our hose leak 15 miles offshore
This past summer, we were taking my friends new to him (30 year old boat) out for a test run. We were about 15 miles out when we started taking on water. We had filled up the fresh water holding tank with water and a bottle of bleach that morning, and our first thought was that this old tank or hose thereto attached were leaking, but the water in the bilge was distinctly odorless compared to the water that we were able to pump out at the sink fawcett. The water that was coming in was fresh lake water. The owner pumped it out, but it filled up the bilge again in short order. He pulled up the floorboards, pumped it dry, soaked up any residual water, and watched it refill from somewhere up front. He was able to trace it back to a hose leading to a through hull that at one time drained an anchor well. The through hull was just below the waterline and on port tack was letting water back up through the hose, and although it was plugged off, the hose itself had deteriorated and was leaking in three places. He was able to cut off the bad portion of the hose and reposition the good portion over the through hull and re-plug it, while I sailed the boat back to the harbour. The next day we were able to replace the hose, and go out again. The lesson I learned caused me to change out all my old hoses.