Water in Bilge, even after being out of the water for a year

[patriciasailing]

Hello, I keep having water in the bilge of a 1984 Oday Daysailer II we purchased a year ago. It had two small holes on the bottom hull close to the stern, one on each side about 3-4" from the center of the hull on both port and starboard sides, and same distance or a little more from the transom. I installed an inspection port in the back sole near the transom and dried the bilge out (I thought so) and left it open for 5 months covered with a cloth to avoid insects, etc., while I was gone for 5 month. I also covered the sailboat with a tarp to protect from rain, etc. At that time I patched the small holes and left the bilge drain open.
My guess is that the foam used for flotation is soaked. Can anyone confirm this and advise how to dry it out better, or will it need to be replaced? Every time I lift the bow higher, water continues to trickle down to the transom. I would love to see a color photograph of how the foam looks inside the bilge. Thank you for your help!

 

[Benny17441]

My experience with tarps is that they are not waterproof; when it rains water pools on them and leaks down below.

 

[RussC]

Yup. condensation under the tarp drips on whatever is under it. might as well be in a sauna.

Like the standard C-1 (53-62) Corvette joke. "Mine doesn't leak a drop of water. it could sit for 6 months and that water will still be right there on the floorboards".

 

[Capt jgw]

On the other hand the foam they use will absorb water if left wet long enough. Try to get a hand in there and feel the bottom of the foam. If it's well that may be where at least part of the water is coming from. The top of the foam block will be dry so checking that is useless.
Unless the boat is stored under a good roof you can expect a little water to get in.

 

[Sunbird22358]

Based on my 1979 model, reaching the foam to check for wetness is near impossible unless your arms are at least triple-jointed. Most of the foam is bonded up under the seats. The area ahead of the bulkhead at the forward end of the cuddy also hides a lot of loose foam chunks and since water vapor rises, it may be damp in there. What I've found is that there are various hidden spots throughout the closed volume of the DSII that can collect water depending on how boat is positioned, then when the boat is tilted or moved, that water drains out to the visible parts of the bilge. I have found that if I have a small amount of water in the bilge, just leaving the 2 inspection ports open for a couple of hours on a sunny day will dry out that water. My boat had a pretty persistant leak the first summer (previous owner improperly repaired small crack/hole in bottom) and one time I came out after the boat had sat on the mooring all week, to find the bilge completely full (saltwater). Granted that was 20 years ago ,but I have a dry bilge now after fixing that leak. My season is in the water from Memorial Day to Columbus Day every year, stored in an unheated garage the rest of the year. I leave all inspection ports open while indoors, and also open the hatch that I added to the forward bulkhead to allow air to circulate around the foam up there. To properly fix the leak left by previous owner and to rebuild the structure under the mast step, I have a couple of access panels in the cuddy floor/deck. These I leave open while stored for Winter. Those access panels are great for access to the bilge for bailing, but not being sealed, do at times allow rain water that comes in around the mast and sometimes through the 2 drains in the aft bulkhead of the cuddy. to get into the bilge. Still, once bailed out and allowed to dry as mentioned above (a couple of hours on a sunny day, while I eat lunch ashore), my bilge is dry again. Anyway, thanks to my digital camera, here are a couple of pictures of the foam under the seats. I think I have more pics if needed. Also added a picture of foam chunks in the bow.

 

[patriciasailing]

Thank you all for your advise. I feel more confident now that I will soon have a drier boat! I have yet to launch and sail it, so I REALLY hope it floats!
Great pictures, Sunbird22358. I now better understand how the flotation is on the DSII. I read on an old manual about installing an inspection port on the bow bulkhead which I have been considering. I see you installed a much bigger hatch. Are you happy with it? Thanks again!

 

[Sunbird22358]

I installed that hatch for better access, previous owner had broken off the bow-eye and had installed a standard 4 inspection port for access. When I tried to get my hand in there to reach the bow-eye so I could remove it to rebed, found access a bit tight. Now, I can open that hatch and remove some foam temporarily and not only reach the nut on the bow-eye, but actually see what I'm doing! YEAH!
On another note, I think I know what O'DAY did with all the various pieces of Styrofoam packing that various parts and accessories were shipped in! They used it for flotation!