Hunter 33.5 false bilge?

[wony]

Greetings!

We have been thoroughly enjoying our 1993 Hunter 33.5 with the family for the past few months! Just one problem, it smells like I'm carrying one or maybe 2 dead animals down under... I can see the liner construction on few places so guessing there is something going.. Sometimes some oil sips out as well from the holes connecting the bilge sections. Our engine bay is all clean and fitted with adsorbent sheet.. Got a feeling that over the year, some gunk built up in liner space?

Anyway, reading about the Hunter 34 false bilge posts on this great forum (False bilge issue Hunter 34), I'm starting to think that maybe our boat has a similar design?

Any Hunter 33.5 able to share some wisdom? Here is what our bilge looks like when it's clean.. There are small holes (at top and bottom of that pic) that interconnect these compartments and allows water to travel. . Should I drill more to flush out all the mess that is most likely going on there?

If anybody has any experience, I'd love to know! That bilge section with this keel bolt configuration seems different from the Hunter 31 pics I'm seeing on this forum so not feeling too good about drilling the same way..

Anyway, thanks in advance for any feedback.

Tony

 

[rgranger]

I don't know anything about your boat's construction but.... until you figure it out, you might find something like this will kill the smell.

https://www.wayfair.com/home-improvement/pdp/ivation-portable-ozone-generator-600mg-per-hour-iati1078.html

If you push the hose into one of the holes in your bilge, you should be able to fill the space between your liner and the hull with ozone... and that should (will) kill the bacteria that is causing the bad smells. You might need to repeat the process at least once a season but this could be a temporary way to clean the air in your boat.

 

[rgranger]

And you don't every want to breath ozone so .... follow all of the safety warnings.

 

[ggrizzard]

There may be a 'sealed' compartment aft or forward of the bilge area in the pic,
but the area in the pic does not have a have a false floor.
So, before drilling any more holes, I'd determine if the adjacent area(s) have a lower bilge and if so, what's in them and the source of any leak.

 

[BigEasy]

Years ago, I had a 33.5. Impossible to clean the bilges easily because the teak & holly sole is glued onto the grid. I used a solution of dawn dish washing liquid & hot water (5 gallons) and pumped it thru ALL the the limber holes, using a garden sprayer, to thorougly wet the surfaces of the bilge. Went sailing to slosh it around. Vacuumed solution out with shop vac, rinsed with clean water, vacuumed & then pumped Raritan KO into the bilge and let it remain. It was a time consuming process; however, the results were satisfactory. Also need to trace all leak sources and fix to keep bilge dry.
Welcome to SBO! The 33.5 was an ideal sized boat; lots of fun.

 

[wony]

Wow.. So much wisdom and great ideas shared... Thanks so much to all!
- Will certainly check out that portable ozone generator. First one i see one fitted with little tubes like that one.. Can easily fit in some holes of the hull. Great idea!
- There are indeed compartments aft and forward of these. They are about the same configuration. Will try to take pics.. On the one I had above, there is obviously some sort of void/space where the bilge pump wiring/hose is leaving the bilge. I guess I should start treating that section with washing out water through all these opening. It should end up in bilge.. Will report.
- Dumb question (i have a lot.. ) as I'm trying to figure out the source of this water. Any trick to know if water is sea or water?
- Finally, I used Bilge cleaners before but didn't think of the Raritan KO trick..That's making a lot of sense to kill the bacteria. I'm guessing it's safe for all materials (wood/fiberglass)?

Thanks again for all the timely feedback from this amazing community. Will report back and hopefully be able to share a tid bit of knowledge to other owners.. In the mean time, here is what Hong Kong sailing looks like for those of you who ever want to come over.. Fun Fact: We have more than 250 islands and out of 1000sq km (small country), 75% of land is countryside..

Happy Sailing,

 

[rgranger]

FoR your question about sea water versus freshwater

Amazon.com

 

[Dean Strong]

I had water in the bilge consistently for awhile. Bought a cheap aquarium water dip tester at a pet store. Shows salinity with a little floating dial. First time was fresh water coming from screws under the helm step covering the helm cables. Second time was salt water (scarier) which was from a worn muffler that developed a pinhole leak. Never leave home without it.

 

[plenny7]

We just sold our 1992 H33.5 last month. I attacked that real bilge soon after we bought it and was amazed and disgusted by the crap I got out. I almost had to wretch a few times.

In the compartment aft of the bilge you show in your photo there was a weep hole in ours which allowed access to "real" bilge below. I took a shop vac and found an attachment with a small diameter hose and stuffed in in there and started sucking it out. I had to move the hose around, and up and down and after a time no more of that nasty stuff came out. Since I didn't know what was down there I didn't pour anything in there to combat the smell, but after sucking out all the sludge and cat hair (former owner had a cat on board), the smell did go away. I did that procedure a couple of years later but didn't get much more out and never had an issue with the smell again.

 

[wony]

Ohhh such a great idea @plenny7! Thanks much for the feebdack and sorry for late reply...

If you don't mind me asking, did you have to drill or you just vacuumed through one of these holes? (i.e. the aft one especially)

I would guess it's connected to the engine bay side so I guess I can feed bleached water to clean from there as well...

 

[plenny7]

@wony I didn't drill any holes. I sucked out the liquid through the weep holes which were already there. The holes looked original to the boat and were directed from floor compartment (or bilge) to floor compartment. Some of the weep holes allowed access to the bilge below, some did not. I got most of the gunk out from the hole on the other side of the top one in your photo, sucking out from the floor compartment directly aft of the bilge compartment you show.

This is the hose attachment I used on the shop vac - Amazon.com