Water in the Bilge... lots of water

[hriehl1]

Just completed our first weekend sailing a new-to-us 1981 DS2. I have been over all visible parts of this boat, and everything looks fine. Prior owner caulked the entire hull-deck joint (tho I cannot say how well the job was done)

We launched and had the boat in the water for 48 hours. During that time, we sailed maybe 4 hours, with the rest of the time tied to the dock. There was no rain. We took on minimal water while sailing... maybe a gallon or two from spray and a couple quick dips of the rail in the drink.

When we pulled the boat we kept the boat in the downhill slope of the ramp and removed the bilge plug. Water streamed nonstop for more than 10 minutes... if I were to guess, at least 10 and maybe as much as 25 gallons.

The bilge plug seemed secure and water-tight. Any thoughts where this water came from, and the fix?

PS: The bilge water also seemed to have some styrofoam or similar "beads"... which I assume may be 25 year old flotation that is breaking down. Again... any insight here greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks.... hriehl1

[gabond]

There are a lot of discussions on this site about bilge water that you can find by searching keywords such as centerboard or biilge.

Also, Roger's book (see the sticky post at the top) covers this topic well.

Good luck

[psness]

I had the same problem with my 1979 DSII. I keep mine on a trailer and as soon as it was launched in the water dockside, the water started showing up. As we sailed it got up to a few inches in the bilge. We bought a hand-operated bilge pump. I checked every possible source. Finally, I sprayed some thick black automotive undercoating around the centerboard bolt and nut inside the bilge (through the two access holes on the cockpit floor) and it seemed to help quite a bit.

Some people suspect it comes in from water splashing up through a gap in the hole where the centerboard line goes from the cuddy to the centerboard (see elsewhere on this site). However, since ours started filling up just standing still in the water, I didn't think that was the source on our boat.

[hriehl1]

I received a nice reply from Roger when I ordered his book, and I suspect the areas in the centerboard trunk. Even while docked, the lake (Winnipasaukee in NH) was very rough from holiday traffic chop on JUL 2 - 4, so I think it took on water even while docked.

I'm off for a week of sailing in Maine tomorrow... think I'll take a $30 manual bilge pump for this week and deal with the source of the problem this fall.

Thanks all...

[Roger]

Thanks for the cudos HReihl.

My boat sits in a wet slip all season now, and unless it rains, there is no water in the bilge. (I suspect some cockpit cracks that are letting in small amounts of water when it rains [1/2 cup]).

Prior to this year, I could report gallons of water coming out of the bilge following a sail and even when it was just sitting at the slip. For me the two main culprits were a poor seal around the housing of the bilge drain, and a missing donut that at the time of manufacture, sealed the connection between the outer hull and the centerboard trunk where the uphaul line goes through. Over time this deteriorates, and water fills the bilge.

The other usual suspects for leaks into the bilge, are poor rubber gasket washers or loose centerboard pivot bolt/nut, cracks between the hull deck joint, leaks around poorly seated deck hardware (stemhead, cleats, boweye, but these tend to be more minor leaks than that which present through the bilge plug housing, and centerboard uphaul area.

There was a fellow on this forum some time ago that reported that it would get so dry in his bilge that it was dusty, and he moored his boat at a slip all season.