Advice on Brown water in bilge

[Brabs]

Fellow W33 owner here ... apologies if I'm teaching my granny to suck eggs with the following but I;ll go from first principals and avoid missing anything out ...

Firstly, your OM636 is almost certainly cooled via a Bowman heat exchanger mounted on the starboard side of the engine above the injector manifold. Raw water is pumped through the heat exchanger by the belt driven pump on the opposite side of the engine (that belt needs checking regularly as part of your routine engine checks)

Your cockpit drains run straight down through the aft end of rthe enfgine bay to sea cocks in the hull, The pipes ought to cross over (i'e' the port drain goes to the starboard seacock and vice versa)

Our W33, in common with most boats I've known, accumulates mucky water in the bilge at a fairly astonishing rate when we're aboard. It's condensation running down, that's all. You'd know if you had a fresh water leak 'cos the water in the bilge wouldn't be mucky! (Ask me how I know this ) Two gallons is nothing, to be honest. When we bought Pagan there was more like 20 gallons of water in the bilge, accumulated condensation from her having been lived aboard for a while. And when the water tank decided to leak it was closer to 60 gallons!!! (The sole boards weren't quite floating but they weren't far off)

You'll also get a certain amount of seawater in the bilge from the stern gear which is never 100% watertight (and nor should it be as regardless of the type of shaft seal, it relies on seawater for cooling and lubrication). The quantities should be barely noticeable when under way but it will build up over time. There is no such thing as a totally dry bilge, whatever some people might claim (the lying toads!!! )

Taste test the water to check whether it's fresh(ish) or salt. It won't kill you! Just dip a finger in and try it, don't drank a glass of it

Chances are it's fresh(ish) and basically nothing to get into a panic about. If, however, it's distinctly salty that's a cause for concern and may indicate either excessive water from the stern tube or a weeping skin fitting.

Keel bolts rarely give trouble on the fin keel W33 (can't say as I;ve ever heard of any issues) but ought to be inspected periodically to be on the safe side. If it's twin (bilge) keels that's a different ball game as they can be problematic. The bilge keel W33 is not so prone to issues as some of the other Westerly designs, being fairly substantial in its construction, but keels have been known to fall off in exceptional circumstances!

There's almost always going to be a bit of oil floating on top of the bilge water. It's virtually impossible to do an pil change or fuel filter change without getting a few drops in the bilge under the engine and there's no way to shift it then other than to flush it out. Which is what happens when the bilge gets some water in it whether you like it or not!

The stainless steel tank you mention might well be the original Westerly fresh water "manifold" that connected from the water tank to the galley and heads taps. Crazily, it was installed in the vicinity of the galley (ours was nuried right in the bottom of the starboard cockpit locker). Ours leaked. Not a lot but leak it did. I replaced all the pipework anyway and did away with the manifold, a simple 'Y' connection is all that's needed

One final caveat ... these boats are getting on in years and yours is almost certainly not totally original, any more than ours is. Things have likely been changed, moved, reconfigured and, if the truth be told, bodged by previous owners! So if what I say doesn't jive with what you've got, it doesn't necessarily mean one of us is wrong!

Hope the above is helpful, happy to offer futher advice etc. if needed

Hi Bru
Many thanks for your reply, I do feel a little bit more at ease, I have run the engine on numerous occasions the past 10 months while she has been sat in the marina, I never considered condensation due to the sponge like sound proofing, I did check numerous things this morning, I checked cutlass engine, flushed the heads, ran taps in galley and heads, checked pipe work, all I found was the shower tray blocked in the heads, but not over flowing

 

[Fr J Hackett]

) Two gallons is nothing, to be honest. When we bought Pagan there was more like 20 gallons of water in the bilge, accumulated condensation from her having been lived aboard for a while. And when the water tank decided to leak it was closer to 60 gallons!!! (The sole boards weren't quite floating but they weren't far off)
2 bucketful or 20 gallons of sweat yuk It must be something unique to Westerly 33sand their owners because although all boats can suffer from condensation I have never come across that sort of quantity, it's usually a bit of dampness under the berths which can be cured in a number of ways and condensate on windows.
You'll also get a certain amount of seawater in the bilge from the stern gear which is never 100% watertight (and nor should it be as regardless of the type of shaft seal, it relies on seawater for cooling and lubrication). The quantities should be barely noticeable when under way but it will build up over time. There is no such thing as a totally dry bilge, whatever some people might claim (the lying toads!!! )

A well maintained lip seal with a vent tube doesn't leak or at least a PSS with 40K miles on it didn't even after 3 years in the slurry that passes for east coast water

 

[QBhoy]

Brown whiskey coloured water usually means it’s came from water saturated wood, I’d say. Usually from fixtures or fittings in the boat or wooden stringers or floor.

 

[Refueler]

2 bucketful or 20 gallons of sweat yuk It must be something unique to Westerly 33sand their owners because although all boats can suffer from condensation I have never come across that sort of quantity, it's usually a bit of dampness under the berths which can be cured in a number of ways and condensate on windows. ........

A well maintained lip seal with a vent tube doesn't leak or at least a PSS with 40K miles on it didn't even after 3 years in the slurry that passes for east coast water

First of all .. I have no leaks in my boat - BUT I do also as OP - get condensation collecting in bilge. Not exactly 20 galls ... which is far more than 2 buckets (!) but enough for me to have an auto-bilge pump installed.

As to stern seal ... I would hazard a guess that OP has the older typical grease + packing seal - which requires a reasonable drip every so often to cool it.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

First of all .. I have no leaks in my boat - BUT I do also as OP - get condensation collecting in bilge. Not exactly 20 galls ... which is far more than 2 buckets (!) but enough for me to have an auto-bilge pump installed.

As to stern seal ... I would hazard a guess that OP has the older typical grease + packing seal - which requires a reasonable drip every so often to cool it.

The only way I can imagine condensate getting into the bilge is having a grp liner without insulation and open at the bottom with underneath lockers that drained into the bilge. I did have a deck leak that was down to a poor construction and infill of the deck to hull joint and poor cap rail that allowed water to migrate several meters and eventually find its way into a couple of lockers which didn't drain into the bilge, that was eventually resolved by removing all the poxy mastic type filler replacing it and a new properly designed cap rail that fitted over the top with a substantial lip and seal on both sides. The only condensate I experienced was initially under the forepeak mattress which was resolved by sprung slats and insulating the lockers and forepeak but it was certainly not enough to produce any pools of liquid, other than that it was the perennial problem of condensation on windows. Yes I did spend reasonable periods on the boat between October and April, yes I did have an Eberspacher, yes I did ensure there was good ventilation and airflow and now I never ran a dehumidifier as I never needed to.
There are solutions to condensation but I still find it incredible and astonishing that there could be two bucket fulls let alone 20 gallons worth in the bilges of a boat let alone that someone would accept that as normal.
As for stern glands prior to replacing the usual and old type packed stern gland with PSS types on 3 boats the ones on mine were all fitted with vent spigots which in two cases I had to fit with an extended tube or they would allow water to enter the boat, unfortunately a lot of people think that stern glands of all types are maintenance free and then wonder why they leak.

 

[Graham_Wright]

Brown whiskey coloured water usually means it’s came from water saturated wood, I’d say. Usually from fixtures or fittings in the boat or wooden stringers or floor.

+1 for floors. Been there! Felt irritated that 25 year guaranteed plywood life (Robbins) until I realised its more like 40 years!

 

[Fr J Hackett]

It just occurred to me having read another thread, I don't know what water pump the OPs engine has but that could well be a candidate.