Water in the bilge while on the hard

[BJeansson]

I have been following this forum since late summer when we started looking for a Catalina 34 and joined by mid November.
Early November we bought a C34 1990 and are very excited. So far it has been a lot of cleaning, maintenance and projects but no sailing.
We invested in a new custom measured cover to protect our new boat.

On two occasions since the boat was hauled out (around December 10) and a power washing session, I have emptied out around 6 gallons of water each time from the bilge about 2 weeks apart (clear water, no pink color or diesel smell), the cover was added after the power washing.

Is this normal that this much water is accumulated in the bilge on a boat with cover?

Note that both water tanks are emptied and anti freeze was added by Marina who winterized the boat.

We added moisture absorbers bag inside the main and aft cabin, both have accumulated a 1/2 full bag in one month (while in the slip they did not accumulate any water).

Curious if this is normal as I assume the water does not seem to come from the tanks or external based on the cover.

Thank you for all your excellent in put on all kinds of topic, I'm reading all of them to learn as much as possible.

Michael Jeansson
1990 MK1.5 #1024 SR/WK Universal M35
Rock Hall, MD

[Stu Jackson]

Michael,

Welcome, great to see you here.

Keel stepped masts let water in.

You might want to spend some time on the old archived Projects & FAQ pages, which cover a LOT of the basics.

--  Original Webpage FAQs:  http://www.c34.org/faq-pages/faq.html

--  Original Webpage Projects:  http://www.c34.org/projects/projects.html

[waughoo]

Rain water and various hardware/port light leaks are the cause of much of my bilge water on the hard.  I also had a fresh water system leak in the manifold that contributed a fair amount before i solved that one by building a new shut off manifold.  As Stu says, the keel stepped mast will add some water to the bilge as well.

In unrelated topics, youre about 100 hulls behind me (I'm 1120).  Welcome to the forum!!

[Bill Shreeves]

Michael,
Congratulations!  I'm now 5 seasons in to owning my C34 which is also my first sailboat since a Hobie 16.  Anyway, I had no idea that it would be so challenging keeping water from above out.

I learned the following big lesson, nearly very costly, two winters ago while on the hard.  During a late winter visit I found the bilge about 3/4 full of water.  Apparently, when I dropped my garden hose in the lazarette a few weeks before and it pulled the hose off the cockpit scupper and at least half the water collected in the cockpit of my uncovered boat went straight to the bilge from a very rainy few weeks. I was never more thankful that I try to check the boat every few weeks through the winter.

[MarcZ]

I just vacuumed about 1.5 gal out of my bilge after 3 months on hard with decent cover installed. ( I'm also trying to figure out if this is from the mast only)

6 gal in sounds bit much. 1.5 does not have scuppers but there is an emergency tiller cover that was leaking on my boat.

[Paulus]

Michael, You might check the condition of your scupper hoses.  Easy way to check is to place a flash light over the scuppers and look in the aft locker.
Paul

[Kyle Ewing]

+1 for what Paulus said regarding scupper hoses.  My boat (hull #1010) had cracked scupper hoses which let water into the bilge.  Also check the side deck drains as they can let water in, too.

[Jim Hardesty]

I have emptied out around 6 gallons of water each time from the bilge about 2 weeks apart

Michael,

Welcome.  Hope you enjoy your 34 and this forum as much as I do.  Six gallons of water is excessive,  hope you are close enough to your boat to check it often and find the problem.  I would caution using a pressure washer.  They will force water into places that rain would never get in to.  Especially anywhere things are mounted to the deck.  I use them but with a lot of caution.
I don't, but many in Erie install a gar plug (drain plug) to keep the bilge drained.  If you can't check your boat often that may be an option.
Jim

[scgunner]

When I replaced my refer compressor a couple of years ago I also found the scupper hoses to be badly cracked and ready to fail. The only reason I found out was because the aft water tank was out for the refer project. If your boat is 20+ years old I'd say they need to be replaced, I was surprised to discover how badly cracked those hoses were. The problem is with everything in place inspection is difficult and replacement is very challenging. If you're going to replace them I'd recommend going in through the aft cabin.

[Craig Illman]

Also check the integrity of the anchor well drain hose.

Craig

[MarcZ]

Definitely a sound advice about scupper hoses, however he has "1990 MK1.5 " - no scuppers

An anchor locker drain is worth inspecting, at the same time see if there are any any modifications - factory original boat does not drain from under V berth to the bilge - at least not for first 20"

[Ron Hill]

Michael : I've chased that problem for over 25+ years.  There is sizable rain water coming down the inside of the keel stepped mast.  How is completely unknown!?!  I even rerouted the spinnaker halyard and turned that exit in the mast upside down - it helped a tiny bit.
I've been up that mast many many times and have never figured out where/how that water is coming in.

Just make sure that you check the bilge after a rain so it cannot freeze!  You can put some anti freeze in the bilge so it might only be slush!

Good Luck    A thought 

[patrice]

Welcome to the C34 world.

Is your cover is a full boat length or just aft mast version.

What was the temperature like.  Humidity inside the boat from nice sunny day and cold night will creat a lot of water inside the hull.

Mast keel step will bring a lot of water in the bilge during a storm.  I did remove floor panel and sat down and check water flowing continuous at base of mast.

One thing you could do during storage on the hard is to remove depth sounder.  Water will have a way to go and not accumulate in bilge and could destroy floor.  Install a screen to prevent intruders.

[KeelsonGraham]

Hi All,

Resurrecting this thread because I suspect the scupper hoses on my Mk2 need replacing. Can anyone tell me what diameter and type of hose I need for this? I can't find replacement items on CD's website.

[Dave Spencer]

Keel,
What makes you think you need to replace your scupper hoses?  Mark II C34s don't have scupper hoses.