E 25 Centerboard Water leak

[Skye Boat]

This boat is new to me. I have water intrusion through the two weep holes on either rear side of the centerboard housing with no obvious way to access the origin with the boat in the water. The bilge pump is activated about once every 1 1/2 hr and only runs for about 30 sec. I'm in fresh water so taste is of no help. Any ideas would be helpful...thanks

 

[Skye Boat]

A couple additional notes. Whether the board is up or down seems to make no difference.
I did an inspection prior to purchase with the boat on the bunk trailer. No glass damage was evident and the PO did not offer any info regarding the leak.

 

[Christian Williams]

I figure you are certain it's the centerboard trunk. (Limber holes in the bilge can transfer water from many mysterious sources).

OlsenJohn rebuilt a 25CB and has a blog here. He's very thorough and might be able to help if you can find him with a private message. Unfortunately he hasn't checked in for a couple of years. Click on his User Name and "start conversation."

Ericson 25CB Resurrection

This is the ongoing story and documentation of the resurrection of a 1973 Ericson 25CB called "Janie Ann". I chose the term "Resurrection" rather than "restoration" deliberately as we view this project as an effort to give a beautiful Ericson a...

ericsonyachts.org

 

[Skye Boat]

I figure you are certain it's the centerboard trunk. (Limber holes in the bilge can transfer water from many mysterious sources).

OlsenJohn rebuilt a 25CB and has a blog here. He's very thorough and might be able to help if you can find him with a private message. Unfortunately he hasn't checked in for a couple of years. Click on his User Name and "start conversation."

Ericson 25CB Resurrection

This is the ongoing story and documentation of the resurrection of a 1973 Ericson 25CB called "Janie Ann". I chose the term "Resurrection" rather than "restoration" deliberately as we view this project as an effort to give a beautiful Ericson a...

ericsonyachts.org

Christian, Thank you. I'm taking a few more photos and looking for some more info before I contact OlsenJohn. Thanks again...

 

[Jonathan G.]

This boat is new to me. I have water intrusion through the two weep holes on either rear side of the centerboard housing with no obvious way to access the origin with the boat in the water. The bilge pump is activated about once every 1 1/2 hr and only runs for about 30 sec. I'm in fresh water so taste is of no help. Any ideas would be helpful...thanks

Last year, my E25 had a leak because of a hole worn through the glass by years of the centerboard pendant rubbing against it. The hole was right at the spot where the vertical pendant tube meets the trunk proper. The only way to see the hole was to drop the centerboard. The water that got in there trickled out in various non-obvious locations.

 

[klb67pgh]

Last year, my E25 had a leak because of a hole worn through the glass by years of the centerboard pendant rubbing against it. The hole was right at the spot where the vertical pendant tube meets the trunk proper. The only way to see the hole was to drop the centerboard. The water that got in there trickled out in various non-obvious locations.

Great picture. I dropped by CB and stripped and repainted my E25 in the spring of 2022, and I was looking through my pics to see what I had of my bilge and CB trunk. I don't have a better picture than that.

I was going to post, I am having a hard time thinking about where the CB trunk would be leaking that would put water in the bilge. But that would do it. I definitely get water up through the pendant tube when sailing up wind in chop, but otherwise the bilge is dry.

Skye Boat - what year is your E25? Feel free to message me about the process to drop the CB and evaluate what you have going on. It wasn't an easy project, but it was doable with boat stands and patience extracting the trailer.

 

[Christian Williams]

 

[Skye Boat]

Thanks Gentlemen, Here's what I have found so far...still being in the water.
Everything forward of the centerboard housing is dry.
The forward section of the centerboard housing is dry. (Photo 1, view from v-berth access)
Port side of forward centerboard housing from sole access, appears dry. (Photo 2)
Starboard side of CB housing from head sole access, appears dry. (Photo 3)
Cannot explain reason for hardware on Port side of CB housing (Photos 4&5)
Oddity: Head door, top & bottom (Photos 6&7)
Point of visible water intrusion into bilge. Water level gets to a certain height then stops. (Photo 8)
CB Pennant tube, no visible intrusion point (Photo 9)
PS: she is a 1975
Christen Williams. i will forward this to OlsenJohn...

 

[Skye Boat]

Additional point...also, intrusion appears to be from the port side

 

[Jonathan G.]

Just my observations: As far as the water goes, I've never seen a leak through the hull that fills to a certain level, and then stops. What would make sense to me is backflow from the bilge pump hoses. The pumps can't evacuate all of the water, and some of it inevitable flows back down into the boat.

The trunk underneath the door looks a little off-kilter, and my intuition about the mystery screw heads along the centerboard trunk in pictures 4 and 5 was that somebody bolted a metal reinforcing plate to the back side of the liner to shore it up. Picture 1 seems to show a metal plate bolted to the inside of the fiberglass liner, in exactly that location. Is there any cracking or deformation of the overhead and deck which suggests that the compression post has sunk beneath the mast? (It does not appear so in the pictures.) I can't imagine how anybody could maneuver the plate into position, except during construction of the boat, so it seems it was built that way.

I have a 1974 boat, and the ballast looks very different. It, and the centerboard trunk, are completely encased in a single, monolithic block of lead and resin, bonded to the hull. There's no path for water to flow fore and aft, except over the flat top of the whole ballast/trunk.

 

[gabriel]

Just my observations: As far as the water goes, I've never seen a leak through the hull that fills to a certain level, and then stops. What would make sense to me is backflow from the bilge pump hoses. The pumps can't evacuate all of the water, and some of it inevitable flows back down into the boat.

The trunk underneath the door looks a little off-kilter, and my intuition about the mystery screw heads along the centerboard trunk in pictures 4 and 5 was that somebody bolted a metal reinforcing plate to the back side of the liner to shore it up. Picture 1 seems to show a metal plate bolted to the inside of the fiberglass liner, in exactly that location. Is there any cracking or deformation of the overhead and deck which suggests that the compression post has sunk beneath the mast? (It does not appear so in the pictures.) I can't imagine how anybody could maneuver the plate into position, except during construction of the boat, so it seems it was built that way.

I have a 1974 boat, and the ballast looks very different. It, and the centerboard trunk, are completely encased in a single, monolithic block of lead and resin, bonded to the hull. There's no path for water to flow fore and aft, except over the flat top of the whole ballast/trunk.

but water can get in. water that makes its way into the forward bilge can run underneath and flow into the ballast area if there are gaps or cracks between the hull and the ballast encasement. When the bilge is pumped out, the water will slowly seep back out. I had this problem until I drilled a small hole into the ballast area and drained all I could. I always wonder if there’s any left in there.

 

[Skye Boat]

Yesterday I completely drained the bilge with a shop vac. After an hour or so, it remained dry. Issue solved? I'm not sure. When the bilge pump activates, I have seen some water exit overboard, a couple feet from the transom. As the water level in the bilge goes down, there is inflow thru the bulkhead forward of the pump. not backflow from the pump hose. I assumed there is a check valve in the pump. So if not intrusion from below or at water level, where does it come from. There are some deck level leaks that I have not repaired yet, that may eventually drain into the bilge; however, the bilge water level did not seem the be reliant on rainfall...We'll see how is today..no rain yet...thanks all for your thoughts

 

[peaman]

I assumed there is a check valve in the pump

Depends on the pump. Might be worth it to investigate and verify. Inflow from forward of the pump might be a leak in the hose.

 

[Skye Boat]

Peaman, The pump hose runs aft of the pump. The water inflow is forward of the pump, thru the bulkhead shouldering the centerboard housing. the inflow does not appear to be from the housing, from what I can see...

 

[Christian Williams]

Regarding the pump, I would stand it up. It probably has a float switch, which likes to be vertical, and also better not to have wire connections in the water. Most centrifugal pumps don't have a check valve, as they're not integral to the function.

You can install a check valve in the outflow hose to stop flow-back, but not recommended because they fail closed, which means pump disabled.

 

[Skye Boat]

This is where it gets embarrassing. Instead of relying solely on the bilge pump, I attacked it with a shop vac and dried the bilge completely. After 4-5 days with no rain, bilge is still dry. I know there are still some above water-line leaks, but this finding is a relief. I'll deal with these and get her dry. Thanks for all the input...

 

[Christian Williams]

Wonderful news. Centerboard trunks were historically always a design issue. Our home-build Penguin dinghies leaked there. A few years ago I was greatly in love with a Cornish Crabber (Shrimper model) that unexpectedly turned up for sale near me. They are absurdly handsome little gaff-riggers with lines that make everyone nod helplessly. Talk about a boat you don't need.

But on inspection the centerboard was jammed. And on further inspection, Cornish had used steel pellets in resin as ballast, which on these models swelled famously to capture the board. The only recourse was a huge repair job that swore off every potential buyer. I only excaped when my wife threw herself between me and the boat.

Your Shop Vac paid for its weight in gold.

 

[Skye Boat]

Christian, So I guess you saw this, this morning
: https://www.sailboatlistings.com/view/104027