Dry or wet bilge?

[ndutton]

What is your preference or reality when it comes to the bilge?

[Loki9]

It's dry now, but that may change once she's launched. Ask me again April 3rd.

[sastanley]

dry dry dry

I sponge that s#!t dry. Hopefully, Bill & Don won't mind the profanity.

The best thing I did to help facilitate this was gore-tex (sp?) packing in my stuffing box, and also installing a check valve in the bilge pump..I was still sponging it dry without the check valve, but it just means less to sponge. When we are draining the water out of the ice box (I have an yet-to-be-installed pump) I pump & sponge it straight away.

It was really my stepfather and his Tartan 3000 which I've done a zillion sailing miles on that taught me the advantages of a dry bilge..when I used his boat, I kept his boat in the same condition he would...dry. it is a habit...and it isn't difficult.

I also think it really helps keep the odd boat smells down. The P.O. left 3" of water in the bilge from 1977 to 2008. Blech....

[sailbristol]

m bilge pump is at the bottom of a 4 ft long bar that is lowered into the bilge ,o there is no way I can wipe it dry booo hooo

[ILikeRust]

Dunno if any of the three choices really accurately describe my sitcheeayshun, but I picked number 3 - it's about as wet as I would expect, which is "not very".

Normally, it's very close to "bone dry." I still have some cabin roof leaks, so when we get a bunch of rain, I'll find a small puddle down in there. Right now, the hose from the hot section to the old Vetus doesn't fit the Vetus intake quite right, so it spits a little bit of water when the engine is running - a condition I will fix eventually. So that ends up in the bilge, making it wetter than it normally would be otherwise.

The stuffing box doesn't leak at all.

So I'll go with "as wet as I would expect."

The previous owner didn't have an automatic bilge pump in the boat. He had it that way for the eight years he owned it. Even the old Par pump that was in there rarely ever saw any use. I have put a brand new Rule automatic bilge pump in there, and unless I've been motoring for a while (which spits water into the bilge as explained above), it never gets any use either.

[Mo]

...just something I do.

I have a hole drilled in the lowest part of the keel. On the hard the keel is dry, and the whole boat stays dry although not covered. No condensation in the boat as she is on the hard from Nov till April. Drilling that hole was the best thing I ever did.

Once the boat goes in the water I get a little bit of water. After a rain water will come all the way down the keel stepped mast...after a good day of rain there will be enough to run the bilge. While in the water there is always a small drop there that the pump can't throw out.

NOTE: I keep a 4 liter jug of vinegar in the boat. I pour a bit in after running the pump...just a 1/2 cup or so. This combined with the water left in there keeps the bilge smell GONE.

Just the other day it was 30C here and I pressure washed the inside of the boat. Took everything out and layed it on deck. Used citrus cleaner and sprayed under cockpit, lazarettes, bilge, area under V-bert. Don't really notice dirt there until you give it a good cleaning. This is my spring cleaning. Left the boat open and it dried out by evening. Thats another benefit of a hole drilled in the boat...it all runs out! Do not try pressure washing your teak etc. Yesterday I gave the teak bulkhead, teak floor etc a wipe with vinegar on a cloth...then applied teak oil. It came up nice. Only thing left to do is clean the shelves and counter top where I was laying everything.

Weather cool here again today but if the weather breaks next week I'll put her sails, propane, dodger, beer etc on and back her in the water.

[ILikeRust]

Maurice - what do you with that hole when you put the boat back in the water?

[Newenglandah]

I ended up putting a hole in the bottom of the keel on my ericson, I noticed it was weeping for about two weeks after she was pulled and docked in my yard. I drilled the hole with a 1/2" angle drill, about 9/16 and water gushed out of there for an hour. Turns out the glass over steel construction of the keel is cored with foam. it was totally waterlogged. uppon further investigation of the problem (WHERE DID IT ALL COME FROM!!!!) I found that someone installed a bilge pump with 5/16 3inch long stainless carriage bolts drilled straight into said foam........... maybe if I had tried to keep the bilge dry I would have noticed this problem earlier. So on my pearson that's sailing this year?.....Dry

[Newenglandah]

[QUOTE=Maurice;51312]I have a hole drilled in the lowest part of the keel.

You do fill that hole with something when she go's swimming, rite?

[Mo]

Did this a few years back. Drilled and tapped the hole..about and inch diameter (I'd have to double check). Bought a piece of threaded brass (threaded both inside and outside). Also bought a brass plug that would thread into the inner part of the piece.

I then put epoxy resin with some cilica beads mixed in both in the hole and on the threads of the tubular piece of pipe (this is the one threaded on the outside and inside. Screwed it into the hole in the boat and let it set up. Next day I screwed the brass plug into it to check...all good. Removed the plug and faired around the edge of the tubing with epoxy, sanded and was done.

When the boat comes out I screw out the plug...and back in before launch....I'll go take a couple of pics in an hour or so.


OK got the pics.

PIC 1. In the first one you will note that the tube/ pipe is threaded on the inside...the outer part of the tube is threaded as well and screwed into the boat. That is epoxied into the boat so that it can't come out...even if hit.

PIC 2. Direct shot looking into the boat. You can see the opposite side of the bilge. Note that the bottom of the hole is at the bottom and lowest part of the bilge so that it can drain completely. Can also see a ground wire going through there

PIC 3. Plug that screws into the pipe. It screws in all the way until the square portion is all that sticks out. "Pipe thread" so it doesn't require any sealant and it doesn't leak.

PIC 4. Where the hole goes on a C&C 30 .... that's the lowest part of the bilge as it's a little deeper under the mast step

[Mo]

Newenglandah,

There is more to that little problem now than meets the eye. First you will have to investigate and know how it is constructed. Next year when you pull the boat drill at the very bottom of the foam and let it drain and dry. You need that hole in a spot where gravity lets it all run out. Then, just before you are ready to launch you will have to close the holes with fiberglass or epoxy resin.

One of the worst things that can happen to fiberglass construction is water trapped in a dead space.

[dvd]

Always wet. Dont know if it is from slow drip at shaft,or weepy keel bolts or combination.

dvd

[edwardc]

Mine was always wet until I replaced the shaft packing with a combination of the Graphtex Ultra (Graphite + teflon) and the moldable dripless packing, both from Western Pacific Trading Co.

Now, the only water I get in the bilge is what runs down the inside of my keel-stepped mast when it rains hard.

[Kelly]

Dryer would be nice

My Cheoy Lee Bermuda ketch is all teak except for the hull and masts/booms. The deck leaks copiously, but less these days as I've slowly worked on re-bedding screws and giving attention to particularly troublesome areas (like re-sealing the cabin windows, re-bedding hardware...).

So, I would like to have a dryer bilge but that, as with all things 'boat', will come with time...

[Laker]

Maurice -

The three trailer/cradle tires visible in your photograph appear to match. I find that disturbing.