Half a bucket of water in 3 hours

P

PhillM

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 Nov 2010
Messages
4,008
Location
Solent
Visit site
I seem to collect a bilge full of water when sailing. Every hour we manually pump a bit to keep the bilge clear, or on the odd occasion we forget, the automatic pump goes off and empties it - but it has been a nagging problem since I brought her.

Last year, I put this down to a number of known faults, all of which I rectified over the winter. I went out yesterday evening and I didnt pump and the bilge pump did not go off, but when I sponged clean the bilge, it had about half a bucket of dirty water in it.

I know that I have a slight drip from my sea water pump which cannot easily be repaired (reconditioned engine on order for installation in October). However, I don’t think this is the culprit. I have also tried watching the stern tube when motoring, but there doesn’t seem to be water coming from there. Prop does rotate when sailing because we leave the gearbox in neutral.

I’d welcome ideas on this as its beginning to irritate me.
 
Two sources of water in bilges on my boat that have been talked and conquered:

1. There was a leak in the plumbing in the heads - only a nuisance when the water pump was on.

2. The big one was water ingress though the bottom seal of the rudder stock. This has O-rings inside it - skeg off, rudder dropped, O-rings replaced, skeg refixed.

I replaced the greaser stern gland with a dripless one a few years ago.

Dry bilges for the first time in 6 years :)
 
Skin fitting?

I had a skin fitting close to waterline that leaked not a drop when boat was stationary and upright.
Hammering to windward was a different story, and i would find some water below.(less even than half a bucket)
Trouble was when hammering to windward i was generally too busy to crawl around inspecting thru hull fittings so never saw it leaking in action as it were.
Finally decided by process of elimination to re-seat and re-bed both thru hull fittings - and that was the end of that problem.

I have to say the negative psychological effect of the leak and the positive psychological effect of having a dry hull were totally out of proportion to the trivial amount of water involved so it was well worth doing from that point of view.

Good luck
 
Last edited:
Boat: Cheverton Caravel MK2 - 25ft LOA. Hull stripped back and repaired where necessary over last two years. Cockpit rebuilt this year. We do get a small amount of water in when it rains. I suspect around chain plates and pullpit. That is on my "to-do" list.

Forehatch also leaks but has a tarp over it to keep the wet stuff out.

All skin fittings checked and resealed over the winter by profesionals.

When its not rained and boat is in the marina bilge remains dry.

Turn on the engine and we get a drip a min from the sea water pump (also on my to do list).

Yesterday I just motored down from Swanwich to Hamble (and back) and sailed for about an hour. F3 with no real heeling.

While typing this I am begining to think that the ingress must be somthing to do with the motor. Volvo MD7A and while it runs, its very rusty from underneath a roten cockpit for a few years. Sea water cooled, so I guess my next step is to find a space in the marina, tie up securley and run the engine for a bit to see if I can spot where its coming from. Thinking aloud again, the exhaust elbow is also rather rusty ......
 
Last edited:
I have had a similar problem....turned out the exhaust had a split in it and water was leaking out into the bilge......the pipe is now 2 inches shorter with a jubilee clip round it - job done - took some finding though!!
 
John HH21 said:
....turned out the exhaust had a split in it and water was leaking out into the bilge......
Click to expand...

Not leaking - pumping! This is such a potentially serious failure, examination of the exhaust hose should be high on the fitting out inspection list. Mine split and pumped several gallons into the bilge before I noticed....
 
You're in luck, no more hosepipe ban! What I would do is wait for a day when there is no condensation in the hull, like today in fact, sponge out the bilge completely, fit a saucepan/driptray under the engine to eliminate that one, then play a hose, quite gently but for some half an hour, on each part of the deck so it is running past the chainplates and down the topsides..
locate and identify each hatch/window/chainplate/fitting/quadrant/seam leak..dry out again, go for a sail to windward on one tack for half hour with dry bilges,F2-3 would be perfect with dry decks..this will reveal any open seams in topsides or below, mop out, etc , other tack, do the same, etc.

Don't know if you have had wooden boats before but it is normal for them to leak after a spell ashore until you 'sail em wet' enough to close up as the moisture content reappears and things swell and bed tightly again..a tame wooden shipwright along for the ride would be nice too.
two years out of the water with various works being done opens up a lot of possibilities. And then, theres professionals and professionals, they all charge the same unfortunately.
Be patient and systematic you'll get there.
 
I was getting a bucket full ev 25 hrs (on a half tide mooring) in my grp Caprice - checked everything - I thought; finally tipped her forward and uncovered a section missing gel coat, the size of a 10p piece under the skeg - epoxy putty - job jobbed!
 
markdj said:
Water dripping from the sea water pump is not a major job but does require a bit of expertise. The sea water pump needs to come off, taken apart and new seals and bearings installed.
Click to expand...

Agreed, but the engine spent a number of years under a rotten cockipt and sole which meant it was basically outside as far as rain goes. So, its very rusty and a lot of the nuts are rusted solid. We did try to get it off but we chickened out bacause if we sheered the nuts it would become a non-working engine.

We needed to rebuild the cockpit before it was worth putting in a new engine, cockipt is now done and we are hoping to get the season out of the current engine and fit a new one in October.
 
I have a vented loop on the raw water side of the heat exchanger that drains into the engine bilge, generates a similar amount of water to yours.
 
Wunja said:
I have a vented loop on the raw water side of the heat exchanger that drains into the engine bilge, generates a similar amount of water to yours.
Click to expand...

That's very interesting. Can you give me any idea where I would look for this (sorry if its a basic question but engines are not area of expertise).
 
PhillM said:
That's very interesting. Can you give me any idea where I would look for this (sorry if its a basic question but engines are not area of expertise).
Click to expand...

Follow the water hoses. It almost certainly won't be mounted on the engine itself, but on a bulkhead somewhere relatively high up.

Pete
 
prv said:
Follow the water hoses. It almost certainly won't be mounted on the engine itself, but on a bulkhead somewhere relatively high up.

Pete
Click to expand...

Looks like a job for Saturday morning, doesnt look like there is much sailing to be had this weekend!
 
As in aside

About 12 years ago I sailed on a Feeling 30 now and again. This was a brand spanking just out og the wrapperboat. When the boat was along side the bilges were alawys dry, however take it sailing and the bilges would fill up until the sole boards were floating (flat bottom so not really much of a bilge)take it back alongside dry out the bilge which would remain dry until the next time sailing where upon floating sole boards! The problem turned out to be that none of the skin fittings had a backing plate and what was happening was that the hull was flexing and water was getting past the bodies of the skin fittings. Backing plates fitted problem solved.

I think feeling coughed up for this.

J
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

D
Stern drive KAD32p - water dripping, any tips?
Replies
4
Views
237
James jameson
J

Share this page

Top