I recently started getting water in my bilge. I have checked all my hull penetrations, shaft packing, etc. with no evidence of problems. The leak rate appears to be about one gallon per hour. One year ago I had the bottom painted and some blister repairs. The largest blister was no bigger that 2 inches in diameter. I'm looking for any suggestions on possible causes of leak, hoping that I can fix without pulling the boat×. Any suggestions?
1987 31 Huntet Hull Leak
- Thread starter Northshore
- Start date
Which bilge? The main bilge, or the one in front of the engine compartment? The first thing I check, is the water fresh or salt? if you are on a lake then that won’t tell you anything. I have used food coloring to track down how water flows throughout the boat. Not everything leads to the main bilge. I am currently watching a leak where my rudder tube and hull come together, it is very small, however, I will add some epoxy there when I next haul the boat. +1 on checking your freshwater system.
The main bilge, not motor compartment bilge/sump. I dont understand the Hunter hull below sole compartment layout. There appear to be tubes/hoses running from different areas like ice box, shower sump, etc. to the bilge. Otherwise it seems water must navigate through various drain holes from other compartments to the main bilge that I cant access.
Yes I have checked the freshwater system. No evidence of leaks. The leak dosen't appear to be coming from the aft part of the boat but somewhere under the sole.
1 gal/hr 
. What if it gets worse while you are away from the boat. Better have a good functioning bilge pump and probably a backup bilge pump, reliable batteries and a good way of keeping them charged! On an unattended boat this could sink you. 1 gal/hr is about 8lb.hr or 200lbs per day and that is if it doesn't get worse, which is not out of the realm of possibility if you don't know where it is coming from! Find it, haul it, our plan to stay on or near you boat if you don't want to lose it. If you intend to keep it in the water unattended IMHO you are asking to lose your boat. I"d have a separate electric powered dewatering pump available with enough cord to reach it if it were my boat.
. What if it gets worse while you are away from the boat. Better have a good functioning bilge pump and probably a backup bilge pump, reliable batteries and a good way of keeping them charged! On an unattended boat this could sink you. 1 gal/hr is about 8lb.hr or 200lbs per day and that is if it doesn't get worse, which is not out of the realm of possibility if you don't know where it is coming from! Find it, haul it, our plan to stay on or near you boat if you don't want to lose it. If you intend to keep it in the water unattended IMHO you are asking to lose your boat. I"d have a separate electric powered dewatering pump available with enough cord to reach it if it were my boat.Smokey73, I agree. I have shore power that keeps my batteries topped off. I'm monitoring it closely. I've thought about putting in a second bilge pump but the Hunter bilge is so small it wont support two pumps easily.
And, as the boat settles lower the hydrostatic pressure on the leak increases which will increase the water flow.1 gal/hr
Are all the through hulls closed?
Has the boat been run aground recently?
If the leak is indeed below the waterline the boat will need to be hauled.
What if your shore power gets interrupted? Are you very near or on the boat all the time? If the bilge is to small to accept a second bilge pump then you are asking to flood above the sole in no time flat and that would be way more expensive than a haul to find and fix the leak Your choice but relying on "dewatering" to keep from damaging your boat is a risk I would not be willing to take, especially if I didn't know where the leak was coming from and whether it might get catastrophically big in short order. I would never accept a 1 gal/hr unknown leak on my boat but maybe that's from my time on submarines and the paranoia that comes with keeping the water out of the people tank.
Well said @dlochner . I close ALL thru hulls every time I leave the boat for the day. I don't see a good reason not to do that. It exercises the thru hulls and gives me piece of mind that if a hose splits it won't happen when I'm not there. If I don't need the thru hull open when I"m sailing I don't have it open either.
Do you have an air conditioner running? something like condenser water from cooling water pump? Attached file has the plumbing layout, if still original. You can trace the various hoses from there .. Good luck with it! (the AC would be an add-on so it will not show in these sketches)
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I do have an air-conditioner but it's not the source. I have checked all my through hull fittings and they all appear okay. I have not closed all of them to verify if leak continues possibly from a bad hose. I will give this a try. I have put my eye on most of all the hosing.
My hope was to identify the leak source so that I could either fix it without pulling the boat or be proactive for the planning of the fix for when I pull the boat. I was also hoping someone else had a very unique leak experience that wasn't the usual type that could shed some light on possibly where to look. Short of taking the interior apart I have been all through the boat with no luck.
My hope was to identify the leak source so that I could either fix it without pulling the boat or be proactive for the planning of the fix for when I pull the boat. I was also hoping someone else had a very unique leak experience that wasn't the usual type that could shed some light on possibly where to look. Short of taking the interior apart I have been all through the boat with no luck.
To isolate your leak you need to start as dry as possible. Pump and sponge dry the bilge. Get a good hi beam flash light and watch to see where the water is entering the bilge - Bow or Stern. Move toward the leak in steps. It will eventually show itself.
A dry paper towel can help to wipe across a surface that is supposed to be dry. If nothing showing itself, then dust the area suspected with a little flour or baby powder (there is a use) an see where the water shows itself.
If you are getting a gallon an hour you will be able to see it trickle or bubble up into the bilge.
A dry paper towel can help to wipe across a surface that is supposed to be dry. If nothing showing itself, then dust the area suspected with a little flour or baby powder (there is a use) an see where the water shows itself.
If you are getting a gallon an hour you will be able to see it trickle or bubble up into the bilge.
I have been all through the starboard compartment below the starboard cockpit locker. This is where the water heater, fresh water pump, AC compressor, fuel tank is located. it's all dry. I have inspected the rudder tube from the port aft birth area. The cockpit drain hoses appear to be okay. The leak seems to be coming from under the sole area from the best I can tell.
When you have exhausted all the possibilities, you next best friend is the guy on the travel lift.
I do not think the blisters are associated with the problem you are seeing. Fortunately if you keep looking you will find the source in the last place you look.
I do not think the blisters are associated with the problem you are seeing. Fortunately if you keep looking you will find the source in the last place you look.
As HMT2 mentioned, taste the water - is it salty or fresh? check rudder tube in portside aft area for any leaks around rudder tube. what do your keel bolts look like? is the area wet around them (don't forget the keel bolts just behind the compression post area on starboard side near head bulkhead.
go into starboard cockpit locker and check around muffler exhaust hose and box to see if any water is getting in from there.
completely drain your freshwater tank to eliminate the possibility of water intrusion leak from an onboard water source.
Kloudie sent you the plumbing specs - thru hull near engine compartment for raw water intake, sink drain thru hull, head area are 2 thru hulls per the diagram. since you mentioned you have AC, where is the thru hull or water connection for AC? as others mentioned, check all hoses and hose clamps. I have attached pics of what the hull looks like below the floors. You do have a drain from ice box to bilge area and also you have two gray hard plastic looking tubes from the head area (shower pan) that drain into the bilge (also indicated on the plumbing diagram).
I see your location is Madisonville? is that Northshore of Lake P in Louisiana?
go into starboard cockpit locker and check around muffler exhaust hose and box to see if any water is getting in from there.
completely drain your freshwater tank to eliminate the possibility of water intrusion leak from an onboard water source.
Kloudie sent you the plumbing specs - thru hull near engine compartment for raw water intake, sink drain thru hull, head area are 2 thru hulls per the diagram. since you mentioned you have AC, where is the thru hull or water connection for AC? as others mentioned, check all hoses and hose clamps. I have attached pics of what the hull looks like below the floors. You do have a drain from ice box to bilge area and also you have two gray hard plastic looking tubes from the head area (shower pan) that drain into the bilge (also indicated on the plumbing diagram).
I see your location is Madisonville? is that Northshore of Lake P in Louisiana?
also as others suggested, if your able to. then stay on the boat for a day or so to track down source of leak if it is that much and definitely have batteries and fully functioning bilge pump. if your not able to stay onboard, give slip neighbors your phone number and others in case of emergency to contact you. also have numbers of either BOATUS or Sea Tow who will have pumps to get you above water in the slip. recent example of this problem is in my marina where a H30 was clearly taking in water below water line on hull and no one had emergency contact numbers for boat owner or marina. luckily later in the day someone did finally get in touch with the owner.