Ships Blog
Date:Sun, 09 Feb 2025 07:48:00 GMT
Bilge Nightmares!
We're still afloat
Hi folks, it's been a crazy month. It started with checking the bilge
one morning, which I do regularly and the water was up to the bottom of the
engine mounts! Well, that got my attention! It's never nice to wake up to a
full bilge, so I stuck my finger in and Oh my it was SALT WATER! That
REALLY got
my attention. So Sam and I started pumping with both the manual and
automatic bilge pumps and we managed to catchup and pump it all out. Then as
we frantically looked for the leak we couldn't find one. Now this was
frustrating. It was after a big rain and storm so perhaps it wasn't as salty
as I thought? So we watched it for a week and nothing happened. All was well
but I was still uneasy. It was a big enough leak it could sink the boat in
a few hours. And for sure within a day. So I didn't leave the boat. In
fact I haven't left the boat now for a few weeks till just yesterday.
Then one morning it happend again!!! Now we're all really freaked out.
So I start taking things apart looking for the leak and once again I can't
find anything. We go to sleep at night and in the morning we are nearly
sinking. And this time I confirmed. Definately salt water.
Now don't think we relaxed! no we tore the boat apart looking at every
through hull, the rudder post, the exhaust elbows anti siphon devices.
Listen sinking is every boater's nightmare. It is the worst case event and
even though we seem carefree, saltwater get's our attention like nothing
else especially when it's inside. People inside and Water outside is the
rule. This is actually a very serious thing. Enough saltwater even if it
doesn't sink the boat, will damage everything! It's a cruising ending event.
Some back story, about a year ago we bought, at a swapmeet a bilge
alarm. It is an old school one with a big red bell like an old firebell. I
thought hey this might come in handy, but because we generally have a dry
boat I procrastinated. In retrospect I should have put this in a year ago,
the universe gave it to me I should have used it! But I didn't. I was lazy.
Well after the second time it filled like this I was on a mission. I
was going to put in this bilge alarm so that we could catch it in the act
before it had time to fill up and then stop.
So Sam and I put the alarm in behind the gally right by the companionway so
that if it went off everyone would be able to hear it even outside the boat.
And I waited.... but no. Dry boat, Dry bilge, fitful sleep and days and
days go by. I'm feeling a little better that we have an alarm but still
won't leave the boat till we find the leak.
Then at 08:30 local in the morning with the generator running off goes the
alarm! Now I'm both scared and happy at the same time! Up come the floor
boards and sure enough the bilge has about 50 gal in it but nothing serious
yet and water is pouring down the side of the bilge from behind the
generator and under the aft head. I turn off the generator and the flow
stops. I turn it on the flow of water starts immediately. So I'm thinking
the darn exhaust elbow is shot but it's behind the generator and I have to
take the whole nav station apart to get to it. But we keep looking to
confirm and in the aft head we find the anti-siphon device for the exhaust
is stuck open! water is streaming out behind the wall in the towel locker
and running under the shelf and into the bilge.
What a relief! so Sam and I dismantled the anti-siphon cleaned it up
(we did this just a few months ago for a different reason) and put it back
together. Now there are no leaks for the moment and we're all sleeping much
better with our new bilge alarm!
If a 50 year old 50$ part can
sink your boat then why do you think boating is a good idea? And yet here we
are and so are many other wonderful people we have met along the way!