Water in bilge...

[BlueRunner]

Today I pulled my 170 for the winter. While the boat was on a moderate slope, I opened the aft drain plug and about a gallon of water ran out. The boat was in the water for 10 days. Should I be concerned?

I don't see any holes that may be a source of water except for the center board slot. I'm wondering if anyone here has left a 170 in the water all summer and if so, do you pick up much water in the bilge?

I'm also wondering if I will have to pull my boat intermittently next summer to drain water from the bilge? The boat is an '08 model.

I thought the salesman who sold me the boat said the boat have a small bilge. Certainly, water in the bilge that would freeze in cold weather can't be a good thing. I plan on keeping the boat in heated covered storage for the winter, so freezing weather won't be a problem for me.

 

[Day Sailor]

Re: Water in bilge

Ideally, no water would have been in the bilge, however, one gallon in ten days is not too bad. At least now you know to check your bilge as any prudent sailor would do and if it becomes a problem, try to figure out where it is coming from and attempt to fix it.

 

[BlueRunner]

you know to check your bilge as any prudent sailor would do and if it becomes a problem, try to figure out where it is coming from and attempt to fix it.

I understand this. I guess my real question is "Is it common to have a little water get into the bilge on a 170?". For all I know, the gallon that I drained was in the boat when I bought it. However, if the leakage occurred during my 10 days afloat, I would be looking at draining 10 gallons (if the bilge holds that much) after 100 days or a little over 3 months.

Next year I plan to leave the boat on my buoy from April to October (6 months). I guess I'll have to pull the boat after 3 months to see if the bilge has 10 gallons of water. Due to the floatation I'm not worried about the boat sinking.

As I noted in my post above, when I drained the water, the boat was on a pretty good slope in my driveway. Due to this, perhaps no water would have run out if the boat was level when I opened the drain plug.

The hull has no cracks that I can see so the only place the water could enter the bilge would around the drain plug, somewhere in the center board slot or somewhere around the rub strip that goes around the entire boat.

 

[JerryA]

BR,
I left mine at a dock during the summer of 2006. It was bone dry when I pulled for the winter. I don't know if it matters, but I left the plug out during storage so that no pressure would build up inside. The seam in the board well may be leaking. I had to take my board out right after buying new because it would stick in the raised position. Turned out Hunter used alot of glue on my seam and the board was getting pinched when pulled up. I pulled the board and took a horseshoe file to the seam to get a smoother finish. You may want to get under the boat and take a look. However, you'll probably need to pull the board to get a good look and then perform any kind of repair. Since it's new, maybe your dealer could do that for you. I have a I-beam lift in my shop that I used to lift my 170 off it's trailer. They don't weigh too much and you can pick them up by the cleats with a spreader between.

JerryA

 

[BlueRunner]

Bilge water...

Was your boat level when you reported a bone dry condition? As I mentioned above, my boat was on a pretty good slope in my driveway. Maybe as high as 30 degrees. If it has been level, I don't know if ANY water would have ran out and as I said,it was only a gallon.

I took a look at your photos. Did you buy that cover that ties over your mast at the dock or did you make it? Looks like it would keep some of the bird poop out of the cockpit.