Quite what motivated me to check the bilge yesterday is a mystery even to me but I was a little disconcerted to find a LOT of water
A taste test (yuk but it's the only way) confirmed, to my relief, that the water was entirely fresh with not a trace of saltiness
That meant one of two possibilities - either rainwater getting in somewhere or a leak in the fresh water system
The water needed shifting and with no effective bilge pump yet (it's on the list!) that meant hand baling. And baling and baling!
Forty 1.5 gallon bucketfuls later and it would need a sponge to shift the last inch or so.
Yep, that's 60 gallons of water and the tank only holds 45!
Given that the bilge was fairly dry 4 weeks ago, that's about 2 gallons a day. That amount coming in through the deck via a dodgy fitting would be unlikely to escape notice so my focus was on the fresh water system
Usefully, the water ran out late last night so I grabbed the chance to investigate this morning. Refilling the tank, I then checked the bilge and lo and behold there was at least 3 gallons in the bilge again
Given that the pump isn't cycling, I concentrated on the unpressurised supply between the tank and the pump
I found a leak on the outlet from the tank which, whilst not a torrent, would certainly have made a significant contribution to the leakage.
I also discovered that the emergency foot pump in the galley weeps slightly.
Both problems, I hoped, would be solved by replacing the last few inches of hose on the outlet spigots and fitting new jubilee clips with the addition of taps to close of the supply to the foot pump unless it's needed and to the main system for maintenance (thus avoiding the need to empty the tank in future if repairs are needed)
With that done by late afternoon, I refilled the tank whilst watching everything closely
All went well, and dry, until the tank was virtually full at which point I could hear air escaping from the tank somewhere and a trickle of water emerged from under the tank in the bilge
One source of air was definitely the seal around the inspection hatch but that wasn't leaking any water. The second source of air is more of a worry as I'm pretty sure it's coming from the top seam of the tank on the starboard side
Access is not easy to say the least and removing the tank is not something I want to even think about.
For now, I think we will avoid over filling the tank - turning the hose off as soon as the breather stops burbling rather than trying to squeeze an extra bit in - and hope that the tank only leaks under pressure
If it continues to be a problem, my next option is to attempt an in-situ repair by whatever means offers a chance of success.
All that was left to do was to put the boat back together again which only took a couple of hours!
It was a distraction I could have well done without as I've got more than enough to do as it is. Still, the one upside is that we've got marvellously clean bilges!
A taste test (yuk but it's the only way) confirmed, to my relief, that the water was entirely fresh with not a trace of saltiness
That meant one of two possibilities - either rainwater getting in somewhere or a leak in the fresh water system
The water needed shifting and with no effective bilge pump yet (it's on the list!) that meant hand baling. And baling and baling!
Forty 1.5 gallon bucketfuls later and it would need a sponge to shift the last inch or so.
Yep, that's 60 gallons of water and the tank only holds 45!
Given that the bilge was fairly dry 4 weeks ago, that's about 2 gallons a day. That amount coming in through the deck via a dodgy fitting would be unlikely to escape notice so my focus was on the fresh water system
Usefully, the water ran out late last night so I grabbed the chance to investigate this morning. Refilling the tank, I then checked the bilge and lo and behold there was at least 3 gallons in the bilge again
Given that the pump isn't cycling, I concentrated on the unpressurised supply between the tank and the pump
I found a leak on the outlet from the tank which, whilst not a torrent, would certainly have made a significant contribution to the leakage.
I also discovered that the emergency foot pump in the galley weeps slightly.
Both problems, I hoped, would be solved by replacing the last few inches of hose on the outlet spigots and fitting new jubilee clips with the addition of taps to close of the supply to the foot pump unless it's needed and to the main system for maintenance (thus avoiding the need to empty the tank in future if repairs are needed)
With that done by late afternoon, I refilled the tank whilst watching everything closely
All went well, and dry, until the tank was virtually full at which point I could hear air escaping from the tank somewhere and a trickle of water emerged from under the tank in the bilge
One source of air was definitely the seal around the inspection hatch but that wasn't leaking any water. The second source of air is more of a worry as I'm pretty sure it's coming from the top seam of the tank on the starboard side
Access is not easy to say the least and removing the tank is not something I want to even think about.
For now, I think we will avoid over filling the tank - turning the hose off as soon as the breather stops burbling rather than trying to squeeze an extra bit in - and hope that the tank only leaks under pressure
If it continues to be a problem, my next option is to attempt an in-situ repair by whatever means offers a chance of success.
All that was left to do was to put the boat back together again which only took a couple of hours!
It was a distraction I could have well done without as I've got more than enough to do as it is. Still, the one upside is that we've got marvellously clean bilges!
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