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Bilges shouldn't be separate like that. Thy should all drain to the same place.

Should be simple matter to drill holes between them.

I'll let you know how that goes.

BTW

I'm slipped in at Lakefront Promenade this season

Gas bar is open

Cheers

G

beene wrote:BTW

I'm slipped in at Lakefront Promenade this season

Gas bar is open

Cheers

G

D'oh! Should have gone West instead of East.

Too late. Filled up me tanks at a Shell station.

Stlll dry when I step aboard but still getting an inch or two of tea-coloured water as soon as I leave the slip.

Took her out in a good stiff wind, enough to heel to 30 degrees and get some good wave pounding.

When I came back in I checked the transom in the stern berth. Dry as a bone.

Checked the access hatches back there, and they were wet, but that's hardly surprising after my sail.

A mystery indeed! If it's tea coloured that suggests old water that's been on board for a while. Maybe a cup of bleach into the bilges?

I would plug all three drain holes and fill up the two sinks and the cockpit well. At 30 degrees one of the sink drain holes might be under water.

I don't think it's the ballast tank. That's under the water line, I think, so if you opened the transom valve and vent at the dock your boat would sink if there was a leak in the tank, wouldn't it?

Starscream wrote:A mystery indeed! If it's tea coloured that suggests old water that's been on board for a while. Maybe a cup of bleach into the bilges?

I would plug all three drain holes and fill up the two sinks and the cockpit well. At 30 degrees one of the sink drain holes might be under water.

I don't think it's the ballast tank. That's under the water line, I think, so if you opened the transom valve and vent at the dock your boat would sink if there was a leak in the tank, wouldn't it?

The bilge gets an inch or two of water while still in the harbor.

If I were only getting bilge water after 30 degrees of heel, it would be far less a mystery!

I think what I'm gonna do is start with a systematic check of when exactly the water is entering.
Upon arrival at boat, dry out bilges.
Walk around on boat to divulge any trapped water, then dry that up too.
Rock boat to and fro to see if that brings new water in.
Take boat out in harbor, etc.

Did you eyeball the two thru-hull connections from the basins? Those are pretty close to the water, and even just walking around on the boat will potentially put them under water.

Tomfoolery wrote:Did you eyeball the two thru-hull connections from the basins? Those are pretty close to the water, and even just walking around on the boat will potentially put them under water.

One sink, right? The head has no sink.

I would be very surprised to find tea-coloured water if coming in fresh from the through hull. But I'll check it.

DaveC426913 wrote:

Tomfoolery wrote:Did you eyeball the two thru-hull connections from the basins? Those are pretty close to the water, and even just walking around on the boat will potentially put them under water.

One sink, right? The head has no sink.

I would be very surprised to find tea-coloured water if coming in fresh from the through hull. But I'll check it.

Mine has one in the head. I thought they all did. And that one is easy to check, because the thru-hull is right inside the little cabinet it's part of. I store my coiled fresh water hose in there, which is about all that little space is good for.

I think all the X's had two sinks originally. Did someone take out your sink in the head? How would they DO that? What happened to the drain hole thru the hull from where the sink was originally?

If the water keeps on being tea color and you keep pumping it out, either something is turning the bilgewater to tea very quickly or it's short circuiting back into the bilge.

I would dump a couple cups of bleach into the various bilges to address the tea. Then I would plug all four drain exits from the outside. Two sinks, one on either side of the boat, the cockpit drain well, and the even the anchor locker. I'd plug the anchor locker from the inside too, to see if the connection from the locker to the thru hull is broken. Eliminate the possibility of the thru hulls, then food color the ballast tank.

Today, I spent several hours puttering around the boat, moving lots of equipment aft, and cleaning cushions and wiping mold off the hoses in the head.

No extra water came in, in all that time.

So, it has to be coming in once the boat gets under power.

Addendum: Right, yes. There is a sink in the head. We pretty much never use the head. Even less so the sink. It's actually the TP holder.

I'm not familiar with the X but on the M water can enter via the rudder-stock holes.

The only time this happens with me is when launching off the trailer. The exterior water level is above the interior height of the said rudder-stock hole so the water just comes in. I now reduce the angle of the boat on entry and launch gently; makes a difference.

If the X is anything like this it may be a factor. I guess when motoring fast the stern gets more submerged which may be doing it. Can't really comment on the tea, seems very odd if it's new water; I assume you're checking the water ballast levels to ensure its not leaking.

MikeFloutier wrote: If the X is anything like this it may be a factor. I guess when motoring fast the stern gets more submerged which may be doing it.

No fast motoring. Also, no trailering. This is out of the slip. And sailing.

Pretty sure it's coming in from the side bilges as the boat heels. That's why it's occurring when I first exit the marina.

The question is: why do the side bilges have water in them? And is it building up? Or is it just left over from winter, and just slowly making it way.

I got green food colouring. A good contrast colour.

Question:

How much is enough to tint the ballast?
How much is too much that it will stain the tank, and possibly my cabin floor?

If your only having water in the side biges aftre being under way, plus being manky looking water? As i mentioned, could well be the bow area, that collects til an inch or two reaches the holes. only then will it spill over. Heeling though will dump it both sides. You can seeminbgly dry it up, onnly to get more (based on the heeling)

Pul off a cover and move some foam and have a look, (and taste it).