Sailing off San Carlos Mexico in a 78 Cat 30, as I have for several years, a semi rough day 18 knots, 5 foot seas & a couple hours out my mate says, "taking water aboard", the cabin has a foot of water rolling about & my 1st thought is a broken thru hulll, a broken hose , etc, a quick check reveals nada. Just ankle deep water & after bailing & pumping got back to the dock. Pumped it all out, no more water coming in, no leaks, no nothing! So the question is "Wha happen", My 1st thought was heeling hard & siphon thru bilge discharge. Later thought that it might have come thru the manual bilge system (whale type) but it was a lot of water quickly. Head ruled out, so any clues out there? really hate to have water on the inside!! Fresh water tanks ruled out as still full...
Water in the cabin, mucho Aqua
- Thread starter patman
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We had a similar incident a few years ago--water coming in while sailing on a hard starboard tack but no evidence of anything broken or leaking. Long story short, it turned out to be the bilge hose siphoning water. Check to see if the discharge is under water while sailing, which will force water up through the hose, and the harder and faster you're sailing the more water will come in. If you have a check valve in the line check to see if it is defective. We ended up re-routing the discharge so that it is no longer under water when sailing. (We had to route it high up on the transom.)
Yes, a great place to start. I sank a skipjack in shallow water via bilge hose left in center board trunk. Good luck, Boatsail1
I also had the same thing happen. Why anyone would install a bilge pump with out a vented loop is beyond me. That solve some of the problem I continued to get water in while on a hard heel and in rough seas. I would also get water in the sealed compartment under the V-berth. I recaulked the rub rail with silcone seal and the leaks stopped. I also sealed the bow eye.
Sailing out in GOM, crew went below stepped into ankle deep water. Bilge pump discharge under water when sailing, back siphoned into bilge. Cost me a battery, but discharge is now WELL above water line, and has a loop.
Do you have any plastic thru-hulls above the waterline? Few years ago I was sailing my boat with a friend in some stiff wind and waves. Noticed water sloshing around on the cabin floor. Heart goes pitter-patter and all sphincters tighten.... Turned out that a wave had punched in an OEM plastic thru-hull on the bow that sits about 18 inches above the waterline and vents the fresh water tank. Whenever we heeled more than 25 deg to port it was like having an open one-inch hole under water. The thru-hull had deteriorated due to UV. Replaced all of them with Marelon.
A friend's 2005 Hunter 33 has the same problem. Took us 6 years to trouble shoot where the water came from. The bilge discharge hose is behind a v-berth cabinet. Go straight out. When you heel hard or hit a wave, water comes in. A simple vent loop did't help. The loop has to go higher than the highest heel point.
We used lots of food coloring dye and make up pads to trouble shoot this one. Very intermittent.
We used lots of food coloring dye and make up pads to trouble shoot this one. Very intermittent.
Check all your hoses. I have seen the hoses from the cockpit drains rot out and leak into the cabin. When heeled it was also allowing water into the boat. Quarterberth cushion kept getting wet and had to remove a bulkhead to get at the hoses. For a 1978 boat you can assume many of the hoses are suspect and likely need replacing. I've seen fuel hoses rot out and leak, exhaust hoses, raw water colling system hoses, you name it. Inspect all of them and replace where necessary.
Also check your cockpit drain through hulls. They are probably above the water line at the dock but under water when sailing and heeled. The sealant could be shot and leaking or the backing plates rotted allowing the seal to fail. This and the bad hoses will only show up when sailing causing the mystery.
Throw chalk-line chalk around curious areas. Take it out and knock it around for a short short, then look. It will be immediately evident if it's coming from a "strange" place. And the chalk is easy enough to clean up later..
I took these shots while I did mine.
1 Under the quarterberth showing hose lying on the hull.
2 Through the panel far back in the quarterberth shows rudder post and through hull with no room for any loop in the line from the bilge pump.
3 Vent loop I added in the portside locker to get the height needed for the loop.
Notice the hand pump with sufficient height.
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I assume you had no more water intrusion on your way back to your slip?
Running out to the fishing grounds from Cairns, OZ on a large sport fisherman, the bilge alarm went off and we found lots of water in the bilge. After pumping dry we could find absolutely no reason for the water, so we continued on our way, only to have the alarm go off again, about 20 minutes later. Again, no leaks. Third time, we left a crew member in the engine room and that's how we found a bad freeze plug. No engine running; no water ingress.
A cautionary tale.
Running out to the fishing grounds from Cairns, OZ on a large sport fisherman, the bilge alarm went off and we found lots of water in the bilge. After pumping dry we could find absolutely no reason for the water, so we continued on our way, only to have the alarm go off again, about 20 minutes later. Again, no leaks. Third time, we left a crew member in the engine room and that's how we found a bad freeze plug. No engine running; no water ingress.
A cautionary tale.
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