dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
she is currently about 20 meters above sea level
but I think I need a few more feet just for safety sake
D
How wet are your bilges?
- Thread starter dylanwinter
- Start date
she is currently about 20 meters above sea level
but I think I need a few more feet just for safety sake
D
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
Should be fine as long as the Firth of Clyde stays tsunami free.
basil421
Well-Known Member
Anhydrous calcium chloride moisture traps?
Have you thought of using anhydrous calcium chloride moisture traps?
here is and example
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00EF3R4OS?psc=1
I used a couple of them on my Delta 25 last winter while ashore and they made a difference.
I bought them from the local caravan shop.
Have you thought of using anhydrous calcium chloride moisture traps?
here is and example
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00EF3R4OS?psc=1
I used a couple of them on my Delta 25 last winter while ashore and they made a difference.
I bought them from the local caravan shop.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
I used one on my wee Hunter (which lives in a barn) last winter and it made a huge difference. Only used 500g of absorbent, too.
KellysEye
Well-Known Member
>the weeping around the keel bolts. Well done - classic forum post implying that my boat, my bank balance and my personal safety are all at risk
I do think you/your boat are at risk it can only get worse but it's obviously your choice if you want to do anything about it.
I do think you/your boat are at risk it can only get worse but it's obviously your choice if you want to do anything about it.
basil421
Well-Known Member
I bought some refill packs the other day and they only cost £3.00 each so will be using this solution every winter now.
charles_reed
Well-Known Member
Apart from all the vicious attacks on poor Dylan - who asked a perfectly reasonable question. No in a perfect world no boat would have anything but dry bilges.
This is a most imperfect world so boats do leak and the owners bravely stop one only for another to appear.
Apart from stern-glands, which have no reason to leak unless you employ obsolescent technology, I have encountered the following:-
1. Water down the inside of a keel stepped mast - water down the outside of the mast is due to slovenly fitting of the mast gaiter but I've never been able to cure the water down the interior of the mast - fortunately it only happens in very heavy rain and wind and runs into the shower tray from whence it's easily pumped out.
2. Leaking forehatch - variously replaced the glazing, renewed the O-rings in the latches, renewed the sealing moulding, now it's leaking from somewhere round the hatch frame. Very little and only in downpours of more than 5mm/hr.
3. Round window glazing, only on the windward saloon windows when taking it green down the side-deck.
4. Various parts of the raw water siphon-break U bend, raw-water pump seal, Vetus waterlock and now the injection manifold.
5. Leak through the forward locker - first the lead entry to the lower nav lights, then the bitter end U-bolt in the chainlocker and, later through the dolphin striker, only in excess of 6 knots.
6.Occasionally, in heavy rain when the mainhatch drains are overwhelmed.
7. Into the cockpit locker when hard on the wind on starboard tack and tops of waves are coming aboard green.
8. Through the Eberspacher exhaust when reversing fast.
9. Into the aft cabin due to seals on the cockpit drains perishing,
10. A flexible water pipe coming adrift and filling the bilge with all the fresh water tank contents.
11. Occasionally through the mainhatch in really boisterous seas, going to windward.
But never through keel bolts or any other below water entry. So, any leak into a boat is abnormal and should be rectified ASAP, but they'll keep on coming if you use the boat.
PS My bilges are generally dry - but only by dint of continuous mopping.
This is a most imperfect world so boats do leak and the owners bravely stop one only for another to appear.
Apart from stern-glands, which have no reason to leak unless you employ obsolescent technology, I have encountered the following:-
1. Water down the inside of a keel stepped mast - water down the outside of the mast is due to slovenly fitting of the mast gaiter but I've never been able to cure the water down the interior of the mast - fortunately it only happens in very heavy rain and wind and runs into the shower tray from whence it's easily pumped out.
2. Leaking forehatch - variously replaced the glazing, renewed the O-rings in the latches, renewed the sealing moulding, now it's leaking from somewhere round the hatch frame. Very little and only in downpours of more than 5mm/hr.
3. Round window glazing, only on the windward saloon windows when taking it green down the side-deck.
4. Various parts of the raw water siphon-break U bend, raw-water pump seal, Vetus waterlock and now the injection manifold.
5. Leak through the forward locker - first the lead entry to the lower nav lights, then the bitter end U-bolt in the chainlocker and, later through the dolphin striker, only in excess of 6 knots.
6.Occasionally, in heavy rain when the mainhatch drains are overwhelmed.
7. Into the cockpit locker when hard on the wind on starboard tack and tops of waves are coming aboard green.
8. Through the Eberspacher exhaust when reversing fast.
9. Into the aft cabin due to seals on the cockpit drains perishing,
10. A flexible water pipe coming adrift and filling the bilge with all the fresh water tank contents.
11. Occasionally through the mainhatch in really boisterous seas, going to windward.
But never through keel bolts or any other below water entry. So, any leak into a boat is abnormal and should be rectified ASAP, but they'll keep on coming if you use the boat.
PS My bilges are generally dry - but only by dint of continuous mopping.
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Searush
Well-Known Member
Damp bilges keep the damn dust down, very helpful for my son's asthma.
I love the way so many boat owners quiver with fear over the things that could go wrong, I wonder if they sleep downstairs in case the chimney falls through the roof & kills them while they sleep? Driving the car to/from the boat remains, by far, the more dangerous activity than actually sailing it, but people don't worry about tyres bursting, suspension collapsing or steering failing, or even the far more likely event of someone T-boning them at a junction.
I love the way so many boat owners quiver with fear over the things that could go wrong, I wonder if they sleep downstairs in case the chimney falls through the roof & kills them while they sleep? Driving the car to/from the boat remains, by far, the more dangerous activity than actually sailing it, but people don't worry about tyres bursting, suspension collapsing or steering failing, or even the far more likely event of someone T-boning them at a junction.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
"It could invalidate your insurance."
simonfraser
Well-Known Member
Bone dry, wooden boat.
Windows and deck fixings did weep a bit when I bought it.
(Had to nip the keel bolts too)
Windows and deck fixings did weep a bit when I bought it.
(Had to nip the keel bolts too)
l'escargot
Well-Known Member
I like to keep my boat ready to go all year round - beds made up, clothes in the lockers, cushions out etc. Any leaks putting water in the bilges are sought out and dealt with - and a dehumidifier when condensation is likely. Dry boats smell better and are far pleasanter to use.
Marley's_Slave
Well-Known Member
Your boat's bilges should be dry IMHO - simples.
Fantasie 19
Well-Known Member
Errr.. "vicious attacks"... really...?
I would say that depended on whether I had clear evidence of my chimney being loose, or my steering being faulty, etc etc If I knew any one of those things were likely due to delicate drifts of brick dust round my head, or an ever so slightly wobby steering, then I might want to fix them...
Entirely up to Dylan whether he does or doesn't......
ghostlymoron
Well-Known Member
I assume he was being ironic when he said he was arranging an immediate liftout and repair. As the boats ashore and for sale, he will probably pass the problem over to the new owner and accept a drop in price.
KellysEye
Well-Known Member
> As the boats ashore and for sale, he will probably pass the problem over to the new owner and accept a drop in price.
If that is the case he didn't mention it in his post (see below) hence my suggestion. I doubt anybody would buy his boat if he admits the keel bolts are weeping, I wouldn't.
...............................................................................................................
the slug was wet
maybe a two pints a week
more if it was raining
Harmony is about half a pint per side (twin keel Centaur) per week when sailing and no rain at all comes in
she is close to being dry when just sitting on a pontoon or a mooring
but the weeping around the keel bolts is just enough to make the side lockers too wet for anything other than fenders unless you sponge them out out once every two days or so.
everything else has to be in Aldi bags
nothing coming in from the stern gland once filled with grease
walking around marinas I hear pumps going off a lot
I just wondered what was normal
If that is the case he didn't mention it in his post (see below) hence my suggestion. I doubt anybody would buy his boat if he admits the keel bolts are weeping, I wouldn't.
...............................................................................................................
the slug was wet
maybe a two pints a week
more if it was raining
Harmony is about half a pint per side (twin keel Centaur) per week when sailing and no rain at all comes in
she is close to being dry when just sitting on a pontoon or a mooring
but the weeping around the keel bolts is just enough to make the side lockers too wet for anything other than fenders unless you sponge them out out once every two days or so.
everything else has to be in Aldi bags
nothing coming in from the stern gland once filled with grease
walking around marinas I hear pumps going off a lot
I just wondered what was normal
Suttle
Well-Known Member
Present boat leaks a little round fore hatch and saloon hatch otherwise dry. Previously I have owned a Stella which was very different! First winter I had it ashore being young and knowing no better I worked inside with a fan heater on. Launch day was interesting to say the least, two days to take up sufficiently to be left on the mooring! Lesson well learnt always kept the bilge damp and although she still leaked it was never as bad.
AndrewB
Well-Known Member
They seem like a waste of money to me. Cost about £4 (half for refill), each one will pull a litre of water or so before swamping. A dehumidifier pulls 3 litres A DAY.
Mind you, if you empty them into the bilges, you'll never have algae grow in the damp.
ghostlymoron
Well-Known Member
He admits in the original post that the keel bolts leak and also the sterngland. The latter is an easy fix - nip it up a bit or re-pack. The former is an easy but expensive issue.
Alan_B
Well-Known Member
I have a 40 year old Hunter 701. In its hands many previous owners have not sealed additional fittings correctly and I can only presume this is where the few L of water per week in the bilge comes from. Worried? Not really. It's a cheap club racer In fact, she is such a bloody wet boat in general when sailing I'd never expect it to be dry inside. Condensation at the moment is horrific, hate the sails being damp inside in the peak so will prob lift them out all the time now.
In fact, she is such a bloody wet boat in general when sailing I'd never expect it to be dry inside. Condensation at the moment is horrific, hate the sails being damp inside in the peak so will prob lift them out all the time now.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
If your boat is letting in 3 litres A DAY ashore, at a pontoon or somewhere else you can plug in a dehumidifier then I fear you have bigger problems than the cost of drying it out. As I said, a calcium chloride pack was quite enough to keep the inside of my Hunter 490 bone dry in the barn last winter ... where in any case I could not have used an electric dehumidifier.