Water in the bilge after rain

[standib]

The bilge on my 2003 350 hull #56 has always been dry until last Summer. It began with just a little water in the bilge after big rains but the leak appears to be growing. Last Sunday, a full two hours after it stopped raining, I had a substantial amount of water entering the bilge from under the floorboards on the starboard side (See attached image).
I have checked the stanchions and the center cleat. They seem dry. I also have a dodger that keeps the companion way and clutches out of the weather. I have no idea where to check next.
Has anyone run into this before?

[AynB]

Only thought is a leak running down the chainplate system - but that does not address the aftmost stream completely.
Get someone on deck with a running water hose and liberally water the chainplate / deck hardware - look for water running down the stainless rod. When we purchased Halona, that was one of the leaks that the PO repaired - not a big deal, but a major source of water.
al

[lyle]

My guess is the water is coming in down the inside of the mast and then through the mast step wiring conduit and down the compression post on the inside. This happens to my boat as well when it rains and is more pronounced with certain wind directions. There are holes at the bottom of the mast by the mast step to drain the water out - they may be partially plugged as well.

[standib]

Thank you for the idea about water in the mast. That sounds very plausible. Do you know if I should be able to see these drain holes in the mast? I don't see a thing but the base of the mast is always wet.

[yodagwb]

Been fighting that battle from day one. It seems as if some of it comes down the mast, even though it shouldn't. In my case a substantial number of rub rail thru screws were missing and some of the water was coming in thur open holes. Nice huh.

[TBOT422]

There are probably thousands of places where rain could eventually find it's way to the bilge on a boat. In our case the biggest leak we've found so far was where the forestay tang goes through the deck at the anchor rollers. In our case, I could actually see daylight around the tang after I removed the cover plate at the forward side of the chain locker. I couldn't find what I thought was an acceptable way to seal it, so I just filled the entire "V" shaped cavity with silicone. So far the bilge has remained dry, but we haven't had any massive rains, and we haven't been sailing since my repair. So I don't know what the forestay flexure is going to do with the seal.

[wolfe10]

Gary,

Good catch. We also got about 1/8" of water in the bilge for every 1" of rain.

Yesterday, removed the inspection port in the front of the anchor locker. With a mirror, could see daylight along both sides of the forestay tang.

Removed the old calk (only at the front of the tang). Then, using a gloved finger from below, forced polysulfide up into the hull to tang "gap". Only place it is going to be seen from above is at the front of the tang where the gap was larger-- forced calk from below until it got level with the FG deck.

Also, replaced the o ring on the windlass-- evidently a common item, as it was right in stock 2 blocks away at West Marine.

On edit: As Jon describes (next post) on re installation of the inspection plate, I used polysulfide to bed the plate. If it appears warped, use a drill and enlarge the holes in the plate just enough to allow for a little shifting in the plate to a "less warped" position.

Brett

[jonnjones]

Sorry - no pictures...but:

I'm in the process of finding and fixing leaks as well. One leak that I fixed was the inspection port at the most forward part of the anchor locker. This port allows access to the underside of the anchor chocks as well as the wiring for the running lights. This port is held on with four screws and mine was a bit warped, allowing rain water to run down the anchor chocks right into the top part of the inspection port and into the boat. I layered the inside of the inspection port with butyl tape to form a gasket and believe that problem is solved.

Now, I have a new issue and could use some advice. With my bilge dry, I still noticed a small amount of "weeping" near the float switch. After much searching, I traced the leak to inside the limber hole on the floor between the bilge section with the float switch and the next section aft. Using a snake camera, I spotted an area inside the limber hole where I could see exposed fiberglass. This is where the weeping leak is coming from. Question is, how do I stop this leak?

Am afraid to simply epoxy it over, since the water may then migrate elsewhere. Could this leak be from a faulty keel-to-hull joint? Would tightening the keel bolts perhaps fix this?

Any advice would be appreciated.

-- Jon Jones

[william vanwagoner]

I am interested in knowing if you ever traced your leak from the limber hole in what I assume is the rib near the bilge pump float switch, and if anyone else has experienced a similar situation?

[yodagwb]

I was missing 50% of the thru hull bolts at the rub rail. Since working on installing the bolts the factory didn't install (they did install the holes for the bolts) the amount of water entering the bilge has been reduced drastically. Try checking the rub rail area after a rain or watering.

[Strgzr]

Clean out the weep holes at the bottom of the mast - there are several there. I spray water inside the mast furller area and poke the weep holes with an old wind shield wiper blade medal piece. See all kinds of stuff settles in there. Heavy rain, water builds up and cannot drain.

Also, where the bow sprints join, the V area, water gets in there. Filled the whole area liberally with silicon. Used a credit card to make it pretty. No Leaks now...

[wolfe10]

Clean out the weep holes at the bottom of the mast - there are several there. I spray water inside the mast furller area and poke the weep holes with an old wind shield wiper blade medal piece. See all kinds of stuff settles in there. Heavy rain, water builds up and cannot drain.

Also, where the bow sprints join, the V area, water gets in there. Filled the whole area liberally with silicon. Used a credit card to make it pretty. No Leaks now...

I did the same to seal the bow area and like you, clean the mast step drains at the base of the mast.