O'day 192 -- Water in the bilges...

[Jim]

All-

I started taking on massive amounts of water in the bilges - to the point where it flooded all the way to the transom near the drain hole. It was an absolute nightmare! There are only so many places to look on a fiberglass hull, which made tracking the source of the leak fairly easy. Well, so I thought...

I was clever enough to access and replace the drain hose in the stern by climbing inside the seat locker. I should have installed an access plate along the inside transom, but did not think it was necessary at the time.

Okay, so the boat still leaked even after I replaced the hose. I will take the advice mentioned here and install a deck plate to double check my work. There still could be leakage around the hose or gudgeons. I did not think it was necessary to unscrew and caulk the plates at the time, although this might end up happening.

**HERE IS THE QUESTION**

Do you think after checking the hose, grudgeons and back stay that should fix the problem??? I have reason to believe there could be packing that broke down over the years around the CB wedges. Does anyone have experience with the centerboard area?

 

[Joe]

Leaks

Jim,
If you're getting that much water in the bilge, the problem has to be one of the three through hull fittings or the lower gudgeon. The wedges only hold the fiber pivot pin in place for your centerboard inside the keel slot. The steel plates under the wedges keep them from falling out, and the caulking is more of an adherent for the wedges. Check the hose connection in the cabin for your centerboard pendant line. Jim, don't take a chance crawling into that hatch. If you get stuck in there you'll die. It's not worth it. Cut the hole for an 8" deck plate. You won't be sorry you did. You could buy an "L" fitting for your self bailing hose, and use a short piece of hose with two clamps to connect it to the existing sole plate fitting. Then run a longer hose from the end of the "L" to the fitting on the stern with two more clamps. This is what I wound up doing and it works better than trying to bend the hose from one outlet to the other. The backstay chainplate on my boat appears to be bolted and fiberglassed in place. If you're getting rain water, it could be coming in from somewhere else near the top of the deck. Keep poking around and you'll find the source of the leak sooner or later.
Joe

 

[Jim]

Thanks Joe!

Thanks, Joe. I appreciate the feedback. I will check out all of those suggestions and drill a hole for the plate.

 

[48dodge]

Jim

That picture is a little dark, but I think that is exactly the color scheme I'm going to paint my 222! Good to see it actually on a similar boat to know that it looks good.

 

[Dave K.]

I agree with Joe.....

If it is sea water, and lots of it, I'd suspect one of the thru-hull fittings. Joe said three, but I think he is counting the sink drain that the 222 has and the 192 doesn't.

The centerboard pendant line has a hose connection that is below the water line. You access it via the wooden panel that is under the cooler. The stainless steel pendant tube may also have corroded to a point where it has started to leak. I'd worry less about the hose connection where the pendant tube is joined to the fitting in the bridgedeck, but it could also be an entry point for water.

The cockpit drain is the other "thru-hull". Joe has described very well how to contend with that one. I used the "two hoses and an elbow" solution and sent a skinny friend in there to do the assembly. It cost me a lunch, but I got away without having to add an access plate. Next time I'm going to try and find a radiator hose with a 90 degree bend like some folks have done - that should flow better and have fewer joints to leak.

 

[Joe]

Deck plate

Nice looking boat Jim! When you screw the deck plate to the transom, don't screw it too tight as there is a slight curvature to the transom which will make it hard to screw the cover on. It will be hardly noticeable once it's caulked with silicon.

Dave,
You're lucky that you have some skinny friends that can fit in a hatch that small. Most of my friends are as chubby as I am. All kidding aside though, I'm happy that I installed the deck plate because it gives me access to get my outboard charging system wire through the outlet hole and into the terminal block mounted on the bulkhead under the cockpit hatch. I had run a #10 stranded copper duplex wire from the engine to the term block to the house battery, and I'm getting a beautiful charge to my battery now. The term block is a better connection than those chintzy electric outlets and plugs that they sell at "Worst Marine." Also, it's great to be able to look inside the bilge and know that everything is within reaching distance.
Joe

 

[Jim]

Radiator hose...

I installed a radiator hose last year to replace the rotted one in the transom. I was able to reach through the rope locker to perform all of the work. Still had water...

I did check under the cooler where the pendant line runs through the hose. I will replace that one just to be sure. Along with that, I plan to install the access plate to view the hull fittings on the transom. I did notice some corrosion on the bolts when replacing the drain hose.

Thanks for the advice, Joe and Dave! I appreciate the comments on the boat as well. There are more pictures of her in the 192 photo book on the main page.

 

[Jim]

Painting the 222

Hey Brad,

Thanks for the comment about my 192. I used a navy blue paint by Interlux. I toyed with the option of having it sprayed professionally, but it made more sense just to do it myself.

One bit of advice:

You might not need a primer if your hull looks decent. The hull on mine looked just like yours prior to paint. If I had to do it all over again, I would have not used a primer. Or, should I say, not have used a bristle brush to apply it. I noticed some brush streaks from the primer when applying the high shine navy blue. Do the job with two people and a foam roller. While you are rolling, have someone follow-up behind you with a foam brush to pull the paint flush with the hull.

You can't go wrong with the red, white and blue line-up. I have more pictures of my 192 in the owners photo area. I cleaned up the teak with a pressure washer, followed by a light sand and then applied Sikkens to embalm. Great product! Let me know how you make out...