Water- where does it come in?

Ok, I have checked the windows, no leaks. I have checked the deck hardware, no leaks. I have a big blue tarp covering the deck, no leaks. Monday I emptied the bilge dry. Today it was half full again? I power washed the decks last Monday and didn't see a drop of water in the boat. My cooler on the other hand had water 6" standing snide it?

I give up!!!!!

Have you checked the packing around the prop. shaft?

Best,
Frank

bayhoss said:

Have you checked the packing around the prop. shaft?

Best,
Frank

Click to expand...

Yes, everything behind the motor is bone dry. I have no drain also on my anchor locker at the bow.

Is the interior a full liner? Can water be going between the wood work and the hull?

Any insight will give me a list to go thru.

Try this. Put baby power anywhere you think you have a leak. Or in the probable path of a leak. Do one spot at at time and see if the power is disturbed. Also if you have had no rainfall, then look for an area that is below the water line. Your anchor locker has no drain?

Hope this helps - I'll watch the thread, if I think of anything I'll post.

Best,
Frank

Leak detection using baby powder.

Frank, Thanks, it all makes sense now. Ever since I can remember I've used baby powder after stepping out of the shower and drying off but never knew why, guess I just did what I saw my dad do. Eventually he had to revert to Depends, I guess he was just checking for leaks all those years. Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA

There really is no place to put the baby powder, everything is the cabin stays dry, I spent 5 hrs cleaning the deck on Monday and went over it again today. The cabin area stays dry.

I do have two cut outs in the transom for the internal backstay, but this would be too small of an area. I think that it's going to require me unzipping the headliner and search further.

I have replaced the mast boot, and put caulking in the sail track. Everything from the mast to the companionway is covered with a tarp.

I may have a thruhull leaking slowly?

Very possible that you may have a slow leak on a thru hull. If your thru hulls are mounted on plywood plates they will be wet. Check there. If you have had no rain or water to the topside then the leak would seem to be from below the water line. Another thing to try is using the hose to wet defined areas of the top side to see the result. It may at least get you in the right direction.

Best,
Frank

Glyn, that leak is usually not difficult to find!
Best,
Frank

Mystery leak.

Chris, Can you stay aboard or nearby in order to check the bilge every short while for a day? Have you ruled out the rudder shaft or if none, the gudgeons, etc? I don't know how deep your bilge is but if it was half full after five days, surely a little trickle would become apparent with patience. Are you limited to a small area to look in your bilge? With luck you could at least determine the direction the leak was coming from, forward, aft, port or starboard. Determine the maximum level of a full bilge and look for through hull fittings between there and the waterline. It could be something as simple as a loose hose clamp or a seeping fitting. Failing everything else and ruling out water incursion from above the waterline and assuming that the maximum safe height of the bilge is relatively close to the waterline, you might want to enlist the aid of your local boat yard. With the bilge totally full (fill it with a garden hose if necessary), they could haul you out and put the boat on stands for the day. Get a comfortable folding chair, sit in the shadow of the boat and with something to eat and drink, maybe a radio to while away the hours, sit down to watch for a trickle coming OUT of the boat. Wait a minute, you have an E25, how about doing the same with a trailer, you own or a borrowed one? Please keep us all informed of the eventual outcome. Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA

Oops!

Chris, Sorry, I just looked back and see that you're probably talking about your E33 and that you don't even own an E25. So forget the trailer idea. Glyn

CSMcKillip said:

My cooler on the other hand had water 6" standing snide it?

I give up!!!!!

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We're talking the ice box in the galley, yes? This is really odd to me. How is it setup to drain, and where is it in relation to the water line?

We had a very small split in one of the cockpit scupper hoses just below the water line that would just slowly drip. I had to make sure to get down to the marina and check the bilge regularly. It slowly got worse and drove me nuts until I found it. Changed both hoses and Regulus is no longer trying to sink herself.
Hope this helps
Greg

1. Yes the forward anchor locker does NOT have any drain, nothing.
2. The baby powder idea is good, I expand on this later.
3. The ice cooler in the Galley had at least 6" of water maybe close to a foot. I would say close to 3 gallons maybe 4. The cooler has a drain at the bottom that exits out under the sink, there is a valve to close it off, then it runs to the saltwater incoming thruhull. I have to shut the thruhull, then pump the water using the saltwater pump up and out thru the sink. I think this is a standard ericson design.

4. I have looked at the 1.5" scupper hoses and the starboard side forward drain our hose was broken and I replaced it while out of the water a month ago. I replaced the bilge pump last Monday and was down under the cockpit for about an hour, everything looked dry.

Now back to the baby powder.

I was thinking about this for a long time last night, my son has a buck of colored sidewalk chalk. I am going to color code the areas that I put the chalk, let's say red for port and green for starboard, then use different colors in other locations. I will also cover the flat area in the bilge to see the direction the water is running in from.

I think this will point my in the right direction.

Keep the replies coming in, I need to get this sorted out quickly.

Thank you all for the replies so far, getting a list down.

I thought the powder was just a way to detect water tracks, and that the color of the chalk was irrelevant. I'm a little confused about the use of colored chalk: are you hoping that the bilge water will be tinted to the color of the water source?

Just plain powder is all you need.

Joe, You're right, different chalk colors are not necessary because it's the rivulet of water that will displace the powder that you're looking for. Glyn

I would put paper towels all around the top of the bilge. If there is no wet area there then the only place it could be coming in from are the keel bolts. A final test of that is to haul the boat and put water in the bilge and look for leaks outside the hull. I really hope you find a wet paper towel.

It is, what it is. A 28 year old fiberglass boat. If it's the keel bolts, we will pull the boat and fix it. We have had an unusual amount of rain come up from Alex.

Power will work, but will be really hard to get it to stick to the side of the hull, I was thinking that the color would be helpful.

I think you need to get back to the ice box. Here's why. Water isn't running uphill. Either the ice box is below the water line and there's something going on with the drain side allowing water into it and the rest of the boat, or the leak is up higher than the ice box, e.g. not keel bolts, and is running down someplace into the ice box as well as the bilge. Am I making sense?

Check all the hose clamps on your fresh water supply,I had the whole tank leak into my bilge once. I'm not familiar with the E33 layout but it seems that the leak is definitely below the waterline from your description.

Emerald said:

I think you need to get back to the ice box. Here's why. Water isn't running uphill. Either the ice box is below the water line and there's something going on with the drain side allowing water into it and the rest of the boat, or the leak is up higher than the ice box, e.g. not keel bolts, and is running down someplace into the ice box as well as the bilge. Am I making sense?

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I do agree, I did not understand why there was water in there, about a month before we cleaned out the ice box, I remember because of the smell of rotten beer cans and god knows what else.

The box looks to be below the water line, it is hooked right to the seawater thru hull, maybe it filled itself up, or there is a leak on the port side, a big leak.