Good morning group. I own a 2002 Hunter Passage 420 with 5 foot shoal draft keel. Water is getting into the bilge and I cannot trace the source. It appears to be seeping into the bilge from a hole at the bottom of the aft section of the bilge and sets off the bilge pump in just over and hour. I cannot find any other water leakage from water tanks, thru-hulls, packing gland or any other areas. it seems to taste like salt water. All the other inlets to the bilge are dry and I cannot seem to find what feeds this bilge inlet. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thank you.
Mystery Water in Bilge
- Thread starter tfatland
- Start date
I had a tiny trickle after launching once. The only thing that would hold up against the incoming water was some plumbers epoxy stick. I would put some of that on there to see if that's what's leaking and to potentially stop the leak until you can haul out and do a proper repair. I found it took more effort to grind through it than the fiberglass. I always keep some in my emergency kit
I had a very small leak from the aft section of the bilge. I think your 420 has a very similar bilge to my 40.5. My leak was much smaller than that but we traced it to some damage to the keep stub at about the point the keel attaches to the stub. In my case it was so small that it only cycled the bilge pump about once every week or so but the bilge always had water in it. I have a bilge counter installed and it is a great tool to give advance warning of a problem. My bilge is a very deep bilge and that area is very hard to access. When we had the boat out of the water for bottom painting is when we saw the source of the leak. It was not actually a We think the damage was caused by the anchor chain wrapping around the keel on a tide change (we have 8 foot tides here) that damaged the fiberglass near there.
If you are In Oregon do you put your boat on the hard for the winter?
If you are In Oregon do you put your boat on the hard for the winter?
Thank you for your input. I think we have located the leak and it appears to be under the diesel tank just forward of the rudder. We are not sure of the extent of the damage yet but at least we know where it is coming from. Evidently, all water drainage aft of the bilge runs down into recesses along side the engine compartment and through the opening in the aft part of the bilge. Our boat stays in the water in our slip in St. Thomas, USVI year-round. Thank you again for taking the time to respond.
Time for haul out? You'll likely see a spot on the outside of the hull that is taking longer to dry, start exploring there.
Keel-stub joint , shaft seal, shaft strut bolts are worth exploring.
Keel-stub joint , shaft seal, shaft strut bolts are worth exploring.
