Water in the Bilge/Keel okay?

[timebandit]

Might want to consider where the shower water goes.

[saltypat]

Update on the bilge:
Well, access through the floorboard is tiny, so I took out the 20-30 screws that holds a very large floorboard in place. (Very awkward to get up ! Need to do something about that.)

Aha! The bilge has, coming from the mast aft, 3 shallow compartments (about 9 inches deep, 18 " by 12",and then a deep compartment which ends well before the companionway, 3-4 ft. deep. The automatic bilge pump is in the deep compartment.

The two compartments closest to the mast had a few inches of water in them, the third was empty, and the 4th compartment, the deep one, had some water below bilge pump level.

I washed out all compartments and checked the limber holes. They are large and unblocked. The first 2 compartments do not drain completely as the limber hole pipe is slightly too high.

I then pumped out the remaining water in the 2 shallow compartments (2/3 of a bucket ,and dried everything out.

The bad news: 2 do not drain well. I can either find the leak, periodically bail them out, or raise their level to the llimber hole with some TBD material.

The good news: The standing water was not seriously deep, and I am now not too worried about sinking. I am considering keeping the boat in the water this winter (I am in the Chesapeake Bay, and my marina has a bubbler system, and I only went in the water the end of June) so I can work more easily on a few boat projects.

So, I will contine to find the leak and now monitor the water. I don't think it is the engine. It is not the shower as we do not use it (we have only been out overnight twice, and the one shower day was on the deck in bathing suits). Due to where the standing water was in the shallow compartments, I am thinking maybe deck leak or mast leak....

Also, I don't think it is the head as it doesn't smell that awful.....

So, I'll be working on it. Thanks for the advice & encouragement- SaltyPat

[sailingdog]

If you can dry out the two compartments, where the limber holes are too high, then you can use a marine epoxy putty like, MarineTex, which will cure even if it gets wet. However, it does need a temperature of 70˚F or so to do so, so some heat may be required. If you decide to use MarineTex, get it as fair as possible, since it is very tough to sand fair once it cures.

[Sailormann]

Has it rained ? If you have a keel stepped mast then there will always be a little bit of water coming in to the bilge via the mast. Rain makes its way inside the mast and runs down into the bilge.

Condensation can also send a little bit of water down.

If your mast boot does not fit well, it can come in along the outside surface of the mast as well, and also through the channels (slide or sail) in the mast.

Should this be the case, I highly recommend a product called Spartite, which will give you the best seal available. It also saves your mast from the high stress generated by mast wedges, but that's another thread...

[Lancer28]

Here's a good question for this thread - how in the heck do you get that last 1/2" of water out?! (that the bilge can't pump...)

I've got a DEEP bilge on one of my boats and the rule 2500 can't suck hard enough to get it out, besides, if I run the bilge pump dry, it takes forever for it to re-prime, sometimes I actually have to shake the dang thing to get the air bubbles out or else it won't start at all... ugh.

[sailingdog]

Drop a disposable diaper into the bilge... it'll absorb a lot of water...and then you can pitch it.