Water Ingress

[Bing]

I'm new to this site and am still trying to find my way around.
We have a brand new Bav 31 Cruiser, launched October 2008. We have had quite a few teething problems, most of which are being attended to by the dealer.
However, our latest problem is salt water in the bilge in front of the engine bay. The floor is screwed down, so it's quite an effort to get to. When the boat first went in the water, the dealer found salt water in the stern and had it resealed - great. We thought that the water may have been residual from then, so dried it up and wait and see. But no, there is more there now. We think maybe it's coming in under the toe rail at the join of the deck to the hull. Anyone got any ideas?

Also for those with freshwater in the bilges, we found that water follows the stern shower hose down, so you have to have the hose lower than the hole it comes out of. Also we have a loose rudder stock (will be attended to shortly - Bavaria in Sydney say that's okay), and water comes in through there if it rains or when you hose down.

I thought the idea was to keep the water on the outside!

 

[Mikail]

impeller hoses

If you have this problem when or after you use your engine then you had better check the raw water hoses to and from the impeller. Water might drop from the hose bolts. If so you should tighten the bolts or replace with new ones.

 

[Bing]

Re: impeller hoses

No, there is no water in the engine bay, so it's not the hoses.

 

[CalebD]

How about where the prop shaft leaves the boat (aka, stuffing box)?

 

[Bing]

No, no stuffing box. It's a saildrive. I feel it has to be around the join of the hull to the deck. I hate to think what it will take to fix it if it is.

 

[CalebD]

If you mean the hull/deck joint I have a hard time imagining how salt water can get into your boat at deck level unless your boat is on a mooring location that gets some significant waves. Your Bavaria should have a significant freeboard that will keep wave action from pushing water into the hull-deck joint.
Are you sure it is salt water? It could be rainwater coming down the mast which is mixing with a minimal amount of salt water that is already there. One simple way to try to find out the means of ingress of water is to spend a few nights on your boat - the rougher and rainier the better.
Another possibility is that your bilges have supporting members built into them. Some of the low sections may not have 'limber holes' for letting the water drain to the low spots on the boat where the bilge pump(s) can take care of it. This would leave a minimal amount of water in there that would partially drain out over a bouncy night. Can you see every inch of your bilge? Do you know what the inside of the hull looks like under your V-berth and under the settees?
If you are not seeing a lot of water then it is quite possible that your hull was not designed to drain properly and will likely have some high spots (on the inside) that trap water that eventually leaks down to the low spots of the bilge.
If the hull to deck join is leaking then it should not be so difficult to diagnose if you can already see this part from the inside (no headliners). Take your boat out with crew and get it heeled over on each tack and check inside the cabin if water is coming in each time you get the rail buried in the sea. If water is coming in you have your answer.
I would likely suspect a head intake hose, engine intake hose or sink drain as the likely culprit since it sounds like a pretty new boat. Close those seacocks when sailing if this is the case.
The only other possibilities could be your through hull instruments (depth, speed). If they are leaking you should easily be able to determine this by drying out the area, spending the night on the boat and checking the same area for moisture the next morning. Rudder post? Scuppers leaking?
Yes, you are supposed to keep the water on the outside.

 

[Bing]

Thank you for that. Yes, the dealer seems to think that it's a skin fitting that's the problem, so we're going down that path for now. Hopefully the mystery will be solved before too much longer.

 

[robgs]

My Bavaria (Vision 40) and I'm guessing your as well has the sink drain thru-hulls
located just above the waterline. These thru-hulls/seacocks/hose connections could
be letting seawater in. I also doubt that it's the hull/deck joint-rainwater maybe, seawater unlikely.

Rob

 

[firehoser75]

Head Thru Hulls

I don't mean to talk down to anyone, but on most Bavarias that I have been on, all head thru hulls MUST be kept closed when under sail, except of course when you are in the head and need to temporarily open one (if you know what I mean ). Otherwise, you could get sea water coming in and flooding the boat (in the worst of situations). My boat has warnings (from the manufacturer) to this effect on the wall in the head. The galley drains are less of an issue as the sink is almost on the boat's center line and therefore above the water line when heeled over.
I too doubt it would be sea water entering through the hull to deck joint. Possibly sea water is entering through the discharge openings for your bilge pumps (both manual and electric) as these outlets are on the stern (at least on my boat)??? I don't know, it may be worth considering. Good luck with your problem.

Tom

 

[Ken Johnson]

Similar Experiences here

I have a Bavaria 36 - a similar boat, and have had similar experiences with mine in the past. When new, we had water in the small bilge just forward of the engine at the base of the companionway stairs. But that was fresh water, and we concluded that it was from a very bad storm.

If you dump water into the compartment behind the engine (not into the small engine bilge directly below the engine), it will find its way to the forward bilges. The most likely way salt water can get in there is from a raw water coolant leak, from a hose, fitting, or the anti-siphon valve. This water will likely not go into the engine bilge, but travel around it.

Yes, you can get salt water via thru-hulls not closed off, but (in my experience) only under darned aggressive sailing. We always leave those open, frequently get heeled to 25-deg, and have never had water come in there. I doubt this is your problem.

On our boat, but no others that I know of, there was a failure of the heat exchanger that let in raw water. If that were the problem, you would get an increase in coolant level to overflow as raw water leaked into it, when warm, followed by a decrease in coolant level when the system cooled down again - and it might be a while before you noticed signs of such a leak on the engine block. Yes, it did happen!

The chance that water is entering the boat past the deck-hull seal is extremely small - that seal is redundant. Also, you would have to sail very aggressively - lots of heel, lots of spray to get significant water to that level for a length of time.

Water coming in past a bad saildrive seal would find its way into the engine bilge - but this is easily checked - the rubber seal will have trapped some and still be wet.

I believe a bad rudder suspension will not leak into the boat - but not sure. If it did - that water will find its way to the main bilges.

Finally, on Bavarias, the hull stiffeners are all vented - that is, they have large holes in them to allow water to pass. Only a small amount can get trapped in there, and most of that will find its way out.

Hope this helps - keep looking - let us know what you find

Ken

 

[Bing]

Well, we've found the leak. It's in the transom where the hull joins the deck. It comes in under sail when heeled over, so that's the salt. Then, when it rains, fresh water flows down the deck to the rear, to the rubber seal, and through a bad join. We're going to have to pull the boat out of the water, dry it out, check with dye where the leak is and have it all resealed properly. From all accounts, this isn't the first time this has happened with a new Bavaria. Lucky it's all under warranty.