Hunter 33 leak - hard to trace

[Dreamer]

Dear All
My Hunter 33 (2006) has a leak which shows in the area of the shower pump (lowest part of the boat). The water tastes salty so it is coming in from the sea. I get about a pint of water out with a sponge and it keeps coming in from the starboard side. Only this small amount comes in everytime I go back to the boat (about once a week)
Before you ask:
All seacocks, including engine water cooling intake, have remained closed.
All skin fittings remain dry, whilst the water is visibly appearing in the shower pump bilge.
Examination of all the keel bolts confirms them as completely dry.
The depth sounder and log transducer bilges are completely dry.
The visible source is actually seeping through the laminate of the shower pump bilge, at a point where there is some de-lamination, and below the limber hole levels.
The batteries have remained with a full charge, suggesting that the auto pump has not operated - or only operated for the occasional short burst.
The attached photo shows the location of the seepage.
I know other 33 owners in England have a similar issue and have not been able to trace the leak - have any of our American friends and fellow Hunter owners got the same problem and have you solved it??
Many thanks in advance
Martin

 

[Bill Roosa]

Hey Martin
You say that it is below thel level of the lumber holes???
That would imply that it is travling down the inside of the fiberglass panel. Since it is salt water I'm thinking it is getting in from one of the underwater fittings. A leak around a thru-hull into the fiberglass and along it till it reaches the bilge. course that would not stop till the boat sank so .......??
The only other thing I can think of is the lumber holes are plugged but I'm sure you already checked that.

 

[Jack]

leak...

Hi Martin,
Are you sure that the water is ocean water?
I am asking this only because we had an unknown leak as well. It may have a salty taste but there is a lot of salt in the air and that may influence your judgment. Here is what happened to us. We always had some water in the bildge. We kept looking but could never figure out where it came from. We thought it may be the stuffing boxbut we checked that many times and all was well. Finally one day we are anchored out and it starts to rain. In a matter of minutes we get a consistant dripping of water coming out from under the oven and finding its way to the bildge. Long story short, Hunter says it is not covered under the 5 yr hull warranty because it is a sealing issue and not a hull issue, Right!!! they recommended that we seal the deck and hull joint with 3M 5200 from the inside. We chose to seal around the entire rubrail on the outside. The leak has stopped.
Hope this helps. good luck.
jack

 

[Dreamer]

Jack and Bill
Many thanks for your insights. The water is coming into view below the level of the limber and to see its source properly I need to see into the sealed off area on the starboard side of the shower pump bilge area but it looks like a big job to get access.
Any further insights greatfully received
Martin

 

[soling42]

This'll boldly go where no man can fit. Maybe it'd be useful in that impossible area.

http://www.harborfreight.com/digital-inspection-camera-67979.html

Mike

 

[LaColla]

The quantity of water you are describing sounds like it may be from melted ice left in the ice box. My ice box drains directly into the pan leaving about a quart of water in the bilge.

 

[marginal]

Hunters have a liner so your shower bilge is not the real bottom. There is space between the liner (shower bilge) and the real hull. Is the brown area your arrow is aiming at is a crack ? If so water is coming from this inside space... so it means it can come from... a lot of places as it can travel in this gap before reaching the lowest part of the hull.

 

[Jared1048]

Use food coloring in a bucket of water and poor on section of boat and see if it gets through to help identify source