Do you have a way of knowing whether that 3" of water in the bilge is after the bilge pump may have cycled a time or two (or several)?I'm halfway thinking I should start a "rain log".
Checked on the boat yesterday after several storms came through, and found over 3" of water in the bilge (probably 7-8 gallons)
Having a really hard time believing that much water is coming down through the rig, but... I suppose, over the course of several very wet days, it's possible.
Bilge stayed nice and dry last summer (*) , so I don't think it is coming up through keel-bolts and there's no sign of water around any of the thru-hulls, not sure where else it could be coming from but... it has my attention.
(*) except when out sailing. Water seems to come out of dark and scary places under the TAFG when the boat heels. No idea how to get (and keep) those places dry...
Do you have a way of knowing whether that 3" of water in the bilge is after the bilge pump may have cycled a time or two (or several)?
Rain has set a record here in the Portland area for February.
Or, go low-tech and just use the tip of your tongue. :nerd: I've used that method to detect a FW leak from a weeping fitting on my water tank and it's pretty easy to tell the difference. I guess if it were a mixture of salt and fresh it might be a bit more tricky, but if you think it's from rain water it may be obvious. Of course, if there's a chance it is sewage I'd probably opt for another method :0 (though your nose might tell you what you need to know anyway).Edited to add: the geek in me has thought about getting some salinity (or PH?) test strips so I can tell whether the water is fresh, salt, or mix. Presumably, "fresh" would imply rainwater, "salt" would mean I have something else going on. But... not sure I feel that nerdy at this point.... mostly just itching for spring.
(*) except when out sailing. Water seems to come out of dark and scary places under the TAFG when the boat heels. No idea how to get (and keep) those places dry...
Or, go low-tech and just use the tip of your tongue.
I glassed in a 3/4" board so the water would be at the level of the limber hole and would drain.
I'm halfway thinking I should start a "rain log".
Checked on the boat yesterday after several storms came through, and found over 3" of water in the bilge (probably 7-8 gallons)
Having a really hard time believing that much water is coming down through the rig, but... I suppose, over the course of several very wet days, it's possible.
Bilge stayed nice and dry last summer (*) , so I don't think it is coming up through keel-bolts and there's no sign of water around any of the thru-hulls, not sure where else it could be coming from but... it has my attention.
(*) except when out sailing. Water seems to come out of dark and scary places under the TAFG when the boat heels. No idea how to get (and keep) those places dry...
A brief (and maybe even interesting) update.
A week or so ago I put a wood bung in the limber hole in the bottom of the bilge pocket just behind the mast step. That effectively isolated it from the other bilge pockets and the area under the TAFG.
Went down to the boat today to find nearly 6" of very clear water in that pocket... about 1.5 gallons... and virtually no water elsewhere in the bilge.
So, maybe that *is* all rainwater that is coming down thru the mast.
Kind of surprising.