Water in the Bilge - On the Hard!

[Rick]

After hauling and covering our catalina 30 last winter, I returned today to find the bilge completely full of fresh water. I know I had a problem in the past with water seeping through the companionway slats, but this should not have happened with the full canvas cover extending back to the helm. Further, I could find no signs of dampness outside the bilge.Does anyone have an idea where so much water could be coming from? The boat was fully winterized as well.

 

[Lew Thatcher]

Small drip

Rick, My 320 always gets a small amount of water dripping back into the bilge through the bilge pump hose. It could be rain water coming down the hose and backwards through the pump from the overboard discharge fitting. Or, it could just be condensation in the long hose. But, the bilge never "fills" with water. Sounds like you might have a leaking tank somewhere.Lew

 

[Allen Schweitzer]

Mine, too

Rick,I've got the same problem as you do. I've traced most of the leaks to my stanchions and some from the top of the rudder stock. It's amazing how quickly the water will fill in the bilge. After 3 days worth of steady rain I'll get about 3" of water in the bilge.I'd check to see if your stanchions need re-caulking. If water gets in there during the winter, the freeze/thaw cycles will cause the gaps to get bigger & even more water will leak.Just my 2 cents.Allen Schweitzers/v Drambuie C-30 Hull# 632

 

[Thos. Kober]

My Cat 27

Check your hatches in the cockpit. Even though they are closed I am finding considerable water leaking over the channel that runs the water out and onto the cockpit floor. If things in the Port/stern lockers are wet that may be your source. At least I think it is mine ..

 

[Allen Schweitzer]

One more idea...

Check your cockpit drain hoses beneath the aft cockpit locker. You can get to it by removing a small wood cover on the aft bulkhead in the quarterberth. If they are rotted out, you'll get a lot of leakage there, too. Plus, you'll definitely want to get that taken care of before launch.

 

[Rick]

Found It

I found that the gasket that sits under the tiller cap was warped. This is also where all the water draining from around the stern cockpit locker drains. Using a hose I found quite a bit of water dripping down the rudder post this way. Also found very small drip from under the helm. I actually located this when checking the cockpit drains- which were fine.Thanks for the help