[C36IA] water in the bilge

[Bill Boggs]

I'm not really sure how much that can tell you in and of itself.  My C36 has
a keel stepped mast, so fresh rainwater can enter the boat there from inside
the mast.  I also have a traditional stuffing box, so some salt/brackish
water gets in there.  Unless you can rule out rain as a source of the fresh
water, it wouldn't necessarily point to a leak in the fresh water system and
if you're in salt water there is likely some level of salinity from the
dripping stuffing box.

The net is, I have the same situation Fredrick describes and have been
trying to address it, because I also would rather have a dry bilge.  I
bought a "bilge bailer" at the Annapolis boat show to help me get the last
bit of water out but haven't had much luck due to the incredibly rainy
conditions we've had.  Last trip down I did add some bilge cleaner and
scrubbed the bilge out as it was pretty funky.  I then rinsed with fresh
water and added a bit more cleaner.  I plan to dry it out and give it a
final wipe down this weekend and then see how long we can keep it dry, but
some water in the bilge seems to be a fact of life with the C36.

Bill Boggs
s/v Palmetto Moon

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Frederick Savoye" <fredericksavoye at mac.com>
To: "Catalina 36 Association Mailing List" <c36list at c36ia.com>
Sent: Friday, June 19, 2009 1:57 AM
Subject: Re: [C36IA] water in the bilge


> On my list for tomorrow.  thanks Arnold.
>
>
>
>
>
> On Jun 18, 2009, at 10:36 PM, Arnold Rowe wrote:
>
>> Frederick,
>> Is it fresh or salt water?
>> You can taste test it or buy/borrow an inexpensive refractive index
>> unit to easily check it out.
>> For a RI unit try eBay or any marine aquarium outlet.
>> Arnold
>>
>> On Jun 18, 2009, at 9:16 PM, Frederick Savoye wrote:
>>
>>> Hi All -
>>>
>>> I have about half an inch of water in the bilge where the keel is
>>> bolted at pretty much any time.
>>>
>>> The water level is too low for the bilge pump to be effective with
>>> the
>>> back flow. I can dry it up manually obviously, but the water comes
>>> back after a few days and stays at that level, too low for the bilge
>>> pump. It just stays there. i don't like it. I don't like anything
>>> that
>>> is not a dry bilge
>>>
>>> So i have a couple of questions:
>>>
>>> a) is this normal? during the survey last year when i boat two
>>> surveyors mentioned that this was not an issue (yes there were two
>>> surveys) - is this really the case?
>>>
>>> b) if not, any idea what's the most likely source for the water? The
>>> keel bolts were checked and fine as well last summer.
>>>
>>>
>>> thanks for your insights.
>>>
>>> Frederick
>>> Mistral #997
>>>
>>>
>>> PS: a few weeks ago i asked advice to pull down my old jib that was
>>> stuck in the furler:  a lot of SailKote and perseverance paid off and
>>> i got it down.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> C36list mailing list
>>> C36list at c36ia.com
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>>
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