1987 31 Huntet Hull Leak

[jmce1587]

I did a similar thing when replacing interior teak and holly floors. Accidentally drilled thru bottom of boat and yes these boats are thin.

try using Marine-Tex or Stay Afloat For now and see if this stops the leak. For my faux pas I brought boat over to boat yard right away and did a quick haul (left in straps). Sanded the area and filled with a hot mix of epoxy For quick set up and an hour later was back in the water.

 

[Northshore]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I think I'll first try the Marine-Tex and see if I can get a temporary fix. If I can stop the leak long enough from the inside to get the hole area dry I can come back with something a little more robust. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[BigEasy]

I think a quick haul and epoxy repair, as Jerry mentioned, is the way to go. You're not going to be able to get any repair resin to bond reliably to a wet surface. If you are away from the boat for several days and your repair fails, it won't be good and will cost a bunch more than just doing a proper repair from the get go. Good job in locating that leak!

 

[jssailem]

Marine-Tex or Stay Afloat

As a temporary repair (by that I mean less than 48 hours) both the mentioned substances appear to be possible fixes. MarineTex is an epoxy that cures under water. It try to apply from the outside
Stay Afloat is a putty substance ( no idea what is in it) that appears to fill holes and reduce water flow. It looks to work on thru hull pipes. It may work because it adheres to the inside of the thru hull. This would be a problem for the type of leak you appear to be dealing with.

Only good solution is to get the area of the leak out of the water. Dry it out. Fix it from the outside.

Good Luck. Nice you found the source of the water.

 

[Northshore]

Follow-up: I pulled the boat to have the leak fixed. Good thing because I had some issues going on with what appears to be water seepage by the keel where the bilge portion of the hull joins with the keel. The paint was peeling off. Apparently there is an internal gap between the interior of the hull and the liner in the bilge area. The yard thinks that water may have been leaking for sometime and sitting in this void area. Has any one had an experience like this? I'm thinking of putting an watertight inspection port (like 3" diameter) in the bottom of my bilge for periodic inspections and/or drainage of the space.

 

[HMT2]

Search this site for “false bilge” and you will find much about this. Remember that the H31 and H34 are virtually twins in many respects. Here is one false bilge thread. Bilge Mount After False Bilge Alteration

 

[Northshore]

Thanks HMT2. I will look into the search.