water collecting ahead of mast

[balthazor]

Much to my dismay I have discovered that water is collecting in
the bilge area under the head unit(next to centerline of boat,
just forward of the mast), and not draining out. there is a
drain hole into the mast step area, but it is poorly placed and
too small. Unfortunately, when I had the mast out two months ago
and could have fixed it fairly easily, I did not know of the
problem. Now the mast is back in and I can't get a drill in to
do the job. On top of all that, the glass and mish mash under
there (what I can see of it)looks pretty ugly--god knows how long
it has sat in water--20 years, perhaps.
Anyone else have a problem with water collecting here? Any
solutions? thanks.

 

[aurora2]

Attempt to pass a coat hanger or other stiff wire through the hole. In fact, I just checked mine, and it to had standing water. I passed a bent coat hanger (a loop at the end) and it drained. I then rinsed with Simple Green.

 

[balthazor]

Thanks I hve done that. That is not the problem; the problem appears to be that the limber hole is higher than the forward water level, so it does not all drain out. (And why the hole is so small also befuddles me.) I could kick myself for not fixing this when the mast was out--that is a $300 trip. I can't get in even with a 90 degree drill to make the hole bigger.