water in bilge

[steve brown]

Hopefully someone can suggest why I have a small amount of water in my bilge. Before I covered it for the Winter I did wash down the deck and cockpit and cleaned out the cockpit drains. I may have introduced some water through the bilge pump outlet.  I sponged out the water from the bilge then and all was dry. I have a fairly nice tarp covering the boat with tent support for the mast. The lazarette and fore hatches are slightly ajar to permit air circulation. Today I found about a 1/2 glass of yellowish water in the bilge. I mopped it up with paper towels. How does water get to the bilge other than the cabin flooding? Do the lazarettes empty into the bilge? Where can the water be coming from? Thank you again for your fine input. Steve

[pelican]

Living In Florida, I have never dealt with winter boat storage, so I could only guess. My best guess , if it's not rain or snow melt :If the boat is covered with a tarp, what moister was in the boat from use and washing was trapped and accumulated in the low spot of the boat. Also, It could be condensation.

Another thought:

I do weekend sails during the winter with my wife and grandson. If we sleep inside the cabin and it's closed up, there will be water dripping off the ceiling the next morning. So, if you have people going in the cabin for any period of time on cold days, it could be from them. Sort of what happens when car windows fog up.

My boat will get a little water in the bilge during our summer rain season. I have the boat on a trailer tilted back. The sail locker doors are not sitting level so I suspect when we get a heavy rain, water goes over the lips under the locker doors and gets in the bilge that way. I dip it out and keep sailing.

Good Sailing

[K3v1n]

I noticed with mine after a heavy rain there will be a small amount of water in the bilge as well. I figure it has to be the cockpit locker hatches.

-Kevin

[Craig Weis]

Once in a blue moon my C-P 19 shows a little water. She leaks at the fwd hatch, but that is because the wire for the solar cell comes in here. And I'll bet when the wind howls some h2o may push past the drop boards.
Any other water is from me, I fill the bilge with ice and put a 6 pack of MGD bottles on ice. Keeps all Sat and Sunday. What more could you want?

[steve brown]

I checked my bilge last week after the snow and cold weather began to abate, I found about a cup and a half of water had accumulated. The boat is covered but has some openings for ventilation and access. I think this water is a result of condensation. As this is the lowest area of the boat and the hull is directly exposed to the outside air, and the fact that I have a warm air fan running inside 24/7,  it may be causing condensation to accumulate. The ice/ beverage compartment trick sounds interesting. Steve

[spaul]

Steve, there is no question that condensation will yield a large amount of water in your bilge. I've experienced it and am in the process of adding forced ventilation which will improve that situation, especially during those cold winter months.

Steve Paul

[mikeg]

We live in Florida also, and before our winter daysails I usually find a tiny bit of water in the bilge. I've written it off as either condensation or seepage (as others have posted) of a few drops in through cockpit lockers. When our boat is closed up during the week, and I first spring the companionway hatch for a weekend sail, I do notice a 'humid' feel to the air inside the cabin-- so I'm sure I'm getting condensation/sweating on the fiberglass in the bilge.
Mike G.
s/v Freebird -CP19

[steve brown]

An update on water in the bilge. I found more water in the bilge recently and it was during a warm period after our big St. Patrick's Day storm. A fair amount of snow had entered the cockpit through the cover and covered the seat. I had pushed it onto the cockpit floor before the melt down. While mopping out the bilge I ran my hand up under the leading edge of the cockpit floor support block and found the carpet covering soaked with water. This block of foam is made of bead board type of styrofoam; the kind that absorbs water. How big is this block of foam and what is its purpose besides supporting the cockpit floor? I suspected my problem was more than just condensation and took a look at the scuppers. They seemed to be OK but I decided to test them. I plugged them up on the transom and dumped some water in the cockpit. To my surprise water was dripping out of the starboard scupper coating that covered the elbow. I then looked carefully at the flange in the cockpit and noticed that no sealant was visible on the surface. I scraped out the joint with a pick tool, heated up the assembly with a heat gun and caulked the joint with Boat Life liquid sealant, It flowed into the joint nicely and passed the flood test two days later. I did both scuppers this way. Thanks to Marcus for cluing me in on this fix. Steve

[Craig Weis]

So the scuppers were plugged/not glued/or cracked allowing water to leak into the boat and sucked up by the foam block under the cockpit sole....and this is now fixed? Good.

The foam block only serves to take the 'oil canning' or flex if you will out of the sole, preventing the sole from cracking from the 'moment of bend' or the 'moment of torque'. It is not for flotation but it may help quite the hull from wave action. 

Rich Hutchins says don't take it [the block] out without a means of supporting the cockpit sole. I have a post about using this space, supporting this space and about how much sapce can be had by doing this. This from a guy who slept in the trunk of his Saturn, head in the trunk, feet between the two front seats. Just wanted to look and feel my best the next morning. skip.

[steve brown]

Well my freshly cauked scuppers appear to be holding up. We had a good rain  yesterday and the lazaretttes are dry today. I spoke to Rich Hutchins today about another item but did talk with him about the styrofoam block under the cockpit. I am slowly drying it out where it soaked up water. I plan to put in a new carpet sole and Rich sent me to Home Depot as he did not have the original brown indoor-outdoor carpet any more. I could only get it in blue or gray. I opted for the blue and plan to stick it down with Liquid Nails sealant applied in spots rather than a whole coating of carpet mastic. Has anyone had any experience with this? I'll use the original carpet for a pattern. Steve

[K3v1n]

Speaking of water in the bilge. I was working out in the boat this weekend and took a peek and sure enough there was a bit of water in there...from where it comes who rightly knows.

-Kevin

[steve brown]

Kevin, I would check your scupper caulking in the cockpit. Stuff some pastic bags or rags in the transom outlets and flood the back of the cockpit floor with water. Let it sit for a few minutes and then reach down through each lazarette and run your hand around the scupper pipes. If they are dry your scuppers are OK. If you see moisture then you are probably experiencing a leak around the cockpit flange. Dry it out and apply a liquid type sealant such as Boatlife liquid sealant. Since I have fixed mine my bilge has been dry. We are going to get some good Spring rain and snow during the next three days and I will check again. Condensation could also be your problem and solved by a bailing sponge. Steve

[Ralph Erickson]

Just launched my boat for the first time yesterday, and after motoring to my slip at the marina, checked the bilge and there was about a cup and a half of water.  Never saw a drop while on the trailer the past couple months, through heavy rains and snow.  I watched it while I worked on setting her up for the season, and no more water accumulated in the 4 hours I was there.

I'm thinking that perhaps when I launched her from the trailer, due to the angle of entry, the scuppers were under water for a few seconds and perhaps water entered the bilge discharge hose during that time.  Does that sound feasable?

Needless to say, I'm going to the marina after work today to be sure she's not sunk!

Ralph

[Gil Weiss]

Bilgewater aside, my wife Carole and I had the opportunity to board Capt. Ralph's "new" CP19 yesterday. All we can say is that his new boat is REALLY NICE! He has it looking in great shape inside and out making it the best looking CP19 at our marina.

An excellent find and excellent work by Ralph.

Enjoy the season!

[Ralph Erickson]

Thank you, Carole and Gil, for those kind words.  As we  discussed yesterday, boats sure can be a lot of work, and getting her ready was surely time consuming, but a labor of love for me!  It's nice to know that my hard work paid off!  From what I could see, "Steppin Up" looked in top shape as well!

Ralph