water on the wrong side

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W.J.

When we have several people on board or we are out in real windy conditions with alot of heeling we end up with water under both sinks . We have not been able to find the leak(s) . Our boat is a 1992 hunter 26 , has anyone run into this? wj E mail me at toolmart@micron.net
 
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Jeff

Drain Lines

Have you checked the drain line connections from the sinks to the thru hulls? Also check the lines the themselves. The last thought would be a thru hull that may need rebedding or replacing all together. H26 1996 "Festivity"
 
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Alan

water water

I thought the first h26 was a 94 model, anyway: 1) Check drain lines as jeff said. When heeling hard their "through the hull fittings" are underwater and it can enter the boat through the bilge pump or a loose hose from either sink. Some have placed one way valves in the bilge pump line and/or added a higher loop of hose. 2) Make sure that the inspection port plug is tight and the control for the ballast tank is not leaking. I keep dry paper towel around both and check each time I go out. 3) Check the compression post area under the table for leaks. Best done while underway heeling hard and then motoring at full throttle. 4) Consider that anything drilled into the floor may have punctured the ballast tank. 5) The areas under the sinks are higher than the ballast tank top unless heeling. This means that water entering the boat and landing on the sink area floors will flow onto the tank top and flow back under the sinks when heeling. This has happened to some of us and was perplexing till we figured it out. In my case salt water was on top of the tank (probably from a loose control fitting at launch) and would go under the sinks, flow back into the bilge and at times into foward setees. Each time I sailed there would be less water but It took two months to dry out. THEN a 2 1/2 gal container of water leaked under the galley and wound up on top of the tank and the situation repeated but this time the water tasted fresh not salty! If you look and shine a light between the inside of the companion way stairs and the ballast tank extension which holds the controls and plug and rock the boat you can see water on top of the tank if it is there. 6) Check all screws and bolts going into the deck and hull. However, the ones through the hull are more likely to give you that much water. You will also need to have a party on the dock and invite enough weight on board to get them under the water. 7) Add food dye to the ballast tank before sailing and hope the water under the sinks does not turn the same color. I found that salt water will kill dye, at least the red I used in a matter of two days. Good luck, if you post this under the "smaller boats" forum there will be more responces.
 
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Steven Bott

Sleeping in a wet bed

I have a '99 260 with the same water problems. Whitney's (local dealer) has added "spacers" to raise the compression tube to the center board at Hunters suggestion, but I still get water when sailing in high wind and we are heeled 20-30 degrees. I checked the galley drain line and found it dry. I have a flaw in the fiberglass under the galley sink that allows water to enter that storage area if there is water in the balast area so it is pretty easy to tell where the water is coming from. Whitney's also installed an access to the balast area between the steps and the head wall. This is a great idea but only works when putting the boat on the trailer. I also end up with water in the bilge under the master bunk. But of coarse with the wonderfull design of the bilge pump on the 260, it is not pumped out so I end up with a wet bed! The bilge pump on this boat would kick in only if the vessel was heading for the bottem. I'm sure there would have to be several inches of water in the main cabin before it kicked in. Anyway, I have purchased a big sponge so I can dry up the bilge so the water doesn't end up in bed with me! All in all this problem has me one unhappey Hunter owner. I have lost several items because of salt water contamination. A word of warning, if you have water in the balast area and you trailer the boat. That water will end up everywhere the first time you hit the brakes. The water is propelled forward and there is a designed seperation in the flooring near the water storage so it comes up there with force, in my case it then flooded the front storage units with several inches of water. To bad they don't have lemon laws for boats! Steve Bott Serendipity H260
 
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