Water seeping through hull

[ditchcrawler]

Its possible that if your boat has been overplated and the original bottom is perforated then if you had water in the bilge it could have seeped down between the over plating and the original hull.

[Fourfours]

16 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Its possible that if your boat has been overplated and the original bottom is perforated then if you had water in the bilge it could have seeped down between the over plating and the original hull.

I think this is what the seller is suggesting has happened 

[Arthur Marshall]

19 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Its possible that if your boat has been overplated and the original bottom is perforated then if you had water in the bilge it could have seeped down between the over plating and the original hull.

That sort of what happened to mine. There was a hole in the original bottom plate in the engine bilge, so when it was replated any water in the bilge seeped down through the hole and then reappeared. Cured by blocking the hole, at least till another one happens. Can't see how I can stop it - cruiser stern, there's always water in the bilge. 

[Fourfours]

18 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

That sort of what happened to mine. There was a hole in the original bottom plate in the engine bilge, so when it was replated any water in the bilge seeped down through the hole and then reappeared. Cured by blocking the hole, at least till another one happens. Can't see how I can stop it - cruiser stern, there's always water in the bilge. 

I also have a cruiser stern but isn’t the bilge supposed to be dry as much as possible? 

On another note this is the state of the baseplate post grinding. How bad does this look to you guys?

 

thanks

[Alan de Enfield]

Are all of the 'dark patches' weeping / damp ?

[Tony Brooks]

7 minutes ago, Fourfours said:

I also have a cruiser stern but isn’t the bilge supposed to be dry as much as possible? 

Ideally yes but practically few cruiser stern boats have engine covers that are fully waterproof and some even have steps set back into the exposed stern so rain water has to be drained into the bilge.  My engine bilge is only ever dry in summer. In the winter it often has 4 inches or more of water in it before I can pump it out and so far no harm done. I just clean, dry, degrease, abrade and repaint it with a  couple of coats of bilge paint ever four or five years.

 

Few bilge pumps if any will fully remove the bilge water. I will not have an auto pump because they are very good a ruining batteries.

Edited July 4, 2019 by Tony Brooks

[Fourfours]

1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Are all of the 'dark patches' weeping / damp ?

Nope just been dampened for Terran application 

Just now, Fourfours said:

Nope just been dampened for Terran application 

Fertan! 

[Fourfours]

5 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

Ideally yes but practically few cruiser stern boats have engine covers that are fully waterproof and some even have steps set back into the exposed stern so rain water has to be drained into the bilge.  My engine bilge is only ever dry in summer. In the winter it often has 4 inches or more of water in it before I can pump it out and so far no harm done. I just clean, dry, degrease, abrade and repaint it with a  couple of coats of bilge paint ever four or five years.

 

Few bilge pumps if any will fully remove the bilge water. I will not have an auto pump because they are very good a ruining batteries.

Yeah my engine bay often needs emptying too and as you say the pump doesn’t get rid of all the water. I was quite worried about that too so good to know it’s normal

[Mike Adams]

Was it the sides or bottom or both that were overplated? How long ago? If you get water between the original bottom and the overplate that is very bad news. Rust can force the plates apart. That is why it is not allowed on commercial passenger craft. You need to invest £50 in a chinese ultrasonic thickness meter and a big hammer to get that scale off and see what you have left - but only do it in a dry dock/ashore and find out how thick it all is. looking at the picture there is a lot of wastage but what matters is what is left.

[Neil2]

On 03/07/2019 at 19:05, Fourfours said:

Hello I would appreciate some advice. I had water in my narrowboat cabin bilge that was sitting there for a number of months. I thought I found the source of the leak (calorifier). There was significant rust and am in the process of drying, grinding and fertaning. One area along the cabin sides would not dry and on closer inspection there seems to be water seeping in very slowly though a tiny hole. I called the person who sold me the boat who reckons that it’s water that got trapped between the plates (it’s been over plated). Does this sound like a reasonable explanation? If there was water coming in through the outer plate would it be coming in really fast due to the pressure? 

 

Also so what’s the best solution. Do I just need to wait till it stops seeping and hope that it’s dry enough?

 

any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated 

When you say you thought you had found the source of the leak, there is clearly some doubt in your mind as to where the bilge water is/was coming from.

 

As you observed the water for several months it can't have been a very obvious leak whatever the cause, so I suspect you may have a dose of wishful thinking here.

 

It's probably not what you want to hear, but if this was my boat I would have it out of the water and leave it on the hard until it dries out.  Then put it back in and see what happens.  It's a pain, but it's the only way you can have any confidence in the overplating.

 

If water has got between the overplating and the original hull it might never dry completely, but once out of the water you can get the bilge reasonably dry with some heat, air movement and a wet vac. 

 

[Fourfours]

4 minutes ago, Neil2 said:

When you say you thought you had found the source of the leak, there is clearly some doubt in your mind as to where the bilge water is/was coming from.

 

As you observed the water for several months it can't have been a very obvious leak whatever the cause, so I suspect you may have a dose of wishful thinking here.

 

It's probably not what you want to hear, but if this was my boat I would have it out of the water and leave it on the hard until it dries out.  Then put it back in and see what happens.  It's a pain, but it's the only way you can have any confidence in the overplating.

 

If water has got between the overplating and the original hull it might never dry completely, but once out of the water you can get the bilge reasonably dry with some heat, air movement and a wet vac. 

 

I guess I meant ‘thought’ because of noticing the seeping water after drying out. The calorifier was definitely leaking and I think was the cause of much of the water but after all the other areas were dry this bit remained damp at which point the very slow seeping was observed. 

[Johny London]

My two pen'erth -  is there a window above? You could maybe get the side panelling off (tricky I know) if there is a window there. Try taking more floor up to see if the water has trickled there from somewhere else. Eliminate all possibilities before getting the boat out. I don't much like the idea of "trapped water" between the plating.

 

My cruiser stern bilge is now 100% bone dry - after two days unclagging and degunking - and with a bucket under the prop shaft with the pump in it - it should stay that way!

[Fourfours]

11 minutes ago, Johny London said:

My two pen'erth -  is there a window above? You could maybe get the side panelling off (tricky I know) if there is a window there. Try taking more floor up to see if the water has trickled there from somewhere else. Eliminate all possibilities before getting the boat out. I don't much like the idea of "trapped water" between the plating.

 

My cruiser stern bilge is now 100% bone dry - after two days unclagging and degunking - and with a bucket under the prop shaft with the pump in it - it should stay that way!

Thanks for your pennies! There is a window above. Do you mean to take the panels off to see if that has been leaking?

[Johny London]

Yes, incase it's trickling or dripping down, plus any other directions it could be coming from. Even if it's not rained, could be condensation from cooking. Eliminate everything before getting the boat out!