Leak

[Thistle]

My boat's leaking . At least it's a fresh water leak from above, not a salt water leak from below .

It's not obvious where the leak is coming from so my next job is to locate it. With the boat currently out of the water, my current plan is to run a hosepipe over the deck, starting at the lowest points and gradually - very gradually - working upwards until I find where water is coming in.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can do this more efficiently?

 

[starfire]

Whereabouts is the leak inside ? If its behind paneling or headlining, sprinkling some talcum powder can help see if it's running along internally

 

[FWB]

Type of boat? Type of deck material?
You may never find where the leak enters only where it exits.

 

[Thistle]

Whereabouts is the leak inside ? If its behind paneling or headlining, sprinkling some talcum powder can help see if it's running along internally

Paneling and headlining is a bit on the posh side for me!! The boat's a pretty basic Jaguar 23 made out of 3 mouldings: hull, internal fittings and deck. There's only very limited access between the hull and internal mouldings so it's difficult or impossible to see the inside of some of the fittings such as stanchion bases. The water gathers under the saloon floor, where there's an inch or so between the mouldings, and comes up through an 8mm hole designed to take a sliding bolt which secures the leg of a removeable table.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

Make a putty or Plasticene dam around the suspected deck fitting and pour in water that has been dyed with food colouring. Wait until the coloured water appears in the bilge. You will need to do this when dry weather is expected, to avoid dilution, and have the bilge as dry as possible before starting. A couple of different, contrasting colours would help speed up the process. (e.g. red for the port side, green for starboard.)
Blue paper towel is also very useful for tracing leaks. Just touching it to the end of a through-deck bolt will show up any moisture as a dark stain.
When you do find the source of your leak you will probably find that some internal fitting has to be ripped out to effect the repair

 

[Thistle]

I liked the idea of the Plasticene dam and tried it. Unfortunately the Plasticene didn't stick: perhaps the deck was damp or too dirty (in spite of attempts to clean and dry it) or contaminated with silicone or fuel or ... .

I ended up starting at the stern and letting a hose run over each section of deck for 15 minutes or so before moving forward to the next section. In under an hour I'd located a leaking chainplate. A couple of days later when everything had had a chance to dry out a bit I re-bedded the fitting with what I hope will be a suitable "goo" and now look forward to a nice dry boat next time I visit.

 

[RumPunch]

Hey Thistle ! Don’t tell me you’ve got a leak in 23 bilge keeler as well? I am suffering exactly the same scenario with exactly the same boat, also ashore for the winter. My suspicion now is that it might actually be leaking through the mast, step and tracking down between the headlining and the outer hull. As you say it collects under the cabin floor, and the only way I can get the water out is a very thin tube and a model aircraft fuel pump to suck it out.

 

[Thistle]

Hey Thistle ! Don’t tell me you’ve got a leak in 23 bilge keeler as well? I am suffering exactly the same scenario with exactly the same boat, also ashore for the winter. My suspicion now is that it might actually be leaking through the mast, step and tracking down between the headlining and the outer hull. As you say it collects under the cabin floor, and the only way I can get the water out is a very thin tube and a model aircraft fuel pump to suck it out.

Hi Rum Punch. I believe my Jaguar 23 was the last one built (hull no 31) and, as a precursor to the Jaguar 25(?), has a fin keel and inboard engine. Before I changed it, it was almost certainly the only Jaguar (boat or car) with a BMW engine!

As noted above, I'm hoping that the leak was at the chainplate and is now fixed. Failing which, I'll work forward with the hose to the pulpit on the port side and then repeat the process along the starboard side until the next leak is found. Then it's up onto the coach roof, finishing with the mast step, being the highest point.

Though the boat has been nice and dry throughout most of my ownership, I do wonder if the previous owner had a similar problem as he left a small hand pump with exactly the right size of tube to fit in the hole in the cabin sole.