Guest Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Have had kauri yacht for about 9 months (1st boat So apologies if i am missing something obvious!) She has always been a really dry boat - no more than 5-600ml in bilge every few weeks. However last few weeks we have been clearing increasing amount of water and emptied about 8 litres out this afternoon ! so trying to suss out what is causing this sudden increase She is on a swing mooring at bucklands beach and a wonderful and very observant resident sent us photos of her very aground during the king tide a few weeks ago (Will try and post photos later). We have also found that with an onshore breeze she does occasionally bottom out slightly and are trying to get this remedied. Is it possible that she has sustained some keel/keel bolt damage from this that is causing the increased water? Have checked all the through hull fittings and they all seem water tight. Both Bow and stern bilges are bone dry and the water in the bilge is clean - well as clean as bilge water gets ie no diesel/oil etc. Any suggestions re possible causes that I can check out before I have to look at getting her hauled out to check the keel. Thanks Link to post Share on other sites
Murky 1 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 8 litres would be starting to get into nervous territory for me. When you say the bow and stern bilges are dry, you mean all the water is confined to the midships area? If you have a keel-stepped mast, that is one alternative explanation - there have been some substantial downpours lately. Leaks in anything are elusive but with time and patience (i.e. sitting/staring and listening, spreading newspaper to trace where the water is coming through from) sometimes you can outwit them. But I have to say that if it was my boat, even at the risk of over-reacting, I would be moving faster rather than slower in getting her checked and also dealing with the mooring issue, which sounds simply like you have ended up on a mooring with insufficient draft for the boat. If you happen to be on board when the "bottoming out" phenomenon takes place, in even a small chop the slamming that you experience can be quite alarming. Link to post Share on other sites
Murky 1 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Sorry, I left out the obvious step: a "taste test" will let you know whether you are dealing with fresh water (rainwater coming down the mast or through a leaking hatch or deck fitting) or salt (seawater finding its way to the wrong side of the hull). The seawater issue would suggest a bit more urgency. Link to post Share on other sites
Absolution 7 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 I was writing... taste the water to see if it is salty but Murky beat me to it. If its salty I'd take a good look at the stern gland where the prop shaft exits the hull and the base of the rudder tube. Keel bolts are a possibility, look for signs of corrosion and maybe post a pic here. If its fresh water then check the mast collar to see if it is damaged or the clamp has moved. Otherwise check all of your deck fittings to see if something is loose. Stanchions will often leak as the extra leverage from people swinging from them tends to give the fastenings a hard time. Link to post Share on other sites
Farrari 4 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Ummm .. I've never owned a wooden boat but even at 1/2 a litre of water every week or so would start concerning me. Eight litres would be ringing alarm bells and I would be getting it out on the hard ASAP. I don't think we have had enough rain fall out at Bucks in the last week to blame it on that. Even if I had left the hatch wide open all week I don't think I could have caught eight litres of fresh water. Go see Peter down at HMB Boatbuilders to take a look. Link to post Share on other sites
Farrari 4 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Adding to my last comments, it would still worthwhile checking for fresh v.s salt water. A mate of mine had a leak with his fresh water tanks and that dumped quite a bit of fresh water in the bilge. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Thanks all - mast is deck stepped. I know we have a leak through one of the port side stantions that I am fixing up this weekend but I cant believe that would allow that quantity of water in. Or would it?? Thinking on it all the water was mid-ships and up the port side though the starboard side was dry Will definately give it a taste now - didn't much fancy the idea this afternoon but suppose its a clincher. Is it worth closing all the thru hull fittings for now until I can get it out?? Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 We had a major downpour earlier this week. If there is a stauntion leak then 8 ltrs could easily get in, but did it? not something we can answer. I suggest you get that fixed before rot causes big damage. If water is "up" the port side, then I would say there is your answer. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Agree with the comments of if it's gone from bugger all to 8lts that fast something is knot good somewhere. Had a good look around the top of the keel area? Especially if it's salt water. Just wondering that if she's bottomed out maybe a loose bolt or seal around one may have let go. You could try bailing her and drying the bilge out as much as you can and sit watching real close. Maybe if you get it dry enough lay some paper towels down which may help show where it's coming from or a direction it's coming from. Link to post Share on other sites
rigger 47 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 If she is cauked and payed with putty and she has been bouncing that could be the cause of the leak. But, check the water for taste, and you could also get a few towels to make a dam around where the stanchion is and get someone to pour a quantity of water over the suspect area (the towels stpping the water flowing off the deck) and you could be below deck looking to see how much is coming in. Link to post Share on other sites
Murky 1 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 If your kauri hull is carvel-built (a single layer of planks on edge, rather than multiple skins) I would also be checking the garboards area. This is immediately above the keel joint, where the hull starts to flare out. (If you think of a wineglass shape, the lower part of the bowl coming out from the stem). The impact of the groundings could be being transferred from the keel to there. It may be hard to get a good look as it is often where floorboards and bunk fronts come together as well. A decent torch can help reveal the shine from water weeping in, as can the newspaper/paper towel options mentioned above. Link to post Share on other sites
John B 106 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Seriously ? going aground.. there's no such thing as a little bit aground on a mooring on a regular basis. Thats not protected water,That boat will be smacking itself around on wakes and waves and doing untold damage. Get it away from there. And I don't know about other people , but I never leave any boat with seacocks open unless there is some imperative reason that they need to be open. IE I had one cockpit drain I had to leave open on my old boat. I've seen them sink on moorings from a deck washdown skin fitting/ cock failure. And heads left open... don't get me started. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 I was talking to the owner of a 45ft carvel 1950's yacht that pumps 20-30 litres of water every 12 hours and has done for many years. It is in a marina, so the batteries keep up on the charger. After being on the hard for a few weeks the pump runs continuously for the first 6 hours then tapers off to normal "flow" It is all just a matter of what you are used to getting. If it is fresh water though, the sooner you find it the better. The newspaper trick is reall good to pinpoint the leak. I launched my wooden yacht after 2 years last week. The initial flow was alarming! I was in two minds whether to leave it in or not. After a week there are no leaks. I did mark a few spots that will get attention next time I'm out though. Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Boats can leak from the stern gland with no real need for alarm. Some of the older planked vessels can have the odd leak around caulking seams, especially if they hae been out of the water for a bit. The main thing is to always take notice of when the bilge pumps and if you note a change in the norm, then you need to take a look at things. Fresh water leaks in timber is a major concern. Infact by the time you notice a leak, the damage has already been done and you will find saturated timber and probably rot. Especially up here in this heat and humidity. Salt water can be your friend as far as killing rot goes. Not so good for metal bits. Fastest way to rot a wooden boat is to wash it down with fresh water after sailing. Seacocks should be turned off, although mine are not. That is only because the biulder of my boat put them in stupid hard to get to places. Going to change that one day. In saying that, when ever I have seen a failure, it has always been at the through hull and the valve would not have helped. That is not to say that after the valve has not been a point of failure for some. The higher the number of things that can go wrong, the more of a chance it will. So RachealP, get that staunchion leak seen to ASAP before it is a costly excercise. Plus timber boats really do not like being bumped on the bottom for long. Depending on the actual design, It can open seams up very quickly and if you have a planked vessel with copper roves and caulking, then you can do damage that could end up writing the hull off. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 agree close all through fittings and see what happens banging on the bottom is so crazy!!! get off that mooring Link to post Share on other sites
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