrically-operated sump pumps are often installed in the cockpit sump on the starboard side of the aft cockpit of Boston Whaler boats. When a pump is installed in the sump, the sump drain is plugged.

posted 08-19-2015 10:07 AM ET (US)            

I do not know of any source of new replacement parts for large laminated parts of Boston Whaler boats that are more than ten years old.

posted 08-19-2015 10:31 AM ET (US)            

It handles just about anything very well (and fun for sure) and accommodates six adults, all their junk, lunch, libations and no one has ever complained. I strongly urge a proper bow cushion if you do not have one now. In fact last weekend we had die hard blow boat people (sailboaters - racers too I think) and their two little kids on board and they loved the boat. She drove most of the time and Lake Michigan got snotty, big motor yacht yachts and everyone totally confident.

It definitely needs to be "understood" specific to trim, speed and throttle. It is not finicky or twitchy in any way. The more you run it the more you realize it's capabilities. Some people come on board expecting to get wet - is amazingly dry even in big chop and stiff cross winds. At least in my experience. It really likes to be trimmed just right and ride on top of the chop and for a 17 foot boat it is pretty amazing. One of the most fun times is when waves are pretty big and we have to return to a river channel with big boat wakes, river current pushing out hard and waves bouncing off pier heads. I usually go way out perhaps 1/4-1/2 mile into the junk, line up with the angle the waves are pushing in, then "turn final approach" and hammer down, following seas - surfing in. Blast.

posted 08-19-2015 01:14 PM ET (US)            

Welcome to the Outrage 17 I club. It is a unique model with only 10 or so members on this forum. I owned a 1991 for 7+ years.

This is a very different model than your past boat and it has a unique personality, not like the classic Montauk or Outrage 18.

Add a bilge pump. The boat will not self drain at rest like the 15. If you leave the bilge plug open, a lot of water will enter the bilge recess and some will enter the tank cavity. There is no dedicated rigging tunnel.
http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/018229.html

I suggest doing some serious reading of threads to learn about the boat.

posted 08-24-2015 12:52 PM ET (US)            

quote:

---

...because otherwise the boat is self-bailing and very little water, if any, would accumulate

---

The first occurrence of leaving the plug out occurred during my sea trial with Chris (Legobusier). It was the dealer's fault. With the bilge drain open, water will enter, fill the bilge channel, then the recessed area under the bait well. It will then enter the fuel tank cavity via two rigging openings. A rough estimate of the amount of water that enters is 7-gallons to 15-gallons, more if loaded.

The bilge drain is directly aft of the Rule pump in this photo.
https://picasaweb.google.com/110044231333731607664/ OutrageDeckRemoval#slideshow/5459756929937727522

Tank cavity, note opening to bilge at the top.
https://picasaweb.google.com/110044231333731607664/ OutrageDeckRemoval#slideshow/5459757311558649426

I found this design element to be the one negative to this model. In many instances I found the closed transom and opening into the tank cavity allowed significant water accumulation and lowered sea keeping ability. On two occasions the boat almost capsized.

posted 08-24-2015 01:41 PM ET (US)            

Ten gallons of water weighs about 75-lbs. I am sure that having 75-lbs of water rolling around the aft engine well might contribute to some loss of stability, but I can't imagine it would lead to capsize.

The installation of the fuel tank shown in your photograph looks remarkably similar to most classic Boston Whaler boats. If the water level in the rigging tunnel rises to above the level of the openings in the walls that separate the rigging tunnel from the fuel tank cavity, water will flow into the fuel tank cavity. But the amount of water that can collect there should be limited to the space available in the cavity that is not filled with the tank and with foam. There is not and should not be a lot of open space--bilge space if you want to call it that--available to be filled with water.

On any Boston Whaler boat with the classic double bottom construction and a small cockpit deck sump area, if the drain in the cockpit sump is open, seawater will enter and rise to a certain level. That level is determined by the trim of the boat and its waterline, which are both affected by the loading of the boat. I think it is safe to say that if you remove the plug on that sump the boat is not going to sink. Exactly how much water will rise in the sump or perhaps even overflow into the cockpit it hard to predict.

I think the best way to become familiar with and to gain comfort with the characteristics of a Boston Whaler boat's drains and the effect of plugging or unplugging them is to test them.

posted 08-24-2015 07:14 PM ET (US)            

While 10 gallons is not a large amount of water, it is more than "very little". I clarify this only so that Outrage 17 owners are not surprised and nervous when more than a little water enters the hull when the plug is removed.

The photos do not accurate show the size of the area that fills with water.

There are two stern seats that with the bait well are formed by a molded insert. This insert rests on the gunnel and transom. When the water fills up the bilge, it flows into the large space under the bait well. It also flows to each side and outward to the underseat storage area. All of this is not seen on the deck.

Outrage 17 Stern with covers on: https://picasaweb.google.com/110044231333731607664/ 1991Outrage17I#5198919754446766210

Stern of Outrage 18:
http://www.thehulltruth.com/attachments/boats-sale-wanted/ 346078d1374347406-1983-boston-whaler-outrage-18-dads-phone-387.jpg

Where the Outrage 18 has a separate molded channel that runs parallel to the tank cavity and near amidships turns to port and joins the tank cavity, the Outrage 17 fuel tank cavity is open at the stern. Water enters an Outrage 17 tank cavity far quicker than an Outrage 18.

The Outrage 17 tank sits in the cavity and there is approximately 3 inches of space between the top of the 32 gallon tank and the cover. The cavity is approximately 7' long and 3' wide.

I have pulled all the plugs and observed the water level. With the boat empty of gear, passengers etc., the water rose above the floor and covered it up to the RPS. At the baitwell wall I measured 4" deep. What really concerned me was the small amount of transom above the ocean level.

The bottom line is keep the plug in the bilge. When moored or slipped, ensure battery and bilge pump are working properly.

It is a great boat and if one is available when I get back into boating, I would most likely get it. I took it out in some really nasty conditions (ask Brian Koelbel) and it held it's own.