Water in Bilge

[frmreilly]

I'm on my annual cruise and twice after heavy sailing I noticed a good amount of water in the bilge (salt). None of the fittings seem to be leaking, the dripless shaft is OK, the salt water engine intake ok. I have internal ballast so it's not loose keelbolts. Any thoughts?

 

[Drew13440]

Hull to deck joint. Put a hose on it at highest pressure possible then check the bilge.

 

[n624ma]

Rudder Shaft

Check your rudder shaft

 

[Texas Lake Sailor]

You said after heavy sailing? Did you put an overboard under water that could have allow water to flow back into the bilge??

 

[BobM]

I agree

Check your rudder shaft

My boat is taking in water in rough seas and especially in following seas. I need to check my rudder stuffing box and likely repack it. Some boats don't even have one if the rudder tube encasing the post is high enough above the water line.

 

[jfmid]

What else goes on list?

I'm new to my boat and have noticed the same thing after the last few sailing days where we were close hauled and heeled over. Of course I didn't think to do a quick saliinity check.
So now as punishment I need to go out sailing again to recreate the conditions to check.
So I'm looking at possiblities of:
1. Hull / deck joint
2. rudder shaft
3. bilge drain that is submerged when heeling that allows flow back into bilge.

 

[zeehag]

dont overlook th echain[plate bedding and the stanchion bedding and the bedding of everything that goes thru the deck--look inside the hull as you sail and see if there is anything coming in a s a sheet of liquid down the hull ceilings( walls on land) and see if the hull to deck connection is satisfactory that way--- could push water under the joint and into the boat--could be anchor locker --isnt there a fitting in there? there was on the boat i sailed for a near year in the gulf--lol we had that problem also--check your bilge hose for integrity--we had a largish crack in that and we had a source as well--lol--many cool things to find as sailors..LOL...shaft packing , rudder packing-every thing and every point that could conceivably be the point of entry for the water---keel to hull, rudder--everything...shaft log, cutlass bearing, when you heel over does the toilet flow into boat?? sometimes on some tacks , they will..under the right circumstances....
how much water is comin gin--is it just a bit--like cupfullls or is it bunches like washing boards of the sole??...are all your limber holes open?? is your mixing elbow intact? exhaust?/

what part of the boat is wettest?? start there and work towards the center....goood luck..is always fun finding leakage on a boat.....

 

[frmreilly]

Wow - thanks for the replies - from what's been said so far it seems like water backing in through the bilge pump out is the most likely, since both times I'm pretty sure it was submerged. I'll have to check.

 

[zeehag]

Wow - thanks for the replies - from what's been said so far it seems like water backing in through the bilge pump out is the most likely, since both times I'm pretty sure it was submerged. I'll have to check.

make sure there is some kind of check valve and check your hosing for integrity.

 

[rardiH36]

Check the above water line thru-hulls, such as for the sinks, tank vents and bilge lines. On my boat, I had a similar problem when healed towards starboard. (Although the rate of leak was much less than your description.) The caulk seal on one of the thru-hulls for a fresh H2O vent, located only about 12 inches below the toe rail, had failed and the locking nut on the inside was very loose which opened up a nice gap. A way to check as already mentioned is to have someone blast around each thru-hole with a fresh water dock hose and see if water is entering. This can be difficult though if you have a void space between the hull and the interior liner. Water can enter through the poor seal at the hull and you might never really see it coming in. Creative detective skills must be employed! Also, poke around each thru-hull and twist etc. See if anything is lose.

Yeah ... the hull to deck joint also can be a weak link.



And as already mentioned

 

[Steve Dion]

Check you thru hull fittings.

Do NOT put a check valve in your bilge pump line. If it plugs up and you really need to pump water overboard you will have problems. You can try putting a loop in the discharge hose so it goes above the discharge fitting.

 

[PaulK]

We had a hard time tracking down a leaking rudder post because it only leaked under way. At anchor, there was nothing to see; the joint was above the waterline. Coming down off a wave, we had 4" jets of water squirting up from around the rudderpost stuffing box. The oakum hadn't been repacked for about 20 years Only found out because I was back in the lazarette looking for something else. Twenty minutes of repacking and: dry bilge.

 

[higgs]

If you have one, check the propane locker.

 

[Deleted member 78819]

Anchor locker...

Plenty of good ideas already posted. Any water over the bow? Possible that the anchor locker drain was ever under water?

 

[Blitz]

Did it rain or did water splash and meet up with the mast?

It could be rain or water down the mast track to the keel stepped mast.