[C320-list] Water in Bilge and Keel Bolts

[crashley at gte.net]

I have another theory on this. I always had standing water in the three 
lowermost sections of the bilge (where the keel bolts are) which I 
attributed to the old style packing glad that I know was dripping a little 
fast but I didn't want to mess with the corroded nuts. Last week I put in a 
PYI dripless seal which stopped all water coming in thru at the prop shaft, 
then I pumped and dried out all three sections and they stayed that way for 
several days. After I came back from a rather exhilarating sail last weekend 
(went thru some high heeling angles)  I noticed  a little water in the first 
2 foremost bilge sections. I thought "crap" but afterward I realized that 
maybe this was some standing water in the bilge line that goes all the way 
to the back of the boat and (I assume) must be still filled with water and 
maybe the boat movement and heeling caused it dump back into the bilge. I 
will test this theory at some point by emptying the bilge line.

CRA
Rosebud #882


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Charles Greenwell" <CGreenwell at sparusa.com>
To: <C320-List at catalina320.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 8:06 AM
Subject: [C320-list] Water in Bilge and Keel Bolts


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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