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1" of water in my cabin bilge - what to do !


mboat01

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Newbie doing refit of boat. Drilled inspection holes today in ply floor as suspected that bilge might be damp. Well ... it was worse than my worse nightmare... 1" of water sloshing around at the sternmost point of cabin up to 1/2" by 10' down the boat. At that point I felt too depressed to drill any more holes and have come home to ask for help !!.

 

I think the water has come from a leak some time in the past from water pump (that has now been replaced). I dont think there are any current leaks.

 

My question is - How do I deal with this properly ?

 

I can get most of the water out I think with wet and dry vacuum cleaner, maybe use nappies too. Im not too worried about that.

 

What do forum members think needs doing about the floor ?

 

Do I need to lift the ply floor, bin it, get down to the concrete paving ballast and get it all bone dry with a dehumidifier ?

 

Is it realistic to have cabin bilge bone dry ?

 

 

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Cut a decent sized floor hatch near the back of the cabin then suck the water out with a vac and mop the rest with a sponge. You’ll probably find that it’ll take a few days as it dribbles back through the ballast. Once it’s out you’ll be able to see the state of the base plate - it’s probably going to be fine. :)

 

Ensure that the area below the floor is ventilated and it’ll dry out nicely. 

 

Other opinions are available and will no doubt be voiced shortly. 

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2 minutes ago, WotEver said:

Cut a decent sized floor hatch near the back of the cabin then suck the water out with a vac and mop the rest with a sponge. You’ll probably find that it’ll take a few days as it dribbles back through the ballast. Once it’s out you’ll be able to see the state of the base plate - it’s probably going to be fine. :)

 

Ensure that the area below the floor is ventilated and it’ll dry out nicely. 

 

Other opinions are available and will no doubt be voiced shortly. 

Seconded. It will be nowt to worry about.

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2 minutes ago, WotEver said:

Other opinions are available and will no doubt be voiced shortly. 

Wot E said.

 

If it comes back, you have leaky pipes/joins/windows whatever.  If it doesn't come back it's an old leak from something.

 

Don't panic, just dry it out and see what happens - my boat had 3" of water in the cabin bilge when I bought it, and currently has none.

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Is the floor firm and springy or soft and a bit squishy? If squishy it will need replacing.  Eventually.   It looks ( on my small fone screen) like it is a decent WBP ply and that stuff will stand quite a lot of wet and any amount of damp.  It doesn't look like chipboard as that would have turned to Weetabix by now.

In the short term bale out the water and dry thoroughly with vac, disposable nappies etc.  Keep at it as the water will dribble back out of the ballast.  Cut another vent at the front and leave all vents open as long as you can.  If you have the power to spare, a computer fan over the front or the back vent hole, blowing into the bilge, will after a few days have helped dry out the bits you cannot see. The water is still warmish from a good summer so that will help too.

After that -ignore it apart from a check every so often to see that there is no more moisture building up.

N

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thanks guys. thats been really helpful. Half a pint of lambrusco has helped a bit too.

I'll have a go as you all suggest and bail it out. Hope you dont mind if I post a pic of baseplate when I get down to it  

Currently looking up price of nappies at Aldi and new jigsaw at Screwfix ...?

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5 minutes ago, Sassy Lass said:

thanks guys. thats been really helpful. Half a pint of lambrusco has helped a bit too.

I'll have a go as you all suggest and bail it out. Hope you dont mind if I post a pic of baseplate when I get down to it  

Currently looking up price of nappies at Aldi and new jigsaw at Screwfix ...?

If you use a jigsaw get short blades and be careful you don't catch any floor members as its not gonna damage much but can bang back at you and hurt yer hand. Don't ask me how I know this.

2 minutes ago, LadyG said:

That hole cutter is excellent thing, have you got the plates that sit in the holes?

I leave my access holes uncovered, it may help keeping bilges dry due to bit of air movement.

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2 minutes ago, LadyG said:

That hole cutter is excellent thing, have you got the plates that sit in the holes? [not an expert but being supportive!]

Thanks for support. Really appreciated. As you can gather from its all a bit terrifying !. Hole cutter worked quite well, got idea from here 

 

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5 minutes ago, Sassy Lass said:

thanks guys. thats been really helpful. Half a pint of lambrusco has helped a bit too.

I'll have a go as you all suggest and bail it out. Hope you dont mind if I post a pic of baseplate when I get down to it  

Currently looking up price of nappies at Aldi and new jigsaw at Screwfix ...?

You want baby bed/changing mats - 3' x 2' flat nappies essentially.  I cut them up into 1' squares unless it's a big mess!  

About £4 for 14 from the big supermarkets - can't remember ever seeing them in Aldi.

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4 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

You want baby bed/changing mats - 3' x 2' flat nappies essentially.  I cut them up into 1' squares unless it's a big mess!  

About £4 for 14 from the big supermarkets - can't remember ever seeing them in Aldi.

Lol - these : https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/250062641

(how do you even know that these are good for absorbing bilge water !?? - talk about esoteric knowledge!)

Ive now had a whole pint of lambrusco and its starting to feel okay ?

 

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6 minutes ago, Sassy Lass said:

Lol - these : https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/250062641

(how do you even know that these are good for absorbing bilge water !?? - talk about esoteric knowledge!)

Ive now had a whole pint of lambrusco and its starting to feel okay ?

 

I use cheapo disposable nappies sometimes such as under the engine etc. Don't leave em much more than twenty four hours though as they disintegrate.

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3 minutes ago, Sassy Lass said:

Lol - these : https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/250062641

(how do you even know that these are good for absorbing bilge water !?? - talk about esoteric knowledge!)

Ive now had a whole pint of lambrusco and its starting to feel okay ?

 

The name brand are only 2' x 2' and 12s - the own brands are 3' x 2' and 14s for the same price.  These are also fantastic for putting under your engine when changing an oil filter - they catch nearly all the unavoidable spills.

 

The flat mats are just easier to mop or soak things up than a baby shaped nappy - it's pretty much the same construction but as a flat sheet.  It's down to practice with leaky boats :D

 

 

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If the boat is older than about 1980 theres a possibility that its a wet bilge boat, in which case its quite normal for rain water from either end of the boat to find its way into the bilge and end up right at the stern end.  However it probab;ly isn't and very likely a later dry bulge boat,    As well as a hatch at the back I would make one right at the front too, to get a bit of a draught throughout the bilge which will help dry it out after the water has been removed.  I'd leave both hatches open as much as possible. to air the bilge. You could even aim a fan or even a fan heater into the rear hatch, facing forwards to speed up the process a bit.

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Its 2005 -- so lovely surprise to find cabin bilge in this state ? 

Helpful thread about boats with through bilge here - 

Im pretty sure mine hasnt got one ... engine bilge is fine ! (about 1cm in the bilge sump, othewise nice 'n' dry)

After advice from everyone I think I'll cut a 2 foot x 2 foot square hole out of the stern-most port-side floor ... all the fitting are on the port side so most of the water is going to have gathered there...

Of course, just to make life easy, this happens to be where the calorifier is .... so that going to have to come out. Dont ya just love it when jobs snowball....

 

That way I can make a good assessment of the baseplate.

 

The floor is good quality (i think) marine ply. I'll then also cut out maybe x10 'inspection' holes, vac and dry it all out, and see if I can jamb a fan into the rear big hole.

 

Dont ya just love it when jobs snow-ball bigger and bigger !

 

Id better find a good source - good more important than cheap for this - of BS rated 18mm marine ply...

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1 hour ago, TheBiscuits said:

Wot E said.

 

If it comes back, you have leaky pipes/joins/windows whatever.  If it doesn't come back it's an old leak from something.

 

Don't panic, just dry it out and see what happens - my boat had 3" of water in the cabin bilge when I bought it, and currently has none.

Agree with all the above get it out and more than likely it will be fine - the actual state of the flooring is easier to judge and take appropriate action

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42 minutes ago, Sassy Lass said:

I'll then also cut out maybe x10 'inspection' holes

You really shouldn’t need to. Most boats float stern down so any water will eventually make its way to the back. 

1 hour ago, mrsmelly said:

Don't leave em much more than twenty four hours though as they disintegrate.

Please note this advice otherwise you have an even bigger mess to clean up ;)

 

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8 minutes ago, WotEver said:

You really shouldn’t need to. Most boats float stern down so any water will eventually make its way to the back. 

Please note this advice otherwise you have an even bigger mess to clean up ;)

 

do you think cutting a hatch this big would be  overkill ?

 

 

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Yes overkill, but mainly because it seems to remove all support for the cauliflower. If you want a hatch that big to feel confident you can see loads of bilge then otherwise this is fine.

 

Move it over a bit towards the centre of the boat and cut one just as big if you wish. Bear in mind you may well hit a steel floor bearer with your saw, but set the depth to the same as the wood thickness if you do. Mind you, being a Liverpool boat the bearers are probably at least about 3 ft apart!!

 

 

Edited by Mike the Boilerman
Add a bit.
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