[C320-list] Water in Bilge and Keel Bolts

[Charles Greenwell]

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

-- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.8.0/352 - Release Date: 5/30/2006