Water under hull continues!!!!!
- Thread starter Pam
- Start date
If that's where the water is coming from it's easily repairable. You can get a fiberglass patch from any Marine supply. I've also had good results with automotive fiberglass kits available from any hardware or auto-parts store. Google will yield all the instructions you'll ever need.
Jackdaw's idea will let you know for sure if the water is coming from the ballast tank. If so, water is likely seeping past the ballast plug at the bottom of the boat rather than the keel bolt (you actually have a centerboard rather than a keel) then entering the boat through the access plate. The only time that you would need to access the centerboard bolt is if the centerboard needs repair and/or paint.
I would remove the centerboard and make sure everything is in good shape. Then replace it and patch the access hole. That should be good for at least a couple of years. Then if you ever do need to access the centerboard bolt you can add a hole to the bottom that you can plug. It won't matter if that plug leaks a little since it doesn't allow the water to enter anywhere but the ballast tank.
As mentioned, a used boat, in fact any used boat, will have some issue(s). There have been many discussions on this forum about busted stuff, and quite a lot of the time the person goes off to acquire some widget to do some thing and misses the whole step of determining exactly what the issue is. The point here is don't run out and buy a repair kit. Find the leak, determine what the issue is, and then (and only then) get a repair strategy together.
And for what it's worth, even if there is a crack in the tank, please don't try this at home if you haven't done fiberglass before. It's really not as easy as it looks.
Put more adhesive around the floor hatch. Discovered the plug in the ballast tank was not fitting tight. I did not put it in. I found another one on board that fits tight. No more leaking when I checked after a couple of hours. Would loose plug cause water to come in somewhere besides at the plug?? No water around that area of plug just everywhere else.
Having owned one for 15 years and being a very active member of the second largest group of owners I can state with some knowledge that I've never heard of a ballast tank leaking.
seals and hatches notwithstanding, there's very little that could leak unless there's a flaw or damage.
Is there some threads or other detail that you have to back up this claim?
http://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/water-ballast-leak.93866/
http://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/water-ballast-over-filling.131416/
http://www.macgregorsailors.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=18917
http://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/macgregor-leak.127738/
http://macgregor26x.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=22916
and so on....
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Did you actually read the treads that you linked to? They don't seem to support your statement. The two that were coming from the ballast tank were over-loaded and coming from the top plug.
That's the best idea I've read. Same thing you do for toilet tank testing. Only we use food coloring.
Forget the chainplates for now guys. She said it hasn't rained.
I wondered about that too. Fiberglass is more porous the porcelain. Food coloring may work if it's really diluted. You want an obviously "not from around here" color. red? yellow?...no wait...