Need Help With A Riddle...(bilge water)

[SteveLyle]

The weather's starting to improve here, so I was out at the boat yesterday working on my first '05 project (replacing all the head/holding tank hoses).

While poking around, I pulled up the sole section over the bilge compartments.  This is what I saw:

1) The compartment just aft of the mast, which I put a drain in, had some ice/water in it, up to the bottom of the open drain, which is about 1" off the bottom of the compartment.  No big surprise.

2) The aft compartments were solid ice, essentially full (about 6" or so).  I'm guessing it takes 10 gallons or more to fill them this deep.

3) The bilge pump float switch was encased in ice, in the up position.  The bilge pump fuse had blown.

4) There was nothing blocking the drain holes between the bilge compartments, other than the ice.

5) There was no clear indication where all the water came from.  My water tanks were drained in the fall.  The boat has a boom-tent cover on it over the winter, which sheds water to the toerail and the cockpit.  The cockpit drains were open, and the drail hoses were not split or leaking.  The boat is sitting a bit bow-high, enough so any water in the cockpit flows aft to the drains.  It's pretty obvious that the lead is aft of the mast somewhere.  I had a cracked scupper that's been epoxied.  The vent stanchions were rebedded a year ago.

Any ideas on where all this water came from?

Thanks,
Steve

[Stu Jackson]

Steve

There was a post within the last month from a skipper with a lot of water on the inside surfaces of his boat.  It's been, if I recall some discussions, a kind of strange winter for y'all - hot, humid, cold, snow, hot, cold, etc.

My guess to the riddle is that the changing weather patterns ended up creating a lot of internal condensation, even if the boat is well ventilated.

Do we get lollipops if we guess the answer correctly?  

[Ron Hill]

Steve : If you have a keel stepped mast - all of that rain water came down the inside of the mast and into the bilge.  
If you have a deck stepped mast you have one "hell of a leak"  somewhere!
I always take my fuse out of the float switch line when I'm on the hard, just so it can't stick in the "up" position and drain the batteries flat.

I've been working on keeping that water from coming down the mast for 17+ years.  I MAY have a solution - stay tuned.    

[SteveLyle]

Ron -

It's not coming down the mast - if it did it would immediately exit through the drain in the bilge compartment just aft of the mast.  That compartment was essentially dry (1").  It was the aft two compartments that were full, which to me means it's coming in somewhere aft of the mast.

If it were condensation in the boat, wouldn't you expecte to see it on all the horizontal surfaces - countertops, sole, etc., puddled up, not just frozen into a big lump in the bilge?  

I'm now sold on the idea of disconnecting all power to the bilge pump.  Thank goodness the pump jammed/fuse blew, or it would have sucked all the juice out of my 1 yr old AGM's.

Steve

[Jeff Kaplan]

since i also live up in the n.e., i just got a chance to finally get on board to inspect for winter damage. my boat #219 was fully covered, mast off. both water tanks were drained and 3 gallons of antifreeze was added to each tank and run thru the lines. water tank also drained. anti freeze was also put in the bilge.   to my dismay, i found the bilge frozen with ice, to the top, under the sole and all the way under the sink area.  i looked for busted hoses and heater tank but all looked good. i was able to chop a hole in the ice and slowly remove most of it last week.  this week all was gone except in the sink area and around the water heater,  we will need more warming days to melt this. my only guess where the water came from was leaking under the steering pedestal, down thru aft cabin to the bilge. the cockpit area was covered but we had so much snow that the cover came apart and filled the area. as it melted i can only think that it seeped under a weak chaulking around the pedestal. my question also is,where else could so much water come from?

[Herb Marizy]

I'm also in the NE.  Last year I was greeted by lots of water in bilge also.  It turns out that the water heater probably wasn't drained properly the previous fall.  I must have had water in the heater over the winter which froze, expanded, and "blew out" the heater.  It drained into the bilge and stayed there until spring.  One new water heater later - all's well again.

[Ron Bukowski]

The answer to this riddle is of interest to me since I too have this problem. When the boat was in the water last year, I was afraid that the water was coming in around the keel bolts. But when I was at the boat this weekend for the first time since it was hauled for winter storage, I found my bilge area filled with water. It could be, as Ron says, coming in via the mast but I will also check the base of the steering pedestal. It accumulates all summer long, whether we have had rain or not.

[Ken Heyman]

Steve,

Maybe I missed something in the original post and the replys but I would still be suspicious that the water is coming down the mast. If the bow is slightly higher couldn't water flowing down the mast enter your bilge and flow to the aft compartments leaving the area just behind the mast relatively dry (one inch of water below the drain you said). AS Stu pointed out condensation could be a contributor. I store with my mast up. I dump some anti freeze into the bilge but still get ice. As the anti freezer is heavier than water the ice build up is usually superficial and I don't get a "deep freeze". I'm interested in hearing your final thoughts.

Good luck,

Ken

[SteveLyle]

Ken,

I haven't figured it out yet, but I can't make the facts match up with the water coming down the mast.  The water level of the compartments is too different.  If the water came down the mast, I would think it would be deeper in the mast compartment than anywhere else - once an ice dam formed in the hole between the mast compartment and the ones aft of it.  The situation is the opposite - the 1st compartment that would catch mast water is the shallowest.

When the weather is better I'll get in the aft lazarette and aft berth and have someone hose down the area real well, and see if I can see it coming through the aft lazarette, or the emergency tiller, or the steering pedestal, or somewhere else on the aft deck area (the aft vents?).

Steve

[Jeff Kaplan]

i'm still going with my assumption that the water leaked in from under the steering pedestal, as my mast was taken down and stored off boat for the winter. last week i got on board after a rain storm and the aft cabin had puddles of water where the cushions sit, also stored off boat.