Water Infiltration

[Liquid Asset]

On my 50C, I have a forward bilge that has a false bottom. It looks as if it has been replaced at some point in the boats life, but I do not know why and by who. The bilge is isolated from all the bilges in the stern of the boat and it is where the anchor locker and forward A/C condensate drain to, plus there is a manual and electric bilge pump in there.

The problem I am having is there is a weep hole that is in the fiberglass and continues to leak water into that bilge up to a certain level about an inch deep. The boat is hauled out now and the water still continues to infiltrate that hole if I pummp the bilge down below that level. I can not figure this out. It looks to be forward of the keel, but there is no clear drawing how this is set up or was origionally set up. behind this bilge in the center of the stringers in the Waste tank, and I am asuming that is why this bilge is there. Because water can not flow past the wast tank to the stern bilge for drainage. I am on the Hard, and am still having this problem.

Could my Keel be full of water and that is where the water is coming from? it does not look as if part of the keel is that far forward, but the water is somewhere. I dont want to cut the false floor out, but I will if I have to. This does nto seem right to me. Were the keels solid or hollow in our boats? it sounds hollow when I tap on it, but I have not drilled a hole yet to see if anything drains out.

In my engine room in the very forward part of the walkway between the engines there is an A/C sump for all other A/C's in the boat. It has 3 holes in the side of it and I have never been able to figure out what they are drains for. It appears that there is foam in the, but it tends to leak a little oil out of them, but that could have been from years before of someone spilling something in the sump and not draining. But I am woundering if this could be the culprit of the water in the keel.

My Hatteras drawing are not clear on how some parts of the boat are asembeled. Please let me know what you think. I need to get this started so I can go back in the water soon.

 

[Liquid Asset]

No one has any Ideas?

 

[REBrueckner]

I do not know the specific layout which is troubling you, and don't know what a "false bottom" is, but if you've read "That Hatteras Smell" thread it's apparent many of the boats have tanks with foam under where water can seep about. Can that be the problem??

In my YF, I have a water tank in the bilge which abuts the forward bilge. (no false bottom) When I first sponged it dry and saw water dribble from under the water tank I thought for sure I had a fresh water tank leak...NO,NO!!! I had a heart palpatation!!!. It oozes out for a day or two before stopping. Then my bilge area forward stays dry, for a month or more, until the next rain or anchor chain retrieval. The water level in the tank never varied....I finally figured out it's that gosh darn exposed foam under the tank which lets some water (and muck) ooze in and out....there is no way on my boat to tell where water might get to under the tank. So I ignore it.

Sounds like you may need a reply from other 50C owners to get a precise analysis..or call Sam's or Hatteras if there are no specific answers posted.

 

[Traveler 45C]

I had the same mystery water in my FWD bilge (45C). I kept an eye on it for weeks and could not find the source. Then I found water sitting on the top of the foam and tanks in the center bilge below the galley. When searching for the source of this water I discovered a shower hose leak in the bulkhead right above it.

I put the two problems together and here’s my theory: As the water from the leak flooded the center bilge, not only would the water run aft under the engine room floor to the lazarette, it would seep into the FWD bilge. The water must have seeped into the cracks in the foam and got under it and came forward from there.

Check under the galley deck if you can. I had to use an inspection mirror and spend a lot of time looking until I finally saw the water trail that lead UP the bulkhead.

 

[Liquid Asset]

Well,

Today I drilled a hole in the Keel and it has been seeping water all day. I actually drilled 2 holes a vent and a drain. Hopefully It will stop draining tomorow. The water smelled like it was 30 years old. and there appeared to be foam in the keel that was wet. Not sure if it was a great Idea to figure it out, but it is there. I really dont think this is the anser to my question, but an interesting start to finding the anser.

 

[jim rosenthal]

OK, Pat, I had this problem years ago and am somewhat familiar with it. The keel in my 36C had been damaged and poorly repaired with Bondo by a prior owner. Here's what I did:
The keels were filled with poured-in foam at the factory- when they come from the mold they are hollow. I suspect the foam deteriorates over time. The water probably came in from inside the boat in your case, from condensate or possibly washing the engine room.
I drilled a few one-inch holes in the keel and let it drain for about three days. Then I hooked up a wet-dry vacuum to the keel so that it would pull air through the entire keel and ran it for two weeks. I used a wire to break up as much of the damaged foam as I could so that the vacuum would pull the particles of foam out. The problem was then how to reconstitute the damaged wall of the keel.
After rough-sanding the outside of the area with 80 grit discs, I used fiberglass cloth, West epoxy, and West's Peel-Ply fabric to laminate up about thirty layers of glass cloth on a smooth board- I just kept adding layers of cloth and squeegeeing it down with resin. I used the slow-setting resin for this. I ended up with a large piece of laminated cloth and resin sandwich about eight inches square. When this was set to the point that they describe as "green hard", I think (not sticky but curing) I used a hole saw to cut the plugs I needed for the keel holes. (you have to measure in advance for this and have your tools set up, because once things start to cure, the work goes rather quickly). I used a mixture of West epoxy and silica powder to install the plugs, buttering everything up liberally with the thickened epoxy and tapping the plugs into place with a plastic mallet.

I then let the whole repair set for about four days (this was warm weather, by the way). I sanded the area flush- the plugs were slightly proud of the hull surface) and applied four or five layers of glass cloth using West epoxy and their barrier coat additive. The cloth layers were cut so that each layer was slightly larger by about an inch or so, and I rollered them down tight to the hull. I think I used 24oz glass cloth but I am not sure- it is a standard right-angle weave that West sells.

A few years after that I had the bottom stripped and a new Interlux bottom applied. The repairs have held fine all these years. Four years ago I drilled a test hole into the keel to make sure things were dry. So far, so good.

I think the key thing is to THOROUGHLY dry the inside of the keel. This is why I pulled air through it for so long. Otherwise I was afraid the repair would not take. Don't be afraid to aggressively drain the water through large holes. They can be fixed. Finally, I was never sure where the water came from- condensate drains? steam-cleaning the engine room? (something I will never do again), seawater? I am not sure I will ever know. There are, from what I have seen looking into these boats opened all up for restoration at Tom Slane's shop, a variety of ways for water to get down in there. And of course since it can't get out, it just gets fouler and fouler.

Good luck with this, and if I can help let me know.

 

[jim rosenthal]

I forgot to mention that I found out I had water inside the keel by noticing that an area of the keel was weeping after she was hauled out. Like a week or two after she was hauled out. When I drilled the first hole, she gushed water for hours. Very distressing, but it does stop after a while

 

[REBrueckner]

Pat posted:".
The problem I am having is there is a weep hole that is in the fiberglass and continues to leak water into that bilge up to a certain level about an inch deep..."

(1) Did this description apply to when the boat was IN the water or only now that it's out? Does that tell you whether the leak is internal or external?

(2) Regarding the external hole you drilled for draining...was that forward near the interior weep or elsewhere along the keel? Did you drill the hole at the low point of the keel length??