The 'Whale' water fittings used on earlier C320's are prone to crack or break under pressure. I've had three such instances. In each case we were motoring or sailing and didn't know the break had caused the water pump to completely empty one (or both) tanks into the bilge. This happened with both fittings under the head sink and one fitting at the stern shower.
Peter Clancy
AROBAN C#20 3222
Miami, FL
----- Original Message -----
From: Dave Sparks<mailto:dlsparks at gmail.com>
To: C320-List<mailto:C320-List at catalina320.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 01, 2006 8:50 AM
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Water in Bilge and Keel Bolts
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<mailto: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<mailto:dlsparks at gmail.com>
www.dbsparks.com<http://www.dbsparks.com/>