bilge water in liner, keel bolts

[Mystic51]

Well our disire to get rid of oders finally led to taking the cabin sole out yesterday on our 1985 28.5. It was a job but we got it done. It is in worse shape than I thought so I will replace it. The bilge areas between the stringers were black and slimey and we spent hours cleaningeverything. The stringers have several holes about the size of a nickle in their sides to let the water out from between the hull liner and thehull. We seem to have a bit of water there. The yard that sold me the boat has sealed and rebedded just about evertyhing topside. I dosuspect the scuppers might be leaking some and I plan to replace the hoses and seal things. We still get some water under the engine andthe aft birth carpet is wet. Chasing these leaks is driving me crazy. I now noticed some seapage from a couple of keel bolts. Theboat yard guy came and tightened them and it might have stopped. He said to seal around the bolts with some 5200 from the top. He alsosaid that some water in the boat is normal but I keep hearing that the way to oder removal is a dry bilge. As long as I have water inthe liner I know there is a source. AM I CHASING A DEAD HORSE TRYING TO GET A COMPLETELY DRY BILGE INCLUDING UNDER THE LINER?I think my water sources are most likely one or more of these:scupper hosesstuffing boxpossibly toe rail (the carpet is now dry though)keel boltsWhen we bought the boat the yard said that they would take care of leaks but I think his defination of a leak is different than mine.He seems far more accepting of some water in the boat.I get frustrated thinking I might not get all of this work done before sailing season. Everything we do just uncovers a new problem and more work.Jeff

 

[Steve Dion]

Don't know that it is ever going.....

I don't know if that is ever going to be totally dry. There is still condensation that may accumulate in the liner and drain to the bilge.Our 1985 H'31 has never leaked, but we have had the packing leaking over the years. I usually just snug it up and then end up changing it every few years.If you packing is NOT leaking the amount of water in the bilge should be very minimal. If you leave the lid off the bilge it would probably evaporate.The toe rail on these models normally do not leak when just sitting there. It is easy to tighten the bolts, but you probably need two people to do it properly. One person will need a large phillips and the other will need a deep socket. I would also check area like the caulking around any fill fittings (rebed them). Remember regardless of where water appears, it may be coming from a different area. The mast step is also a point of entry, hand rails and deck fitting can also be a problem.