water in bilge

[dannyd]

I just bought a picnic cat and took her out the past 2 days. I noticed quite a bit of water in the bilge probably around 2 buckets worth.
I read somewhere about centerboard leaks. Can someone tell me what to look for and the fix.
While sailing I pulled out the rear cockpit  plugs and water came into the cockpit. I put the plugs back in. I was the only person in the back. What is the deal with the self bailing cockpit?
At the boat ramp I unscrewed the bilge plug and no water came out. The ramp is steep but not steep enough to drain the bilge.
Seems that I will need to tilt the trailer pretty steep in for the water to run out the back.
I wound up sponging out the bilge which took quite some time.
Thanks

[skip1930]

I'd suspect the pivot bolt that the centerboard swings on.
One could 'hang the hull' on the hull bunks of the trailer by jacking up the boat off the trailer and skinny under there for a look~see around the bolt.
Maybe even drop the centerboard particially out of the centerboard trunk.

I don't know but maybe access to the bolt is from inside the hull, yet still be under the waterline...the bolt being above the very base of the centerboard trunk?

Seems to be a reoccurring problem with these cat boats. R&R the rubbers that seal up whatever hole that is below the water line.
I highly doubt that the centerboard trunk leaks a drop.

As far as self bailing cocklpits having a plug, Don't stop sailing fwd in the water and you'll be OK. Lock in the plug before coming about.

skip.

[dannyd]

The centerboard bolt acess is through one of the side seat hatches. I see that there is a rubber washer on there and maybe this is bad.
I was going to use some spray rubber sealant around the trunk but I think I will put the boat in the water and see if the water is coming in at the bolt.
Thanks for your suggestions.

[skip1930]

" ...spray rubber sealant around the trunk..." LEAK ENDER 2000? No what a mess that could turn out to be.

Bare in mind that the U.S. Navy preaches that leaks can never be fully cured from the non-pressure side of the ingress of water.

But you do what you must do to stop the leak. As on subs, wrap twine around the outside of a holed pipe that has the pressure on the inside. Or in the case of missing hull plates anything pushed up against the hole and shored up with a fine strong wooden wedge and backed up by a self priming pump.

New rubbers [ leathers? ] and a clean bronze bolt might do the trick.

skip.

[dannyd]

I found that the water is dripping in through the centerboard bolt seals. As soon as the boat is placed in the water it starts to leak even without lowering the centerboard. Can this be fixed by simply tightenning the bolt or do I need to replace the 2 seals?
Can this be done with the boat on the trailer and supporting the centerboard from below?
Could I wrap someing around the rubber seals to stop the leak?
Thanks

[skip1930]

" Could I wrap someing around the rubber seals to stop the leak? "

Nope. I don't believe so. Your thinking 'stuffing' the leak closed? The seals are going to have to be R&R'ed. Can't seal from the non-pressure side generally speaking. I don't know where the seals go. But I'm betting they are installed from the 'wet side' of the center board trunk.

It shouldn't matter where the centerboard is positioned, up or down or in between. Just remove the fastener [ nut ] and use a drift pin to drive the old bolt out as the drift pin replaces it, Then reverse the process using new seals and use the new bolt or old bolt after being cleaned up to drift the pin back out with the seals in place. 

skip.

[dannyd]

You are correct. I ordered a new bolt and seals and will use the new bolt to drive out the old one while replacing the seals on both sides of the trunk.
About a $10 expense. Thanks for your suggestions.