My experience with finding a leak

[mike31416]

Hi,

Just want to share my experience with finding a leak that was filling the bilge. I have a 1982 DaySailor II and I am the original owner.

Around the end of July the boat seemed a bit sluggish. When I opened the inspection port I saw a few inches of water. The next week I pulled the boat out and opened the bilge drain plug (took about 20 minutes to drain). Put the boat back in and after several weeks the water was back.

The 82’ DaySailor centerboard has pivot points that do not enter the bilge so I suspected the self-bailer was leaking from below and letting water into the bilge. The original bailer had lost the check valve ball a long while ago and I was using a stopper since the threads for the metal stopper were corroded. I ordered a new bailer from D&R Marine (http://www.drmarine.com/proddetail.asp?prod=DS81). When I removed the old bailer I saw that hole thru the deck/hull did not enter the bilge area (solid from top of deck to bottom of hull) so that could not be the leak. But now I have a functioning bailer

I found a post on this forum that suggested filling the bilge with water. I got out the hose and after several minutes saw a drip near the bow about 4 inches up from the center of the keel. Sure enough there was a one-inch banana shaped crack in the hull.

Near the end of June I had beached the boat near some rocks and I think the crack might have happened then.

The repair should be easy and I will have a drier bilge, functioning bailer for next year!

Mike

[jeadstx]

The inspection ports can also be a source of water in the bilge. When I first noticed water in the bilge, I took the boat to the lake (boat on trailer at house when not sailing) and put it in the water and tied it to a dock. Spent several hours sitting in the boat, checking the CB bolt thru the inspection ports for leaks. Checked for dampness in the bilge and could find none. Finally got tired of checking for leaks while sitting on the water and took the boat home. That night there was a rainstorm. The next morning the bilge had water in it. My boat was taking on water while on the trailer. The inspection ports were the culprit. Seals were bad. I put grease on the threads to reduce leakage. I will be replacing them soon with the Viking ports someone else on the forum found recently that are the correct replacement.

John