Water in bilge

[asabatelli]

I'm a proud new owner of a 71 Daysailer II. A friend offered me a spot on his dock, and after about 24 hours there were several inches of water in the bilge. I've read a lot of posts, and I know there's a lot of issues with the CB pivot bolt, but the boat has not sailed, yet--just sat at a dock on a dead calm night. Isn't the CB pivot bolt above the water line? The boat is in near mint condition--only sailed a handful of times.... If I have to limit leaks to at or below the water line, where do I check? Also, the boat does not have a bilge drain plug at all, so I can eliminate that one. Could it be the self bailer? My boat has a metal snap-up/snap-down style self bailer (also should I close that while moored--water puddles there..?) Thanks for any info on this....

[Alan]

Did it rain during the 24 hours? Water in the cockpit will seep through the two inspection ports in the cockpit floor into the bilge, even if they're closed.

No bilge drain plug at all? Hmm. My 1980 DSII has a bilge drain plug in the lower starboard side of the transom, with a puttied-over hole at the bottom center of the transom. There's been some discussion of this on a recent thread. The puttied-over hole and the drain plug off to starboard seem to be a factory afterthought. If there's no plug at all, there should at least be some sign of where one used to be.

One last thought: The joint between the self-bailer and the bottom of the hull may not be perfectly sealed. In that case, water would seep through the gap into the space between the outer and inner hulls.

[asabatelli]

Thanks for the reply. No rain. And the guy I bought it from was the original owner... He tells me it never had a bilge drain, just came like that from the factory... I thought the area where the self-bailer goes through was solid--it seems to be like that on another one of these I have worked on a little...

[SeaBiscuit]

Same thing happened to me years ago -- right after I changed the C/B pivot bolt and washers. I'd check the tightness of the bolt and condition of the washers first. After I sealed up the washers with 'snot du jour' and tightened things up properly, I was good to go. Pumped her out with a hand pump through the C/B access panel at the slip. Skulked away from the marina in the dark.....

[Roger]

I would check any below waterline transom fittings. The rudder gudgeon is one to check, another is the self bailer as mentioned before. The seal around the housing may not be watertight. This will require it to be pulled from the water.

[asabatelli]

Thanks for the help! Which "snot du jour" do you recommend? I'll try tightening first, and see what happens--really don't want to have to pull the boat out of the water..., but will if I have to to put on new gaskets. Guess I'd have to if it's the self bailer. Also--if I don't leave the metal self bailer snapped shut at rest, quite a bit of water gathers at the stern and along the edges of the cockpit when you stand in the boat....normal?? I've been keeping it shut at the dock...