Water in the Bilge

[Sean Kulczycki]

We have a 1978 Hunter 27'. We continuallyu get water in the bilge. Can anyone way where the water is coming from?

 

[Fred]

H 27 bilge water

We found water in our '81 H27 that came from the following sources:1. Packing gland at motor shaft and packing gland at steering post. 2. Drain for the galley ice chest normally empties into the bilge. We now use the ice chest as dry storage and use a conventional Coleman ice chest stored in the starboard cockpit locker. 3. Water leaked in through the deck-hull seam (under toe rail) ... fixed it by tightening the deck-hull bolts. 4. On a starboard tack (rail in the water) we had water coming in through the bilge drain hoses. The plastic thru-hulls for these drain hoses are on the starboard side and goes in the drink on a fun starboard tack. Fixed this condition by running a new/longer drain hose and included a loop. 5. We had a defective deck drain fitting (near the jib winch) that allowed water to drip between the hull and liner.

 

[Jack Laird]

More places

Hatches cracked around mounting ring. Seal with epoxy.Fresh water line leak.

 

[Michael Birch]

Overfilled freshwater tank...

can also contribute. This one stumped me for a while, I was getting a small amount of water leak from the inspection cover, under the bunk and then down the finger hole of the hold cover. When the boat is heeled even a dribble from a poor seal on the water tank inspection cover can accumulate and seem like a lot.

 

[Nelsonhow]

Welcome to the Dribble

I have a similar problem on my 1978 H27.Last year some water was left in the cocpit drain lines over the winter. The water cracked the brass T that connects starbord floor drain to the rear lazarette and the stern drain. This reduced the water in the bilge by 90%. I noticed that the hoses were pretty brittle and they could also leak a bit.I solved the ice box drain by using a portable chest. I have 2 leaks in the non opening ports (I think) , port and starbord drip a small amount. Short of removing the portlights I can't seem to stop the leak. Next years project is to remove them and rebed the units. I'm afraid that once I pull them out they will need to be totally replaced. Since the cabin liner is molded you can't relly tell where the leak is.I noticed a small leak in the cockpit wall where my depth sounded, Knot meter and compass were mounted through the wall. I re-beded them and solved that problem. There is a small amount of dripping from the shaft seal- normal- but it only drips when the shaft turns.I'm going to try the to tighten the rail bolts (from the inside to see if this helps, I hadn't thought of that.)Here's to Dry sailing.............If I can't find the leaks, I'll justremember to "wisper" vermouth over the gin. but only while in port. Not that's dry.Hope it helps.