2200 Wet well?

[dgib71]

Hello. I have a 1986 2200 and it has what someone told me was a wet well in the aft part of the deck. It has two brass plugs into one large thruhull pickup. The pickup has a forward facing screen and a rear. When I unplug both it fills. While under way with both unplugged it will start to overflow and self bail out the transom. If I plug the front hole it will drain the well while under way.
When it self bails some water makes it into the bilge through the rear hatch. With both unplugged it did keep about 9 pogies alive all day. I guess what i want to know is. Is this how its supposed to work? And is it ok that some water is making its way into the bilge? Or should I temporally seal up the rear hatch and just use the two access ports on the hatch? Thanks

[anchor out]

I once had a 25 Pursuit with a similar setup. It worked remarkably well at keeping bait alive but would overflow and drain out the deck gutters and through the scuppers when running at speed. It sounds to me like yours is working properly. However......water should not be entering the bilge!! Sealing up or replacing the access hatches should remedy this problem. I also used this well for dry storage when not fishing just by inserting the plug. Good luck. Ken

[dgib71]

Thanks. I found that the well was leaking into the bilge around the plug holes. I assume there is supposed to be some kind of seal around it not just old 5200.

[anchor out]

5200 should work fine to seal things up IF you can get the fitting out, clean it up thoroughly or replace it. Clean up the surrounding area completely, wipe it all down with alcohol and re-bed the drain fitting in clean fresh 5200. The key is clean and dry before re-beding. Good luck. Let us know how you make out.