We had a minor problem show up in our new 260 over the weekend. It appears to be a leak coming from the ballast tank into the area under the galley sink. There was consistantly a few table spoons worth of water down there and I didn't know if it was spill over from the bilge or what. I even thought it was dripping from the fresh water system. I dried up everything as best as I could and just sat and watched it. In about 5 minutes, there was a spoon full of water near the aft end of the floor under the sink area. It was actually coming up through the fiberglass in a small depression in the floor. I will talk with our local fiberglass guy tomorrow to see about getting this plugged. Hopefully there is some kind of quick setting resin patch I can put over it so I don't have to take it out of the water to patch. Any ideas? Jim - 260 "Spud"
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Bernie LaScala
Water under the sink
Jim, I also had some water under the sink. I found that it was coming off the top of the ballast tank when heeled about 15 degrees to starboard. I think the water was just some residual water from the problem with our maiden launch. It was getting in through some fiberglassing imperfections just below the stove cabinet door. At first I was going to epoxy that area, but then I thought that there may be no other way of finding out if there is water on top of the ballast tank. So, I have decided to leave the small holes in place. There wasn't enough wind this past weekend to put the boat on a heel, but as I carefully checked for water in the bilges, I couln't find very much. Perhaps I will have a dry boat after I catch a ggod wind and can heel her over to where I can soak up the little water remaining. Good luck - Bernie
Jim, I also had some water under the sink. I found that it was coming off the top of the ballast tank when heeled about 15 degrees to starboard. I think the water was just some residual water from the problem with our maiden launch. It was getting in through some fiberglassing imperfections just below the stove cabinet door. At first I was going to epoxy that area, but then I thought that there may be no other way of finding out if there is water on top of the ballast tank. So, I have decided to leave the small holes in place. There wasn't enough wind this past weekend to put the boat on a heel, but as I carefully checked for water in the bilges, I couln't find very much. Perhaps I will have a dry boat after I catch a ggod wind and can heel her over to where I can soak up the little water remaining. Good luck - Bernie
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Ken Shubert
Burping Bilge Pump
When heeling a lot and also catching waves, the loop on the bilge pump can be overwhelmed and allow a cup or two of water in. I've found that when we're "puttin' the rail in the water" then catch a wave, water comes on board. It probably should have a check valve rather than a loop or as one "old salt' told me ----- put a cork in it! Ken S/V Wouff Hong
When heeling a lot and also catching waves, the loop on the bilge pump can be overwhelmed and allow a cup or two of water in. I've found that when we're "puttin' the rail in the water" then catch a wave, water comes on board. It probably should have a check valve rather than a loop or as one "old salt' told me ----- put a cork in it! Ken S/V Wouff Hong
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Dave Condon
repair
Jim; Yes you can repair a leak temporarily: however, I would suggest that the boat come out to be fixed. You may have a "pin hole" which is easy to fix. Suggest that you first take the boat out and empty the water. Then put it back in with the ballast tank port closed. Add red cool aid mix to tank and then open it up. I would suggest this to make sure it is nto the water ballast as I am not there to look at it. I remember years ago a customer of mine drilled a hole in his 30' sailboat in the water on a lake without travel lift on that lake. Suggested a cork until I go there. Six hours later, I went swimming to appy an under water patch but suggested the boat come out soon for permanent repairs. As yours is trailerable, I would take it out and drain the tank if that is the problem. Crazy Dave
Jim; Yes you can repair a leak temporarily: however, I would suggest that the boat come out to be fixed. You may have a "pin hole" which is easy to fix. Suggest that you first take the boat out and empty the water. Then put it back in with the ballast tank port closed. Add red cool aid mix to tank and then open it up. I would suggest this to make sure it is nto the water ballast as I am not there to look at it. I remember years ago a customer of mine drilled a hole in his 30' sailboat in the water on a lake without travel lift on that lake. Suggested a cork until I go there. Six hours later, I went swimming to appy an under water patch but suggested the boat come out soon for permanent repairs. As yours is trailerable, I would take it out and drain the tank if that is the problem. Crazy Dave
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Dave Condon
one other area
Jim; Look underneath the table and remove the two cover plates in order to expose the base of the compression post. Take the boat out under top power of motor and observe to see if any water is coming through there. Please advise. I suggested this to Bernie too. Crazy Dave
Jim; Look underneath the table and remove the two cover plates in order to expose the base of the compression post. Take the boat out under top power of motor and observe to see if any water is coming through there. Please advise. I suggested this to Bernie too. Crazy Dave
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Jim Larson
Reply to Bernie
I was thinking that the ballast tank was directly below the floor under the galley sink. Maybe you are right, there could be a space. We went up to the lake tonight in hopes of draining a bit of water out of the ballast tank so we could patch the small imperfection to stop the leak. I tried motoring at 5 knots with the ballast valve open thinking it might draw some of the water out. Well, it filled it up a bit more. Our next plan is to take our trailer up and drain it completely. Then we can put it back in the lake with the value closed and do our patch job with an empty tank. Hopefully it won't fill up for a few hours and the patch can cure. It was suggested by our local dealer to use "Marine Tex" to patch it. I also have some regular fiberglass and resin. The Marine Tex is easier to use, but not sure if it would be the best for the job. Your thoughts? Jim
I was thinking that the ballast tank was directly below the floor under the galley sink. Maybe you are right, there could be a space. We went up to the lake tonight in hopes of draining a bit of water out of the ballast tank so we could patch the small imperfection to stop the leak. I tried motoring at 5 knots with the ballast valve open thinking it might draw some of the water out. Well, it filled it up a bit more. Our next plan is to take our trailer up and drain it completely. Then we can put it back in the lake with the value closed and do our patch job with an empty tank. Hopefully it won't fill up for a few hours and the patch can cure. It was suggested by our local dealer to use "Marine Tex" to patch it. I also have some regular fiberglass and resin. The Marine Tex is easier to use, but not sure if it would be the best for the job. Your thoughts? Jim
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Jim Larson
Response to Dave
Dave, Thanks for you input on this issue. As you may have read in my response to Bernie, we were hoping to do a little patch job, but it is just too wet to do it correctly. Our plans are to take the boat out of the water Friday evening, drain the tank and put it back in the lake with the tank valve closed. This hopefully will give us several hours to get the thing fixed. I am asuming the water is from the ballast tank, as it is coming up through the level floor under the galley sink. If the floor had the curvature of the hull, then that would be another question. Have you used "marine tex" as a repair for these types of small jobs? I wonder if it is okay for a job like this, or if I should go with the fiberglass cloth and regular resin. Your thought on this? I took another 3 cups of water out of the bilge tonight. We removed the cushions over the bed and left the access covers to the bilge off. I don't think I will do that again. The sloshing water (even though there was only three cups) spilled out of the starboard access hole and got the liner on the wall all wet. I forgot to check under the table to see if anything is coming in there. Is it only during a fast motoring period when you normally see this leak if it is going to? By the way, full throttle on my Mercury 9.9 4-stroke BigFoot only netted me just a little over 5 knots according to my Ratheon Tri-Data knotmeter. Is this about the maximum I should expect? Thanks, Jim
Dave, Thanks for you input on this issue. As you may have read in my response to Bernie, we were hoping to do a little patch job, but it is just too wet to do it correctly. Our plans are to take the boat out of the water Friday evening, drain the tank and put it back in the lake with the tank valve closed. This hopefully will give us several hours to get the thing fixed. I am asuming the water is from the ballast tank, as it is coming up through the level floor under the galley sink. If the floor had the curvature of the hull, then that would be another question. Have you used "marine tex" as a repair for these types of small jobs? I wonder if it is okay for a job like this, or if I should go with the fiberglass cloth and regular resin. Your thought on this? I took another 3 cups of water out of the bilge tonight. We removed the cushions over the bed and left the access covers to the bilge off. I don't think I will do that again. The sloshing water (even though there was only three cups) spilled out of the starboard access hole and got the liner on the wall all wet. I forgot to check under the table to see if anything is coming in there. Is it only during a fast motoring period when you normally see this leak if it is going to? By the way, full throttle on my Mercury 9.9 4-stroke BigFoot only netted me just a little over 5 knots according to my Ratheon Tri-Data knotmeter. Is this about the maximum I should expect? Thanks, Jim
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Jim Larson
It's fixed!
The leak under the galley sink is fixed. I went ahead an used the Marine Tex and it worked like a charm. The boat had to be hauled, but put it back in about 2 hours after I applied the patch. The tank was left dry overnight to make sure the patch was well cured. 24 hours after the ballast tank was refilled, no water. Jim
The leak under the galley sink is fixed. I went ahead an used the Marine Tex and it worked like a charm. The boat had to be hauled, but put it back in about 2 hours after I applied the patch. The tank was left dry overnight to make sure the patch was well cured. 24 hours after the ballast tank was refilled, no water. Jim
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Bernie LaScala
Outboard Speed
Hi Jim, Glad to hear that your ballast tank is fixed. I noticed mine leaking some water out around the vent plug this weekend. I turned the tank valve a little tighter and replaced the factory vent plug with one that has a small t-handle that can be made tighter in the vent hole. I need to pump some water out of the tank at the next opportunity to see if the tightening of the valve has stopped water getting into the ballast tank. Regarding your speed with the outboard, I have the Mercury 9.9 4-stroke bigfoot and it pushes my 260 between 6.3 and 6.4 knots at about 2000 RPM. This speed is based on GPS readings. I have an autohelm ST-30 that I am in the process of installing so I haven't been able to compare the two. I believe the GPS to be very accurate because the boat starts plowing at 6.4 knots just as it should at maximum hull sped. My guess is that your knotmeter may need to be adjusted. I've ordered a lower pitch prop for my outboard in order to reach higher rpms at hull speed to make it easier on the engine and to achieve higher horsepower (at 2000 rpm it is putting out less than 5 horsepower). I'll let you know how it works out.
Hi Jim, Glad to hear that your ballast tank is fixed. I noticed mine leaking some water out around the vent plug this weekend. I turned the tank valve a little tighter and replaced the factory vent plug with one that has a small t-handle that can be made tighter in the vent hole. I need to pump some water out of the tank at the next opportunity to see if the tightening of the valve has stopped water getting into the ballast tank. Regarding your speed with the outboard, I have the Mercury 9.9 4-stroke bigfoot and it pushes my 260 between 6.3 and 6.4 knots at about 2000 RPM. This speed is based on GPS readings. I have an autohelm ST-30 that I am in the process of installing so I haven't been able to compare the two. I believe the GPS to be very accurate because the boat starts plowing at 6.4 knots just as it should at maximum hull sped. My guess is that your knotmeter may need to be adjusted. I've ordered a lower pitch prop for my outboard in order to reach higher rpms at hull speed to make it easier on the engine and to achieve higher horsepower (at 2000 rpm it is putting out less than 5 horsepower). I'll let you know how it works out.
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Rusty Fitzgerald
Another Possibility
I don't know how similar the under-galley design of your 260 is to the design of our 1994 H26, but there is a space under there that collects the first (usually only) water that gets aboard. In the outboard forward corner of that space, there is a channel about 3 inches deep and fifteen inches long, with a "v" shaped bottom, that used to collect some water. We were also concerned that this water came from the ballast tank (and that the boat was sinking, etc) but it never collected enough water to overflow into the adjacent larger space directly under the galley sink. To rule out the ballast, we took a sample of that water, a sample of the ballast tank water, and a sample of the water from the brackish creek in which the boat stays off the Chesapeake Bay and sent them to our biology-major college son for analysis. The verdict? The water under the galley was freshwater, probably rain. It did not originate in the creek. This finding led us to look for topside weep holes, which we sealed, and to look to the fit of the hatch boards (see separate post). We also found that a little fresh water was leaking into that space from the sink drain, which just needed a bit of tightening at the through-hull point of attachment. Now we seldom see anything in that space, and then only after a huge downpour. Rusty Fitzgerald S/V "Solace"
I don't know how similar the under-galley design of your 260 is to the design of our 1994 H26, but there is a space under there that collects the first (usually only) water that gets aboard. In the outboard forward corner of that space, there is a channel about 3 inches deep and fifteen inches long, with a "v" shaped bottom, that used to collect some water. We were also concerned that this water came from the ballast tank (and that the boat was sinking, etc) but it never collected enough water to overflow into the adjacent larger space directly under the galley sink. To rule out the ballast, we took a sample of that water, a sample of the ballast tank water, and a sample of the water from the brackish creek in which the boat stays off the Chesapeake Bay and sent them to our biology-major college son for analysis. The verdict? The water under the galley was freshwater, probably rain. It did not originate in the creek. This finding led us to look for topside weep holes, which we sealed, and to look to the fit of the hatch boards (see separate post). We also found that a little fresh water was leaking into that space from the sink drain, which just needed a bit of tightening at the through-hull point of attachment. Now we seldom see anything in that space, and then only after a huge downpour. Rusty Fitzgerald S/V "Solace"
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Jim Larson
Outboard Speed - Reply
Bernie, I took my GPS up with us over the weekend and found that the ST-60 knotmeter was off. I can now get it a little over 6 knots and it can easily reach the mid 5 knot range at medium throttle. I've keep seeing about 1 to 3 cups of water in the bilge each time we go out. I'll have to make sure the vent hole is plugged sufficently. One thing I did notice, is that the battery compartment is still getting some water in it. I suppose it could be leaking from the main part of the bilge back, but I doubt that is the case. At least the water is somewhat manageable now, to the point of not spoiling our sailing days. We'll get it figured out one of these days. Jim
Bernie, I took my GPS up with us over the weekend and found that the ST-60 knotmeter was off. I can now get it a little over 6 knots and it can easily reach the mid 5 knot range at medium throttle. I've keep seeing about 1 to 3 cups of water in the bilge each time we go out. I'll have to make sure the vent hole is plugged sufficently. One thing I did notice, is that the battery compartment is still getting some water in it. I suppose it could be leaking from the main part of the bilge back, but I doubt that is the case. At least the water is somewhat manageable now, to the point of not spoiling our sailing days. We'll get it figured out one of these days. Jim
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Dave Condon
Responding to Jim
Jim; I am glad to hear that your problem got fixed and Marine Tex is a good product. sometimes a pin hole can make a mess but just a little resolve and your good to go. One other place to check for others is under the table which you have to remove two cover plates held in place by silicon. happy sailing Crazy Dave
Jim; I am glad to hear that your problem got fixed and Marine Tex is a good product. sometimes a pin hole can make a mess but just a little resolve and your good to go. One other place to check for others is under the table which you have to remove two cover plates held in place by silicon. happy sailing Crazy Dave
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Steven Bott
Water under the Galley
Hi Jim, I have also been experiencing problems with water under the galley. It continued to get worse with small periods of success from attempts to repair holes that was allowing the water to get under the sink. To make a long story short I finally took to our local Hunter dealer and they found that my 260 was accumulating water around the balast tank from a leak in the compression fitting for the center board. I they have corrected the problem with advice from Hunter to raise the tube using special washers they sent from the factory. When I expressed concern about the water that was trapped in the sub floor with no way for me to get to it. They asked Hunter for advice and they are having the dealer install an access hole between the stairs and the head so I can check to see if water is accumulating and manually pump it out if neccessary. "Sail On" Steve Bott
Hi Jim, I have also been experiencing problems with water under the galley. It continued to get worse with small periods of success from attempts to repair holes that was allowing the water to get under the sink. To make a long story short I finally took to our local Hunter dealer and they found that my 260 was accumulating water around the balast tank from a leak in the compression fitting for the center board. I they have corrected the problem with advice from Hunter to raise the tube using special washers they sent from the factory. When I expressed concern about the water that was trapped in the sub floor with no way for me to get to it. They asked Hunter for advice and they are having the dealer install an access hole between the stairs and the head so I can check to see if water is accumulating and manually pump it out if neccessary. "Sail On" Steve Bott
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