taking on water

rickanlisa · #1 (**permalink**) 10-29-2009

So heres the skinny we have a 28' tanzer w/15 hp yanmar, yesterday we decicided to take her out(our first solo trip,very newbie)while motoring out from key west heading to hawks channel we hit some rough seas(not to rough,but enough to make me a little nervous)anyway we motored around for about 45 mins. and decided to come back in and wait for a "calmer" day.Upon arriving back at the dock (which is a whole other thread it got a bit dicey)i went below to shut off the raw water feed to the motor and discovered the bilge full of water(about 4" deep),now heres my problem and my question 1. I can't locate where the water could have come from,theres no thru hulls that appear to be leaking,when the motors shut down there is a slow drip from the prop shaft. It is possible the water could have come from the yanmars water pump but IMHO i think if the pump leaked that much in that short of time the motor should have overheated.Is it possible that this small drip(on the prop shaft) when stationary could let water in much faster when undrway by motor? 2. I have 2 auto.(yea right) bilge pumps one under the motor and another roughly midship and neither one of them auto. came on to pump out water but works just fine on manual any body got any ideas about any of this scenario I am kinda nervous about starting the motor again to check the prop shaft correctly until i figure out the bilge issue. thanks for any and allhelp. p.s. just wanted to say this is a great site and everyone here has been way more help than they could ever know

Faster · #2 (**permalink**) 10-29-2009

Very likely that your propshaft stuffing box leaks much more underway than at rest. Check it visually the next time you're moving in gear - even in gear at the dock may tell the tale.

Same thing with your raw water pump... if the seal is gone it will leak more when running, but not necessarily enough to cause overheating.

Do you know the bilge was "dry" before you left???

rikhall · #3 (**permalink**) 10-29-2009

Rick

I sent you a private message

Rik

RainDog · #4 (**permalink**) 10-29-2009

Check your rudder post too. When I bought my boat the rudder post leaked significantly, but only while motoring. When at the dock or sailing, it would not leak. Motoring makes the back of the boat "squat," which pulls the rudder post below the water line. At that point it let in a significant amount of water.

rikhall · #5 (**permalink**) 10-29-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by RainDog

Check your rudder post too. When I bought my boat the rudder post leaked significantly, but only while motoring. When at the dock or sailing, it would not leak. Motoring makes the back of the boat "squat," which pulls the rudder post below the water line. At that point it let in a significant amount of water.

Raindog - no rudder post on a Tanzer 28 - she has a stern hung rudder - no water comes in there

Rik

RainDog · #6 (**permalink**) 10-29-2009

In that case, don't check you rudder post. It would be very time consuming to have to build one first.

rikhall · #7 (**permalink**) 10-29-2009

We owned and loved our Tanzer 28 for nine years. Cruised the east coast of Canada and Maine with her.

Faster is probably correct. We had a dry and dusty bilge in which we keep drinks and wine bottles and other things we wanted to keep cold. NO water at all.

Cheers

Rik

Sabreman · #8 (**permalink**) 10-29-2009

Regarding the bilge pump issue, check the float switches. Lift each up by hand and see if it turns the pump on. If your bilge pumps have an integrated pump/switch such that you can't access the float switch, then I recommend replacing the bilge pumps with ones that require a float switch. I don't trust the integrated units. If you have the integrated type and decide to keep them, see if there is any debris stopping them from working.

By the way, don't be too freaked out. These are very normal problems; part of the joy of boat ownership. You are to be commended that you're not just blowing off the change in bilge status. You have no idea how many boaters do just that... and then wonder why their boat sank.... or blame it on the marina.

rickanlisa · #9 (**permalink**) 10-30-2009

thanks to all for the input rikhall i will be contacting u real soon and to faster yes the bilge was basically dry before we left out i'm in the habit of checking it on a regular basis,sabre my pumps are the integrated i had already intended on replacing them like your suggestion but right now its a money issue and thanks for the props. I'm just happy to hear that its not as bad as i was expecting.by the way rikhall i really like the pic of your 28(luv the full dodger,gotta get me one)but i feel i should clarify just a little my boat is a tanzer 8.5,it is 28' long but the deck and cabin is a bit different than yours,but i'm guessing overall they should be basically the same.again thanks for allthe info you just don't know how much it helps,,,luv this site

rickanlisa · #10 (**permalink**) 11-05-2009

ok a quick follow up and its not looking all that good from here rik apologies for not getting back in touch been real crazy down here lately(fantasy fest)but will be returning your call soon.Now as far as the taking on water i regret to say it was not the prop shaft i'll try to give a visual until i can get pics uploaded here it is you got the bottom of the motor sitting on basically sitting on two 2 x 4's that are glassed over( not really just a 2 x 4 just easiest way to describe)at the spot that the 2 x meets the bottom of the boat there is a small crack on the starboard side and there is almost like a "seam" in the glass on the port side now here is the situation when the motor is running the crack and the "seam" begin leaking water in(luckily the bilge pump seems to keep up) but as soon as you kill the motor the leaking stops.I can sit at the dock for days and no leak,under sail(and yes we fianally took her out what a blast but thats another thread) there is no leak only when the motor is running but it does seem to leak less with the motor in gear than it does when in nuetral.The previous owners had the bottom job done about a year ago and have said she's always been a pretty dry boat,so does anyone have any suggestions on where the water could be coming in from and maybe some solutions for fixing it.I would really appreciate any help because sitting at the dock just sucks ass.thanx ahead of time to all