Water in Bilge ...

[bstreep]

Take a pic of your shaft seal, and post it. That would help.

We TRY to keep our "bilge" dry, which to us, is our keel bolts:

We have a 1x2 foot "sump box" in the base of the keel, and keel bolts fore and aft from there, where everything drains to. As we are in Texas, we get a lot of A/C condensate, and that goes here.

As does the drip from the shaft seal. This isn't much, but it's there.

When it rains, we get SOME water that makes its way down the mast. That drains over the front keel bolts, and then into the sump. We don't like this, but I can't find a better solution.

[captainUni]

Ok I'll post a pic as soon as I get a chance. Thanks for your insight!

[rognvald]

There is one source of water in the bilge that most overlook: water from the relief valve in your hot water heater. Most installations run the hose directly from the tank into the bilge and everytime you run your engine, water is released from the tank. The only source of water in my bilge (which is shallow) is from the hot water heater and the mast. Otherwise, it is completely dry.

[Badsanta]

How does that happen? Your engine water or antifreeze is in a closed loop inside the heater. If the engine over powers the pressure relief valve you must have an internal leak and I would replace it.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Badsanta

How does that happen? Your engine water or antifreeze is in a closed loop inside the heater. If the engine over powers the pressure relief valve you must have an internal leak and I would replace it.

It's the potable water for the boat's fresh water system, not the cooling water">engine cooling water.

[rognvald]

Originally Posted by Badsanta

How does that happen? Your engine water or antifreeze is in a closed loop inside the heater. If the engine over powers the pressure relief valve you must have an internal leak and I would replace it.

Badsasnta,
When I run the engine, the ambient temperature of the water in the tank increases and the relief valve operates to relieve the internal pressure of the tank, ergo: water is released. This is exactly how my previous tank worked. The tanks does not leak. My tank is a Raritan with a closed loop ,as you mentioned ,and a pressure relief valve with a 3/4" id hose that drains into the bilge. Hope that's clear.

[rognvald]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

It's the potable water for the boat's fresh water system, not the engine cooling water.

Don, that's exactly correct.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Heikki

There will always be some water.

You know I wish we had water in the bilges. Do you know how hard it is to vacuum all the nooks and crannies in a dry bilge and then have to use furniture polish to keep it shiny?

Originally Posted by captainUni

Thanks. Do I have to worry about prolonged periods of time of standing water in the bilge?

If the bilge has water in it, then does this make the interior damp as well? because if it does then mildew will follow. Water causing damp will also make the boat smell eventually.

Pete

[btrayfors]

A little water in the bilge is no problem. Don't worry, your stringers won't rot.

I've had water in the bilge on my last two boats....17 years liveaboard and 23 years cruising intermittently....total of 40 user-years. Never a problem. And, mostly in fresh water, not salt.

Don't sweat it.

One advantage is that it will periodically work your bilge pumps. They need that :-)

Bill

[micah719]

G'day Cap'n Uni, welcome. Might be a good idea to haul out or beach for looking into this one....trouble potential is there.

[neilpride]

My bilge is dry all the time , it take ardous investigation around the boat to found all the primary sources for water leaks, the anchor chain opening, the deck mast collar, chainplates, fresh water plumbing, rudder stufing box, prop shaft stufing box in this case a tide strong dripless shaft seal, etc...

When in the way we inspect the bilge every couple of hours to see any evidence of a leak , in my case the bilge sump is deep and no wood around , just glass, but in some flat bilge designs with mast steps and stringers around it can be a long term problem.

[zeehag]

my ericson is dry as i use a teflon shaft packing by gore tex that is a dry stuffing. no drips... my formosa is WET and has a dripping from shaft packing despite using gore-tex stuffing.....used to have dripping from rudder packing--wet bilges will not hurt boat and should not make more dampness in the boat. check for water system leakage and other sources as well as the one you already found.....

welcome to cf

[captainUni]

Thanks for everyone's input!

[anjolain]

Just my 2 cents...

I think that it also depends on what kind of keel structure you have. In case of encapsulated ballast, I would be a bit concerned on having a water standing in the bilge. Manufacturers do not usually coat the bilge with epoxy, but with a top coat, which is not totally waterproof.

[carstenb]

If you have to pull your log to clean it, you will get some water inside the boat. depending on how fast you are at putting the plug in, some of this will end up in your bilge.