Aft berth question on 2004 Sailfish

[Legend]

New to me 2004 boat
Under the aft sleeping area there is what appears to be a storage area, however just noticed that there is a small amount of water in it. I also noticed that the cabin floor drains empty directly into this area. Is this by design or should those drains have a hose leading into the bilge. Seems like a waste of space if it is designed that way.
Any insights appreciated

Thanks

 

[Motivator]

On my 06 Sailfish under the center cushion is where I access my sea cocks for the head. Further aft in this area (the bilge) is where my holding tank is located. This can be accessed by removing the covering board on the berth's bulkhead.
Most of the water I see in this area is from when I wash the cabin floor as this is where it drains to.
This area also contains the overboard pump out for the shower.
Not sure of any design changes between 04 and 06.

 

[BobP]

Your boat has two bilge pumps, the forward one covers this area, I believe, as it does on mine.

In my case, the bulkhead separating the two bilge spaces is at the threshold to the below berth. My cabin floor drains directly to this space.

 

[ahill]

In my '98 Sailfish the holding tank is at the front of the bunk area accessed by a hatch.
I discovered a cavernous, unused space beneath the plywood berth board that was screwed in place. I took it out and sawed it in 1/2 side to side and created a great place to store seldom used items. I recall older Grady's used this space for the water tank.

 

[BobP]

ahill, where is your water tank?

 

[HDGWJOE]

Interesting that your cabin drain wouldn't flow into the sump pump reservoir. Good question for GW customer service.

 

[ahill]

My 30 gal water tank is aft of my batteries under the integral swim platform mounted centerline.

 

[BobP]

ahill, that's interesting. The FW tank is at the stern. Grady must have wanted to rebalance the weight of the boat.

I was told the reason why the bottom of the euro drives were flat for so long, and only much later brought down to match the V hull, is because Grady believed the boat would want to plow or submarine at speed riding with a higher stern.

Your '98 Sailfish is the first year of the full V hull euro. Now it makes sense. Grady moved the tank to help bias the stern. No other reason to move the tank, it's far from the sinks.

That is a massive compartment mid hull I do have.

Can you get that tank out if you had to, where it is at the stern?

I have taken mine out, just clears the lower berth entranceway.

 

[ahill]

I didn't think of removal until after I posted my reply. I think by removing the battery switch mount , batteries and battery tray that it can be pulled out from the front. I'll check it next week and post some pics.

Your comments about plowing are interesting. I feel that I can't get the bow high enough in any kind of beam sea, especially form the rear, as the stem wants to track with the trough. I've been told that application of tabs and motor trim will correct this but I haven't found the combination yet.

That is my only handling issue with the boat.

 

[BobP]

I hear similar commets from Islander guys with singles.

Keep your fuel (especially aux tank) tank and water tank mostly full, should have an impact.

Thanks for the info, I was just curious about FW tank replacement where they placed it in your model.

When I took my tank out, I was able to properly clean the internals and remake the fittings, one was leaking. Some nastly black crap was in there due to last owner LOM (lack of maintenance).
Now it's pristine as new.

 

[ahill]

Upon further reflection, the only way to remove the tank is through the aft seat access hatch. Therefore if it fails it will stay where it is or come out in pieces. New one will go under aft berth. My old Sea Ray 30 had similar tanks that leaked and were fixed with an application of fiberglass cloth and resin.

 

[ahill]

Oops, I could also remove a fuel tank and slide the water tank forward and out through the fuel tank spot. Lots of trouble though. If I ever have to replace a fuel tank I'll replace the water tank at the same time.