Last night was the maiden sail on our brand new 260 and I asked the dealer to check the bilge to see if there was any water on the "wrong side" of the hull. After about 45 minutes of motoring there was about 3 cups of water in the bilge pump area. After relating Bernie LaScala's story to him, he checked in the area of the hull/deck seam. He said there was about 2 cups of water back there too, but could not tell if the water started there or migrated from another place in the boat. His guess was that the through hull transducers for speed and depth were not sealed properly. My question to the group is this: Is it normal to see any water in the bilge on a normal 260? Could it be a leak between the ballast tank and the bilge? How concerned should I be? Thanks, Jim Hunter 260 "Spud"
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I don't think so
Our 26's bilge has always been dry as a bone. The only time I've seen any water down there has been when a hatch was left open. Boats with diesels usually have water because of the stuffing box. I don't know why a 26 might "normally" have some water outside of the ballast tank. Mark
Our 26's bilge has always been dry as a bone. The only time I've seen any water down there has been when a hatch was left open. Boats with diesels usually have water because of the stuffing box. I don't know why a 26 might "normally" have some water outside of the ballast tank. Mark
Could be leaks
You may have a leak in a port, a deck fitting, a lazarette, any number of places. What you might do is dry the bilge carefully then give your boat a good, long wash down with a hose at full pressure. Then check the bilge to see if there's any water in there. That would point to a deck leak. If you had a bad hull-deck joint in the stern you'd probably have a lot more than three cups worth.
You may have a leak in a port, a deck fitting, a lazarette, any number of places. What you might do is dry the bilge carefully then give your boat a good, long wash down with a hose at full pressure. Then check the bilge to see if there's any water in there. That would point to a deck leak. If you had a bad hull-deck joint in the stern you'd probably have a lot more than three cups worth.
Dry as a bone
My 1997 H26 has a bilge that is always dry as a bone. I've had the boat in the water since early March and there hasn't been a hint of any seepage and the boat is equipped with thru hull depth and speed transducers. However, I did find a few cups of water in the bilge on the day I launched her. Dried that up and it stayed that way. Have fun.
My 1997 H26 has a bilge that is always dry as a bone. I've had the boat in the water since early March and there hasn't been a hint of any seepage and the boat is equipped with thru hull depth and speed transducers. However, I did find a few cups of water in the bilge on the day I launched her. Dried that up and it stayed that way. Have fun.
so dry
myb 95 260 has been bone dry. if you have 3 cups of water and no more then there is either a very slow leak or it was there from the transport maybe. good luck with the new boat and congratds.
myb 95 260 has been bone dry. if you have 3 cups of water and no more then there is either a very slow leak or it was there from the transport maybe. good luck with the new boat and congratds.
Check Past Strings
I must weight in on this one! DRY-DRY-DRY! Check past post's on leaks, and then start the process of elimination!
I must weight in on this one! DRY-DRY-DRY! Check past post's on leaks, and then start the process of elimination!
My maiden voyage...
Jim et al, Jim, sorry to hear of your problems. My maiden voyage went something like this: Friday (26th) rigging the boat, no boom vang?? Launch boat and head out, rudder won't go all the way down and the "downhaul line" is completely USELESS. To summarize, there is a block/sheeve/pulley, whatever you care to call it, in the rudderpost that, I assume, is to give some mechanical advantage when lowering the rudder. Well, where the block is located, is between the two bolts through the rudder post (one for the wheel steering and the lower one at the base (top of the white plastic piece), so that you CANNOT use the downhaul cause the block hits the bolt as you pull it up. I had the same problem with my former 240. On that boat, as well as on this 260, I removed the pulley via the bottom of the rudder post and re-tied the line for the rudder downhaul. I may try to reinstall the block above the steering bolt but that may require a longer piece of line for the rudder downhaul, and who knows, there still may not be enough room for the block to operate between the steering bolt and the bolt at the top of the post. Secondly, another bolt on the rudder bracket, the one whose function appears to be to act as a pivot point for the rudder downhaul line (has a sleeve inside the bracket) was also preventing the rudder from going down completely, I removed that bolt as well. Now the rudder assumes the proper position. So we're sailin...I happen to look in the forward port settee locker and find some water sloshing in there that appears to be comming around between the liner and the hull on the forward/port side, much smaller amount on the starboard side. What the.... I'm thinking, that judging from the apparent location/direction of the water, that the dealer may have punctured the balast tank when installing batteries in the forward compartment aft of the water tank. I check the balast tank fill area under the step and there is a pretty good leak going there where the plug is installed. I pull the plug out without even flipping the lever up, then I REALLY had a leak. I tightened the plug to make it much fatter and put it back in the hole. QUESTION: is that balast tank supposed to be that full? Doesn't that plate on the bottom of the hull seal shut? In our 240 I seem to remember the water level being about two inches below that hole and never being a problem. I sponged up the water in the settee and will be keeping a close eye on the area and am keeping my fingers crossed that the balast tank vent leak was the source. After using the head, happened to notice water under the vanity, that seems to be a leak in the seacock plumbing near where the hose connects. I will be disassembling that to reassemble using teflon tape, hopefully it is not stripped. I went through most of the boat and took an average of two to three turns on every hose clamp. I'm praying that the holding tank input hose clamps are OK, seems impossible to get to, even with the bulkhead out, without removing the tank. Oh yeah, when checking the sink pumps in the driveway, everything seemed OK. When my wife tries to use the galley pump it won't work properly. Remembering a previous post on this WEB site regarding a similar problem, I took a piece of surgical tubing and put it over the faucet in the head and clamped on a hemostat (sp?) to seal it off, then at least the galley pump worked OK. I will be adding some real check valves soon. Good sailing, Tom M.
Jim et al, Jim, sorry to hear of your problems. My maiden voyage went something like this: Friday (26th) rigging the boat, no boom vang?? Launch boat and head out, rudder won't go all the way down and the "downhaul line" is completely USELESS. To summarize, there is a block/sheeve/pulley, whatever you care to call it, in the rudderpost that, I assume, is to give some mechanical advantage when lowering the rudder. Well, where the block is located, is between the two bolts through the rudder post (one for the wheel steering and the lower one at the base (top of the white plastic piece), so that you CANNOT use the downhaul cause the block hits the bolt as you pull it up. I had the same problem with my former 240. On that boat, as well as on this 260, I removed the pulley via the bottom of the rudder post and re-tied the line for the rudder downhaul. I may try to reinstall the block above the steering bolt but that may require a longer piece of line for the rudder downhaul, and who knows, there still may not be enough room for the block to operate between the steering bolt and the bolt at the top of the post. Secondly, another bolt on the rudder bracket, the one whose function appears to be to act as a pivot point for the rudder downhaul line (has a sleeve inside the bracket) was also preventing the rudder from going down completely, I removed that bolt as well. Now the rudder assumes the proper position. So we're sailin...I happen to look in the forward port settee locker and find some water sloshing in there that appears to be comming around between the liner and the hull on the forward/port side, much smaller amount on the starboard side. What the.... I'm thinking, that judging from the apparent location/direction of the water, that the dealer may have punctured the balast tank when installing batteries in the forward compartment aft of the water tank. I check the balast tank fill area under the step and there is a pretty good leak going there where the plug is installed. I pull the plug out without even flipping the lever up, then I REALLY had a leak. I tightened the plug to make it much fatter and put it back in the hole. QUESTION: is that balast tank supposed to be that full? Doesn't that plate on the bottom of the hull seal shut? In our 240 I seem to remember the water level being about two inches below that hole and never being a problem. I sponged up the water in the settee and will be keeping a close eye on the area and am keeping my fingers crossed that the balast tank vent leak was the source. After using the head, happened to notice water under the vanity, that seems to be a leak in the seacock plumbing near where the hose connects. I will be disassembling that to reassemble using teflon tape, hopefully it is not stripped. I went through most of the boat and took an average of two to three turns on every hose clamp. I'm praying that the holding tank input hose clamps are OK, seems impossible to get to, even with the bulkhead out, without removing the tank. Oh yeah, when checking the sink pumps in the driveway, everything seemed OK. When my wife tries to use the galley pump it won't work properly. Remembering a previous post on this WEB site regarding a similar problem, I took a piece of surgical tubing and put it over the faucet in the head and clamped on a hemostat (sp?) to seal it off, then at least the galley pump worked OK. I will be adding some real check valves soon. Good sailing, Tom M.
Followup to Water in the Bilge
We got the boat back from the dealer who fixed any possible leaks around the transducers for the instruments. It was off to the lake on Saturday and everything appeared dry, at least until we got all 6 of us on board. That lowered the transom into the lake just enough for water to start "streaming" in through problems in the deck/hull seam. A nearly identical problem to what Bernie described in an other article. Everyone better get their transoms wet and look in the bilge. Hopefully you won't be surprised. Hunter was called and they feel that it is an easy fix. I'm just not crazy about having a patched new boat. Time will tell what happens. Jim
We got the boat back from the dealer who fixed any possible leaks around the transducers for the instruments. It was off to the lake on Saturday and everything appeared dry, at least until we got all 6 of us on board. That lowered the transom into the lake just enough for water to start "streaming" in through problems in the deck/hull seam. A nearly identical problem to what Bernie described in an other article. Everyone better get their transoms wet and look in the bilge. Hopefully you won't be surprised. Hunter was called and they feel that it is an easy fix. I'm just not crazy about having a patched new boat. Time will tell what happens. Jim
response
Jim; Read my post #108 on the Bernie,s boat. Let me know if everything is ok. Crazy Dave
Jim; Read my post #108 on the Bernie,s boat. Let me know if everything is ok. Crazy Dave
Ready to try again
Our local fiberglass repair company had the boat for just one day and said he is sure it will never leak again. Apparently it was a very easy fix. I have not seen the boat yet, but will pick it up in the morning and will be taking it up to the water for the final test. Hope every will keep their fingers crossed for me. It sounds like Hunter is getting things taken care of back at the factory too so this problem will not happen to others. Good job Hunter! I'll let you all know how it turns out. Jim Hunter 260 "Spud" Boise, Idaho
Our local fiberglass repair company had the boat for just one day and said he is sure it will never leak again. Apparently it was a very easy fix. I have not seen the boat yet, but will pick it up in the morning and will be taking it up to the water for the final test. Hope every will keep their fingers crossed for me. It sounds like Hunter is getting things taken care of back at the factory too so this problem will not happen to others. Good job Hunter! I'll let you all know how it turns out. Jim Hunter 260 "Spud" Boise, Idaho
I think it is fixed
We took our 260 "Spud" out for an over nighter and only had a little water to mop up. I am assuming this was left over from the big problem with the hull/deck joint. There was a couple of gallons the first time we mopped up. The next time was only about a quart and the last time about a pint. I think the problem is solved. Jim
We took our 260 "Spud" out for an over nighter and only had a little water to mop up. I am assuming this was left over from the big problem with the hull/deck joint. There was a couple of gallons the first time we mopped up. The next time was only about a quart and the last time about a pint. I think the problem is solved. Jim
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