Bilge water

Currently my boat is on the dry undergoing some cosmetic job. Every time it rains I get water in the bilge, not allot, but it is very annoying. I try to find the way it comes from by spraying the boat with the garden hose, no result. Losing my mind. Windows, hatches all dry. Any suggestions? It is not allot of water, it is principals at this point.

Does your boat have deck drains?

I have not tried this technique myself, but it is rumored to work. The idea is to get positive air pressure in the cabin by closing all doors and hatches and blowing air from the exhaust side of a shop vac. To do this you need to make a plywood piece to fit in one opening or another. Then fit the hose from a shop vac into a hole in the plywood. Run the shop vac and go over the boat with very soapy water. The places you see bubbles are where the leaks are. Fix them and you should be done!

That is a common diagnostic for finding RV leaks too, should work on a boat.

I feel your pain Vadim. I had the same experience with my last sailboat. No amount of testing with a hose would produce any water, but let the boat sit in the PNW gentle rain for a week and then I would get a leak. I was even able to trace the water leaking down the inside of the hull, but had a heck of a time finding the source. I ended up rebedding every fitting on that section of the deck and that didn't stop it. In the end, Captain Tolly's Creeping Crack Cure applied to anything that even hinted at an opening, was able to stop the leak.


I did try pressuring the boat and doing the soap bubble trick. It didn't work for me. Taping paper towels to the hull above the bilge can help you trace where the water is coming down if it is running down the inside of the hull.


Good luck. I know the frustration.

Vadim said:

Currently my boat is on the dry undergoing some cosmetic job. Every time it rains I get water in the bilge, not allot, but it is very annoying. I try to find the way it comes from by spraying the boat with the garden hose, no result. Losing my mind. Windows, hatches all dry. Any suggestions? It is not allot of water, it is principals at this point.

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Based on a similar experience, my bet is you have a scupper drain hose that has come loose or is leaking somewhere. Locate all of your deck and cockpit scuppers and run several gallons of water through each of them one at a time, and check your bilge.

In my case, a cockpit scupper drain was plumbed to it's overboard with a spiral-wound vinyl hose that dried out and shrunk a little over time. It pulled loose from the fitting and so rainwater was going into the bilge.

Deck hardware like cleats, railings, stanchions, etc.. could be the culprit and could be a pain to find with a hose down.

caltexflanc said:

Does your boat have deck drains?

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No, not plumbing type, just an opening in the stern for water to flow out from the deck.

Thank you all. Some one at the marina told me that it could be condensation. Now that i am thinking, I change 3 dry agent bags weekly because they collect allot of water.

If you are at a dock with shore power, get a small dehumidifier and keep it running in the boat draining into a sink. That will keep the boat dry and let you know if the water in the bilge is condensate.

Vadim said:

Thank you all. Some one at the marina told me that it could be condensation. Now that i am thinking, I change 3 dry agent bags weekly because they collect allot of water.

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Vadim said:

No, not plumbing type, just an opening in the stern for water to flow out from the deck.

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So all the water from bow to stern gets drained to one location?

caltexflanc said:

So all the water from bow to stern gets drained to one location?

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Four openings/drain at the stern.