I just purchased Avalon in June, after chartering boats for 30+ years. So I'm trying to learn as much about the boat as I can. Here's a question that I'm hoping someone can answer: I just pulled out several layers of gross 3M Oilsorb pads from under the engine...they had clearly been there a long time! Then I sponged out the area below the engine and cleaned it up. Then I laid down a fresh Oilsorb pad. After using the boat for a few days, I checked the pad, and found it floating on a half-inch of water or so. Near as I can tell, the boat is designed so that drips from the stuffing box flow into a shallow area under the engine, until it finally overflows and heads to the bilge. I was surprised by this. Is water really supposed to collect under the engine? It really appears to be designed that way. I expected there to be some weep holes forward of the shallow "well" under the engine for water to escape to the bilge, but there doesn't seem to be.