Invader/snapdragon inaccessible water in bilge

[Samosun]

After a heavy sail (see lost dsc post) there was a fair bit of water in the boat. I’m almost certain it came through the sink as there was water in the sink when I looked down during the passage. The exit is above the waterline but I need to fit a stopcock obviously.

My boat is an invader 22, which I believe is almost identical to a snapdragon 670. Some of the bilge seems completely inaccessible. From my research the boat had encapsulated keels which explains why I couldn’t find any keel bolts. However at some point someone has drilled a small hole to between the inner skin and the central mid bilge area. Said area now has water in it. I managed to drain most of it using a bodged tube and my pump from the tap through the small hole.

Does anyone know if there is another way to access this area to completely drain it? All of the other storage compartments are bone dry including the rear bilge area where the manual pump pumps from. I can still see water through the 7mm hole. It’s not a big deal, it just seems odd for there to be a very shallow cavity between moulding which is completely inaccessible.

 

[Stemar]

My snapdragon has the same issue and water was getting from the engine compartment (I've never managed to get the stuffing box down to a drop a minute!) under the saloon sole, which has no access, so I took my trusty jig saw and cut an access panel under the table, which allowed me to fit a pump and float switch. Other work sealed the compartment, so the pump's never shifted a drop of water, but it's nice to know it's there if I lose an argument with a rock.

You could cut carefully to get a reasonable shaped panel, as I did, and use the cut out piece as the cover, or you could fit a small access hatch something like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/252794676381?chn=ps.

 

[Samosun]

Thanks Stemar. I thought that might be the best action.....also if I add a hatch like you linked I could get a tiny bit more storage
I’d not seen them before, only the smaller round ones. It’s a job that can wait for the moment I think.

Seems like an odd design quirk but good to know I’m not being dense and just not finding the access.

 

[LittleSister]

Hopefully, the top of the ballast in the encapsulated keels would have been properly sealed with resin, rather than depending on the internal moulding to keep water out, but if it were me I'd want to check that it is sealed before leaving the moulding job 'for the moment'. It is important that water doesn't get into the ballast (almost certainly steel punchings or similar) inside encapsulated keels, as rust expands the ballast - potentially a serious problem.

 

[Stemar]

You'll need to make a box to go inside, or whatever you put in there will disappear to the other side of the boat as soon as things get a bit bumpy!

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

What I used to remove water from an (almost) inaccessible area was my Pela vacuum oil extractor. A caution to any one trying this is that you need to wash out any salt water from the metal- reinforced part of the tube make sure it's dry before storage. Methylated Spirit/isopropyl alcohol is useful here.

 

[Oletimer]

After a heavy sail (see lost dsc post) there was a fair bit of water in the boat. I’m almost certain it came through the sink as there was water in the sink when I looked down during the passage. The exit is above the waterline but I need to fit a stopcock obviously.

My boat is an invader 22, which I believe is almost identical to a snapdragon 670. Some of the bilge seems completely inaccessible. From my research the boat had encapsulated keels which explains why I couldn’t find any keel bolts. However at some point someone has drilled a small hole to between the inner skin and the central mid bilge area. Said area now has water in it. I managed to drain most of it using a bodged tube and my pump from the tap through the small hole.

Does anyone know if there is another way to access this area to completely drain it? All of the other storage compartments are bone dry including the rear bilge area where the manual pump pumps from. I can still see water through the 7mm hole. It’s not a big deal, it just seems odd for there to be a very shallow cavity between moulding which is completely inaccessible.

This is an eye opener, I too own an Invader 22' and was unaware of this until your post. The internal diesel has been removed by a previous owner and the fibre glass infill wasn't levelled out properly, resulting in the inability of the pump to pump out all the bilge ingress. This could account for the very small amount of water that I can see forward of the steps. It's not enough to worry about (say's he hopefully) and I mop it up with a sponge. From what you have said there is an area that I will need to explore. One more item on the 'to do' list - this boat isn't going to do any sailing at this rate.