Leaks, not leeks

[Tim Ford]

Holy crap.

As casually mentioned in the "Rethinking the Keel" thread, I've noticed water in the boat, and last time I was on it, new water in the cabin sole just aft of the mast. And it had not rained a drop. I bent down to get a closer glimpse and WHOA, there was water leaking out from under the starboard settee/berth. Not a good sign. Those are "sealed" compartments, meant that way for additional flotation and there shouldn't be a drop in there.

So I cut an exploratory and far from elegant hole in the settee and to my profound disappointment and befuddlement, there was a LOT OF WATER IN THERE. I sponged it out and went home.

Tomorrow I'll go back down and look in the other compartment, try to figure out what the heck is going on! Look for a hole in the bottom? More likely, it's because the old keel took a hard grounding (or many of them) and torqued out a ragged rip in the bottom of the keel box.

But this sucks....

bummer.jpg

[monsters inc]

I think the screw in inspection hatches may be in my floatation tanks in the near future. Cheap insurance, maybe.

[Tim Ford]

Yep, that's definitely in the plans for today. The big ones, too.

[Warren Nethercote]

Once you've put a hatch in you might want to add a tire valve and pressurize the tank - pressurize it VERY gently, only a couple of psi - to see (hear) if the leaking spot becomes apparent.

[Tim Ford]

Weather has changed, unfortunately, but I did get a few inspection ports installed and all the moisture in the compartments has been dealt with. Big question now is: how the hell did it get in there in the first place? I'm guessing: through keelbox leaks and in enough volume to slosh over the dividers between compartments. The next quest will be to find and eliminate water intrusion from the source.

new ports.jpg

[Mist]

Tim, I recommend pressurizing the tank very slowly!!! I’ve found using the blower end of a shopvac to be too much pressure. Believe me, I had to rebuild a water tank at my expense.

Loose duct tape with the blower side of a vac at your inspection port should be plenty of flow. Let air escape from the inspection port too. Use a spray bottle with water and a few drops of dish soap to spray areas and look for bubbles.

If that doesn’t find the leak think about getting thermal images taken.

Good luck!! -Tim

[Warren Nethercote]

Adding a Schaeder valve and using a bicycle pump is a low risk way to get low pressure.