1980 176 family fisherman

[tlarkinjr]

I bought my first boat last year. It is a 1980 176 family fisherman with a johnson 88 spl on it. After sitting on the trailer all winter it has been dripping water out the transom plug hole for two weeks now. Is this an indication of wet foam inside the hull? The bilge was mostly dry all last season and the boat ran fine. I am putting on a set of smart tabs this week and am hoping to find the transom in good condition. The boat does sit a little low in the water. I am adding scupper valves to keep the stern dry when people fish there as the added weight puts the scuppers under the water line. Any thoughts would help I'm pretty handy but new at this boat thing. Thanks

[RickK]

Welcome aboard tlarkinjr  :!:  :!:
You have a kinda rare boat there - at least around here anyway. Definitely will need to see pics of it  8)
Hard to tell where the water is coming from, was the boat full of snow?  Anyway, it's about time to start using her and you can figure out that "other stuff" later  

[apache61]

Hi tlarkinjr,
 I just picked up a 1979 176 Family Fisherman myself in march. My transom and hull is in good shape well from what I can tell.When I put the transducer on my transom was dry and solid. That said any water and moisture that gets in takes a long time to get out of mine. The floor/deck and all is sealed up a little to well on mine, no way for evaporation. As the temp goes up due hits the underside of the deck then goes back down. So I open the deck plate over the fuel send unit,and the one on the transom. Helps alot and the dripping stops in a day or two after a trip out. Hope this helps.
 Jim

[RickK]

So you both found each other  8) .  I knew you guys have rare boats but I didn't expect you to both pop up so fast