Water in bilge

[Captain Decent]

How do you guys keep water out of the bilge and is it a problem? If I hose down my deck water drips down through the hatches and drips on all the components. I’m sure the same thing happens when it rains and when we are fishing, we get blood, scales and bait down there despite our best efforts to keep it clean.

It has a nice fiberglass deck. Is there any way to keep this from happening and is it a problem? I worry about it rotting the stringers or getting nasty down there. The pumps can’t get the last 2” of water out. So there’s always water down there.

Also, this weekend my trim tab pump sprung a leak and dumped a bunch of fluid down there. Now the whole bilge is coated in tranny fluid. What’s the best method there?

[Carl]

I went the simplest route when I changed from the old wrapped wood deck to a fiberglass deck. I pitched the deck back a little and also from the sides in. Its not perfect by any means, but the heavy water runs out the back. Still plenty makes its way into the bilge.

For the good news, the wood in the stringers was only needed as a form...so if they rot out, not a problem.

Another piece of good news is if you place a pump in the front hatch by galley down real low you should be able to get a whole lot more water out. I mounted mine on a 1/2" piece of wood glued to hull. Likewise a rear pump low when running should take out all the water that collects in the sides and pockets then runs back when getting up on plane.

The not so good news is the wooden uprights holding up your deck will rot and need to be replaced. Many here have replaced with structural fiberglass so once done its done.

As to blood running down...good bilge cleaner, let it slosh around when out, then rinse a few times. Guts and scales....get them before they make there way down and/or don't let them on the deck to have a chance of getting down. I do my cleaning and chunking on a bait tray that drains overboard...has a lip...but slots and grooves that run under let it drain.


Oil in bilge...oil absorbent diapers and socks will absorb much of the oil from the water, vacuum the rest, towel wipe what you can. Spray clean and towel up. When done bilge cleaner soap another good scrub go out and let boat rock around a bit, pump rinse.

[Yannis]

Carl, all this is super annoying.
Lots of work, and in the end it suffices for a deck rinse or a wave to have to start all over again.
The only solution I see, which I WILL follow one day, is to do what Bob did...seal off the engine room once and for all.

In the mean time, I made a hole in the lowest point of the bulkhead and I remove the seal when I run the boat, all water goes back and out through the aft bilge pump, then seal it back BEFORE I stop, but it is difficult if you're alone...
If you don't put the seal back on while you still run and instead stop the boat first, you find all the water residue that cannot be streamed out by the aft pump back in the cabin bilge...it’s then that you start talking french to your boat!

[Tony Meola]

The problem is, it's a boat and there is really no way to make it totally dry.

]

[Rawleigh]

You can put a Beckson deckplate in the bulkhead going into the cabin to separate it into two bilges. That way you can open it up if necessary.

[Carl]

The problem is, it's a boat and there is really no way to make it totally dry.

]

Thats not true Tony-- it can be left on land and covered...kinda like mine.

[pschauss]

Just out of curiosity, I checked the salinity of the water in my bilge. It was about the same as the water next to the boat in the slip.

[Tony Meola]

Just out of curiosity, I checked the salinity of the water in my bilge. It was about the same as the water next to the boat in the slip.

Do you have dripless shaft seals? If not, th t is probably why the salinity is the same.

[pschauss]

Tony

I have the traditional flax seals. The one on the starboard side has a bit of seepage when sitting at the dock. I assume there is some water flow when I’m under way.

[Carl]

Tony

I have the traditional flax seals. The one on the starboard side has a bit of seepage when sitting at the dock. I assume there is some water flow when I’m under way.

If it seeps at the dock, it seeps more when underway.
I try to shoot for a drop or two a minute dockside.
A little more or a little less isn't a big deal.

[pschauss]

I doubt that it's much more than a drop or two a minute dockside. The only way that I know that it is leaking is because of a damp spot on the hull directly beneath it.

[Tony Meola]

Peter

Make sure they not h drip while running.

[pschauss]

I thought you were supposed to get a small amount of water coming through to keep them lubricated.

[Pete Fallon]

Capt. Decent,
Attwood and Perko used to make a flat bronze water pick up that attached to their small 800 gph bilge pumps, check the big marine catalog houses, Defender, Lewis Marine etc. Sealing of the forward bilge with a deck plate 3-1/2" smallest will also work. You glass over the old limber hole at the bulkhead bottom and add the screw style deck plate about 2'' above hull bottom. It's almost impossible to keep the bilge completely dry. Use dawn dishwashing liquid and oil absorb pads to get rid of the hydraulic fluid in the bilge.
Pete Fallon

[Tony Meola]

Peter

Sorry for the typo. Meant to say make sure they drip while running.