Drainage in bilge

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saltygirl

My husband and I noticed a very small amount of dark brown water in our bilge when we were dewinterizing our 1998 c34 (not near enough for the bilge to turn on). This keeps slowly accumulating and smells very stagnant.  Our holding tank was emptied in dec 2017 and has not been used.  We have not had this happen before.  Has anyone had a similar problem.  Thanks in advance

Celeste and Greg Ray
Celeste and Greg Ray

derekb

#1
Hi,

I'm still new to my boat, but it also had brown water in the bilge. After lots of checking around I found that the exhaust outlet from the muffler was loose (two rusted hose clamps were not doing their job) so brown water was dripping from the muffler (as well as fumes) when the engine was running.

One possible source?

Regards,
Derek
Derek Buckmaster
Esprit, 1986 C34 Mark I #29. Fin keel, Universal M25.
Geelong, Victoria, Australia

Ron Hill

Salty : What part (4 compartments) of the bilge is the water in?
Suggest to mop it up and then watch it closely.

A thought
Ron, Apache #788

David Comando

I've had my boat for 14 seasons. This was the first spring that I also had brown sludge in the bilge. No clue as to what it is and where it is coming from. I won't be launching till June so I have some time to explore.
David Comando, 1987 Kindred Spirit, Hull# 55 sailing the waters of Eastern Long Island, and to other points in the Northeast.

anon

I also had he dreaded brown sludge. Turned out to be a leak from the hot water tank.
"ALBION"
HULL #369
M25XP

Jeff Tancock

This is weird. I just started getting some brown fluid in my bilge after 20 years of ownership.
I have had the boat hauled and it hasn't rained so the bilge was perfectly dry and I noticed some brown liquid trickling out of the hole in the base of the mast step. Wiped it up and more came out. It just keeps on trickling out. Can't figure it out! Looks like coke, dark and not viscous, not much in the way of smell.
Any thoughts?????
Jeff Tancock
Stray Cat #630
Victoria, BC
Canada
1988 25xp

sailaway

Some of the mast base had wood inside them. Depends on the year. Charlie

scgunner

   Saltygirl,

       Just because your holding tank was drained doesn't mean it's dry. My holding tank was empty and I was getting a dark brackish fluid in the bilge, long story short the holding tank had split. Amazingly, it didn't smell as bad as you would have thought.
Kevin Quistberg                                                 Top Gun 1987 Mk 1 Hull #273

Pgutierrez

I sail on upper Mississippi-bulge water was ugly. Added a TBSP house hold bleach and must have killed some bacteria.  Biked water is now clear.

rmbrown

I can't say it's the holding tank, but I can say that i discovered yesterday, while working on the vent in the rain, that I get rainwater down my vent line, so you might not be as dry as you think.
Mike Brown
1993 C34 Tall Rig Wing Keel Mk 1.5
CTYP1251L293
Just Limin'
Universal M-35AC