[C320-list] Water in Bilge and Keel Bolts

[Dave Sparks]

Have you eliminated the possibility that this is water from the water tanks.
Recently, I had a lot of water in the bilge and, to make a long story short,
finally discovered that this did not occur unless the water pressure switch
was on. In my case, the source was a loose connection on the cold water line
to the faucet in the head. This slow leak emptied both water tanks over the
course of a couple of days.
   Dave Sparks
   En Passant - # 933


On 5/31/06, Charles Greenwell <CGreenwell at sparusa.com> wrote:
>
> I have a 2000 model.  For years I pride myself for always having a dry
> bilge.  I went for a sail this weekend and upon returning noticed a lot of
> water in the bilge (about 8 inches).  The bilge pump was no pumping it
> out.  The pump would run but it was not pumping the water so, using a hose I
> shot water into the line to prime the pump and behold…. It was now
> working.  I pumped all the water out and dried out the bilge.
>
> The next day I looked in the bilge and it had about 3 inches of water in
> it, just shy of the point where the float would turn the pump on.  I hit the
> manual switch pump switch and pumped it out and dried it out again.  This
> time a made sure all of the sides flowing in to the bilge were also dry.  I
> removed the sole plates forward and aft of the bilge and also ensured they
> were dry.  This way I could find out where the water is coming from.
>
> Today, I have more water in the bilge.  I checked the forward and aft
> areas that feed it to see were it was coming from.  They are both completely
> dry, from the speedo aft and the engine compartment forward.. I checked the
> sides of the bilge under the sole and they too were dry.
>
> This means that the only way water could get into the bilge is from the
> keel. The boat was on the hard for the winter.  This was the first time it
> had been out of the water for that long of a period.  I saw no evidence of
> any cracks or other problems around the keel or bottom before it was
> launched.  The bilge stayed dry for the 2 weeks it was in the water after
> launching.
>
> Is it possible that the keel is leaking around the bolts?  Do these bolts
> ever need to be tightened?  Should I have checked them prior to launching
> the boat? Am I over looking another source of water?
>
> Randy
> Le Bijou – Hull 719
>
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>


-- 
David Sparks
dlsparks at gmail.com
www.dbsparks.com