Bilge water on a heel?

[jonelli]

Actually I'm not even sure if it's only coming in on a heel but that's my suspicion.
I started out with a dry bilge. I have a drip less shaft and My shower does not drain into the bilge.

The other day I went over to the Isthmus and it started out at 18 knots of wind and 15 miles into the trip it was blowing constant 25-27knots. That's a little too heavy for my taste and makes the seas pretty rough and you're getting wet.

But I had close to a full headsail out (135) and the main reefed and after everything below not tied down started flying around and the bilge alarm went on and off a few times I though it best to pull the headsail in and take some wind out of the main. We were only heeled over about 20 degrees at its worst.

I checked the bilge and there was about 2 inches or so of water. The head sink was full and the toilet had "water" in it and there was about an inch of water in the shower. I pumped and drained the water in the head/shower out and closed all the through hulls. While sailing I had both sink drains and raw sewage seacocks open. The galley sink had some water but not a much.

I checked around the shaft area behind the motor and didn't see any sign of moisture.
I'm trying to theorize where the water might have come from. I know that the head/shower is sealed up and does not leak anything into the bilge, so even if the toilet or sink overflowed it would all stay in the shower.

I also noticed some water but not very much in the forward compartment bilge. Is that weird?

I left the water in the bilge as it was and continued my journey a bit more upright and the alarm never came on again.

Then on the sail back home it was much better winds 15-18 knots the entire way and the bilge alarm did come on just once. I believe that's just because the existing water was sloshing around and lifted the float switch momentarily. I sponged out the bilge finally and made sure every seacock was close when I left the boat, and I presume when I go back it will still be dry like usual.

I'm starting to wonder if maybe there's a holding tank vent hose that isn't connected to a stanchion vent or something similar and on a heel water is seeping in?

It's a little difficult to troubleshoot at the dock.

 

[nashuasteve]

Did you check to see if it was salt or fresh water?

 

[LittleCreek]

Too many probabilities to list, but like "nashuasteve" said....you need to know if it's salt or sweet water first, so you can narrow in on your inspection.

Check all the obvious fittings and go from there. Check your deck to hull sealing while you are at it.

 

[Guts1236]

I had the same problem come to find out it was a leaky freshwater tank starboard side under the sittee (SP)

 

[colinhulse]

I had that

My O'day 30 had water in the bilge after every starboard tack. It was the little plastic thru hull that sits above the waterline and drains the bathroom sink. It struck something hanging off a dock and the bottom half broke away. I went half 'nutz' trying to figure that one out.

 

[Kings Gambit]

I left the water in the bilge as it was and continued my journey a bit more upright and the alarm never came on again.

Then on the sail back home it was much better winds 15-18 knots the entire way and the bilge alarm did come on just once. I believe that's just because the existing water was sloshing around and lifted the float switch momentarily.

Interesting story. I suppose some water might be entering via the stanchion mounts if they have not been rebedded lately as the boat was evidently wet on deck for quite a bit of the time. Might be problem on one side only. This has happened to me (= rebedding project) but not so much water as you report. Curious that you left the bilge with the water you first discovered on the outbound after arriving. Was it dry when you left Long Beach? Why not pump or sponge it out at destination (Catalina) so you could better access if any new water entered on the way home?

 

[Jsbridgett]

Make sure your fresh water tank under the V-berth is shut off. There is a valve on it. We had almost the same situation on the way to the Isthmus 2nd last time. Heeled hard in 25 knot gusts. Water over the sink back and running down the hull. One of crew checked and it was FRESH water. When heeled that hard, the tank outlet is higher than the faucet...... Shut off the tank. Problem solved.

 

[jonelli]

I found it. It's definitely my head shower drain. When I closed the forward thru hulls my bilge stayed dry. Then one time it rained and I forgot to close the head window, the sink and shower filled up with water. Guess what? Water in the bilge.
So, somewhere in my hoses or in the pump itself I have a leak. It's pretty low priority though since I can just close it all up and not worry about it. What I can't see is how the hose attaches under the shower inside the bilge. The hose that goes from my bait pump up into the bottom of the shower appears to go inside another much larger hose and from there on I can't tell. Hard to describe, I'll take a photo tomorrow. This is my shower drain setup:

Yes, there's no "bucket". It goes straight to a sealed bait/washdown pump then pumps out to the sink.

 

[jonelli]

Wow, I was going through my old threads and saw this. It turns out that this problem was entirely due to my steering quadrant drain through hull. It was cracked and leaking in following seas or anything where the stern would be low in the water. I finally found it and fixed it. Different thread here 7 years later:

Steering drain through hull

Want to replace this. I have a 87 mkII. is there a standard size thru hull? assuming this was original? looks like about 1” to me. But I’d have to get my calipers and/or pull it first. Do you recommend just pulling it first then go search for the replacement? Or can I get something ahead of...

forums.sailboatowners.com

 

[fox9988]

I'd like to pump my shower water directly overboard. I need to look into a solution for a MK1. Not sure if I can attach a hose to the shower drain.

 

[jonelli]

I'd like to pump my shower water directly overboard. I need to look into a solution for a MK1. Not sure if I can attach a hose to the shower drain.

Here's what's in my bilge. I had to rebuild it once, and the original pump wasn't available, so I 3-D printed the piece to make a regular cheap pump into the same part:

The shower drain goes to the inlet nipple, and output goes into a spigot on the head sink. I don't have a pic of the head sink, and don't see any online, but I'll take a photo next time so you can see the spigot.

 

[Ward H]

Wow, I was going through my old threads and saw this. It turns out that this problem was entirely due to my steering quadrant drain through hull. It was cracked and leaking in following seas or anything where the stern would be low in the water. I finally found it and fixed it. Different thread here 7 years later:

Wow! Talk about follow up. @jonelli I think you are the king of follow up. Members here will be very proud of you!.
Anyway, interesting find. I always thought that was a weak point.