mysterious water in the bilge

amayotte · Post by **amayotte** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 7:52 pm

Hello,
I have had my boat in the water for about a month now and have just finally started looking into dark corners, under boards, behind panels, etc. and have found water.
My bilge has filled up with water and it takes hours to fill again after I drain it. The level however gets to a point and stops. Does anyone have any ideas as to where the water can come in and why it only fills to a certain level?
Also if anyone has this same problem, is there a solution?
Do I need to worry about it one day sinking?

Thanks,
Adam

FranS · Post by **FranS** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 4:21 am

Some water is to be expected. If it fills to a point and stops it sounds like the pressure from the water inside has equialized with the incoming water source. You probably need to check all the thru hull areas for leaks.
We had a problem once where the keel cable snapped and banged hard against the forward edge of the slot. It probably punched a small hole and we had water which similalry filled and then leveld off. Before we could pull the boat ( about 10 days) the hole got bigger untill it was coming in faster than it could be pumped out. We ALMOST lost her but I have to say these boats are tanks and very hard to sink. That would be my concern, that a small leak could get bigger.

amayotte · Post by **amayotte** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 7:58 am

Thank you, I will go and try and dig deeper into it and see.

Adam

EmergencyExit · Post by **EmergencyExit** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:27 am

Ditto on what FranS said, and do check the thruhull on the galley sink. EE's sits a bit above the water line, and doesn't have a seacock (yet), just the hose on the barbed fitting with a hose clamp. Wakes from passing boats can slosh water in there, and if the seal between the drain hose and the thruhull isn't good, you may get seepage there.

Also check the rudder post thru hull. EE was leaking at the base of the hose due to a funky clamp hiding under goop.

NYCSAILOR · Post by **NYCSAILOR** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 7:17 am

I have the OEM galley drain thru hull w/o seackock as well...so when you get to that fix..please documetn ( as you always do!) also let me know what I should look for in that rudder post seal...as I am going in the water soon ( finally) and my rudder is loose ( I do have new mushroom rudder bearings but I am to much of a hurry to get some sailing in this summer to deal with this until winter)

what bilge pump / alarm are people using?

EmergencyExit · Post by **EmergencyExit** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 8:49 am

NYC,

I didn't have a good seal between the rubber hose and the lower thru hull the post goes thru. When the boat was in the slip and bouncing from the goobers going full bore 6 feet past the No Wake buoy, which is 40 feet from me, water would squish thru there from the force.

If you are on the trailer still, drop the rudder post out as much as you can, remove the clamps from the bottom of the hose, and pull the hose up off the fitting. Clean, add some sealant to the fitting, replace the hose, add new hose clamps, all done. Took about an hour.

NYCSAILOR · Post by **NYCSAILOR** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 9:02 am

Thanks!

I am still on the cradle...where are the mushroom rudder post bearins in this set-up? between the thru hull and the hull or between the thru hull and the rubber hose, or is the mushroom on the outside of teh hull altogether ( I am not at the boat to examine) then where is the top one? I am wondering if I can get as much of this done as possible or willit be a real bitch to get the rudder post back up through the new fresh mushrooms .

EmergencyExit · Post by **EmergencyExit** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 10:18 am

In order from top to bottom it is tiller bracket, plastic collar, mushroom bearing, the boat, rubber hose, thru hull, the boat, mushroom bearing, plastic collar. At least mine was:

I used a bottle jack to get my post back up thru the bearings, it was a tight fit, too tight to just push it thru by hand.

pics taken just after I removed it:

http://my.att.net/p/s/community.dll?ep= ... 301349&ck=

NYCSAILOR · Post by **NYCSAILOR** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 10:40 am

thanks, invaluable detailed info.... that tight of a fit and you could still steer with the tiller?

I am assuming that you removed teh rudder blade for all this and pused witht he bottle jack on stands up through the cheeks somehow...did you fit new thru hulls at teh same time?

EmergencyExit · Post by **EmergencyExit** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:28 am

I mainly dropped the rudder to repair those breaks in the rudder cheeks. Did remove the rudder for that, but later when I found the leak and hauled back out, I left the rudder on.

I had tried just pushing the post back up past the thru hull and thru the top bearing by hand, but it was a struggle, that post is heavy, and awkward to balance. The bottle jack and a 2x4 made sure it went straight in. Also when doing it by hand, you can't let go or it may fall back out!

I didn't replace anything, cleaned the mushroom bearings up, and sanded them, that's all.

Even tho the post fits tightly in the mushrooms center, it isn't hard to steer. I think the post and the mushrooms are supposed to "lock" together, and the whole mushroom bearing is what turns in its socket(not the post turning within the bearing, etc). And that's what the wear on the mushroom seemed to indicate.

NYCSAILOR · Post by **NYCSAILOR** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:03 pm

THANKS, even more detail....curious, if I read you right, you used the 2x4/bottle jack set-up pshing up under the rudder blade....I was nervous about that but glad to hear the blade took the vertical force

Gus · Post by **Gus** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:11 pm

don't go sailing if your rudder leaks. I had the same school of though when i first got my boat 'I'll fix it later' and went sailing anyway. Halfway in the channel on my way to Cape Lookout, I had about 5 inches of water inside the boat. There's a lot of pressure on those fittings (Chryslers are transom heavy) DON'T DO IT, fix it first. Just my .02 cents

NYCSAILOR · Post by **NYCSAILOR** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 8:16 am

WOW!

Thanks for the tip.....I don't have any leaks that I know of...last time she was in the water was a few years ago and all was good....

But I guess I will do just shove alot of 5200 in around the fittign now just as a quick precaution, just in case before launch and do a proper post out refit this fall...

also should I use something other than 5200 since I will be redoing it later and 5200 is pretty tough stuff to remove..

I will keep you all posted as I am still wrestling withthe marina and boat yard vultures... I could have bought a slightly used Bennateau or Erricsson by now for al lthe cash I gave them andthey still want more. unreal..the boat is NOT worth it but for some reason she has me...she is stiing there on the cradle waiting quietly and they are eager to just chop her up and dispose of her. I am nuts!

Chrysler20%26 · Post by **Chrysler20%26** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 11:32 pm

I will be a a lot happyer cuting my grass now. At least I have the rome to keep my boats home. I have an ancor pond, an ben thinking of buting a boat in just to see one in the water. Did not get to the lake yesterday, hope I can today. All the time I put in on the C-20, To get it rady. If I would have keept working on the C-26, it would be going in.

EmergencyExit · Post by **EmergencyExit** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 5:47 am

I hated having to weedwhack around EE the second year she was in the yard, it just added to the reality of the slow work. Will admit I did look at the swimming pool in the house next door and go "hmmmmm"

I could fit it in there.....and the owner doesn't live here anymore...

Windward · Post by **Windward** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 3:28 am

Windward's bilge is arid... dusty, even. When I first got her she did get a fair amount of water sloshing, but I traced that to a damaged swing keel trunk, which I subsequently repaired. Since November 2003 she has had absolutely no water below, unless I put it there to clean up loose fiberglass dust from a project.

If the usual suspects -- through hulls for the hoses and rudder -- do not prove faulty, you might give the swing keel pennant through-hull a look. If that's not seeping, you might check the swing keel trunk itself.

EmergencyExit · Post by **EmergencyExit** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 8:03 pm

Just remembered another leak source I found that put water in the bilge - rain water coming down the outside of the rudder post tube and running under the stern sole.

If I hadn't been lying on my back putting up liner in the stern berth on a rainy day, I might never have noticed it.

On EE that 4 inch (or whatever it is) tube goes up to the tiller thru a sloppy 5 inch hole in the top of the stern berth. The area between the tube and the hole sides was just packed with goop, and it leaked.

I cut a piece of plastic sheet with a snug fitting hole cut in it, and 5200'd it to the top of the stern berth, added a bead around the tube, and that cured it.

Chrysler Sailors Forum

mysterious water in the bilge

mysterious water in the bilge

Some leakage is NOT normal on the 26...