Rats! I have ice in my Ty bilge.

[Marino Curati]

We had a sunny day for once here in Cleveland so I went down to check out my boat. I took off the tarp and went inside and to my disbelief, the bilge is full of ice! This boat doesn't leak at the dock and rain water doesn't get in either. I can't figure out how it got in there. Its fully covered with a tarp. The only thing I can guess is that I left the lazarette covers sitting diagonal over the opening. Maybe the tarp isn't fully waterproof and it seeped in that way.

Now for a solution. Should I be worried about any damage? I'd say there's about a gallon in the bilge right above the padeye under the cabin. Also, the little area directly under the cabin sole is frozen solid. Literally, my anchor and line are entombed in ice. I'm planning on contacting the yard tomorrow, they were off today of course, to see if I can take it inside to thaw it out for a couple of days. If I can't I'm not sure what to do about this. What really worries me is that the ice has formed around hoses for the cockpit scuppers. I'm not sure if they're orginal or not but they are similar to radiator hose. I don't know if there are seacocks on the Ty or not either.

Thanks for any help,
Marino Curati
Typhooncicle #74 Snug



mcurati@vision-design-inc.com

[M. R. Bober]

The freeze thaw cycle will probably allow the ice to act as a wedge and potentially cause harm. If the yard cannot place her in a warm shed immediately, you must do something. Lower the freezing point of the ice in the bilge. Pour in antifreeze. Use rock salt. And bail that bilge.
It goes without saying that you need the find the source of the water. Is the boat sitting in proper trim to allow rain (rain in Cleveland, well I never...) to run off rather than in?

On our CD27, I spent 16 hours in the prone position on the cabin sole with a propane torch (no recommended), ice chopper, antifreeze, a pump & a bucket because the yard blocked her bow up.
Good luck
Mitchell Bober
RESPITE CD330

[sloopjohnl]

sounds like your tarp is not working and the open cockpit seats allowed the water into the area under the cockpit sole. not too much to worry about here.
is the boat blocked with the bow down and that gallon of water is all there is in the bilge and it is forward of the eye? if it is only a gallon and it is in that area i don't think you will see any damage, but get it out asap. if the boat is more level and the entire bilge is full and you're seeing a gallon forward of the eye, get it out pronto!! a block of ice in the lower portions of the bilge is a scary thought.
a good heat lamp with supervision will help - they thaw snowplows!

We had a sunny day for once here in Cleveland so I went down to check out my boat. I took off the tarp and went inside and to my disbelief, the bilge is full of ice! This boat doesn't leak at the dock and rain water doesn't get in either. I can't figure out how it got in there. Its fully covered with a tarp. The only thing I can guess is that I left the lazarette covers sitting diagonal over the opening. Maybe the tarp isn't fully waterproof and it seeped in that way.

Now for a solution. Should I be worried about any damage? I'd say there's about a gallon in the bilge right above the padeye under the cabin. Also, the little area directly under the cabin sole is frozen solid. Literally, my anchor and line are entombed in ice. I'm planning on contacting the yard tomorrow, they were off today of course, to see if I can take it inside to thaw it out for a couple of days. If I can't I'm not sure what to do about this. What really worries me is that the ice has formed around hoses for the cockpit scuppers. I'm not sure if they're orginal or not but they are similar to radiator hose. I don't know if there are seacocks on the Ty or not either.

Thanks for any help,
Marino Curati
Typhooncicle #74 Snug

[Bruce Bett]

The only thing I would add to what's already been said is that I always put a gallon of red pop (antifreeze) into the bilge as part of my winterization to make sure that the water that gets into the bilge dosn't freeze. A gallon of water in your bilge does seem excessive. We've had a lot of snow lately consider that it may bave blown in under the tarp. Even so you need to figure out how it's getting below decks.

Bruce Bett
Sostenuto
CD25 #496
La Salle MI

We had a sunny day for once here in Cleveland so I went down to check out my boat. I took off the tarp and went inside and to my disbelief, the bilge is full of ice! This boat doesn't leak at the dock and rain water doesn't get in either. I can't figure out how it got in there. Its fully covered with a tarp. The only thing I can guess is that I left the lazarette covers sitting diagonal over the opening. Maybe the tarp isn't fully waterproof and it seeped in that way.

Now for a solution. Should I be worried about any damage? I'd say there's about a gallon in the bilge right above the padeye under the cabin. Also, the little area directly under the cabin sole is frozen solid. Literally, my anchor and line are entombed in ice. I'm planning on contacting the yard tomorrow, they were off today of course, to see if I can take it inside to thaw it out for a couple of days. If I can't I'm not sure what to do about this. What really worries me is that the ice has formed around hoses for the cockpit scuppers. I'm not sure if they're orginal or not but they are similar to radiator hose. I don't know if there are seacocks on the Ty or not either.

Thanks for any help,
Marino Curati
Typhooncicle #74 Snug

bettb@macomb.cc.mi.us

[Marino]

The boat is on a trailer and I think all the water is forward. However, it's really hard to see into the bilge on the Ty so I'm not completely sure. I hope I can get it inside for a couple of days to thaw it then pump it out. If I can't, how would you go about getting heat down there? Is there another way to access the bilge other than that little hole above the padeye?

Some mentioned pouring antifreeze down there. Is that something to be done at this point? Or, is that to prevent this problem? Sounds kind of messy.

As far as the bilge on the Ty is goes, it seems to be flat right above the padeye. Is there a crevice farther aft or is the entire bilge flat?

Thanks for the advice, I don't want to ruin my boat already!

Marino

[Ed Haley]

The source of your water infiltration could be condensation, among other sources described. Several times in the past I noticed the same problem in my boat (and it didn't matter which one I had at the time) no matter how secure the tarp coverage. I still had water in the bilge. It had to come from condensation. I usually expect to have some water migrate to the bilge each winter so I pour antifreeze in the bilge to keep it from freezing.

To test the condensation theory one year in a 17' daysailor I had, I covered the boat and put it in the garage. Yeah, you guessed it. I still had water in the bilge after only a week or so. I must have pumped two gallons of water from the bilge over the course of a couple of months before I had a dry bilge. Of course by then it was very cold outside where the absolute humidity was low!

To eliminate any problems with freeze-ups in the bilge, add a gallon of antifreeze to the bilge. That's the best insurance $2.00 can buy.



eghaley@twcny.rr.com

[Ron Musk]

We had a sunny day for once here in Cleveland so I went down to check out my boat. I took off the tarp and went inside and to my disbelief, the bilge is full of ice! This boat doesn't leak at the dock and rain water doesn't get in either. I can't figure out how it got in there. Its fully covered with a tarp. The only thing I can guess is that I left the lazarette covers sitting diagonal over the opening. Maybe the tarp isn't fully waterproof and it seeped in that way.

Now for a solution. Should I be worried about any damage? I'd say there's about a gallon in the bilge right above the padeye under the cabin. Also, the little area directly under the cabin sole is frozen solid. Literally, my anchor and line are entombed in ice. I'm planning on contacting the yard tomorrow, they were off today of course, to see if I can take it inside to thaw it out for a couple of days. If I can't I'm not sure what to do about this. What really worries me is that the ice has formed around hoses for the cockpit scuppers. I'm not sure if they're orginal or not but they are similar to radiator hose. I don't know if there are seacocks on the Ty or not either.

Thanks for any help,
Marino Curati
Typhooncicle #74 Snug

Marino.I dont know about the bilge in a Typhoon but on the CD25 and 30 it does drop down into the keel a ways,Get down on your belly with a light facing aft,thats the only way to really see it,good luck

Ron Musk
s/v "R&R"
CD30



ccerre@massed.net

[sloopjohnl]

the way i check the bilge at the end of the season is place a flashlight through the hole, lay it on the bilge floor next to the eye and point it aft. get on your knees at the front end of the cockpit floor, bend down until your head touches the interior floor just forward of the hole and you should be able to see all the way to the back end of the bilge through the hole. the bilge on my '76 is flat and slopes down and aft. it narrows as it goes aft to about 4-6 inches at the far aft end.
if you only have ice forward in the eye area why not go at it gently with an ice pick. i was able to epoxy a mounting block, install a bilge pump and run wires by getting a hand/forearm through that hole.
if you can break it all up great. if you can get a hole, add some hot tap water (not boiling) and start the melting.
an alternative or if you have a lot of ice would be to put some calcium chloride flake or potassium chloride pellets used to melt snow/ice on sidewalks in on top of the ice. this will start the melting process and rot the ice. you could then add the hot water.
rock salt does not work as fast or at as low a temperature as the other two. then pump it out and add some antifreeze for next time just in case.
antifreeze is just that-prevents freezing. what will it do for already frozen? try some on a block of ice in a coffee can, never actually done this myself!
other possibilities would be an engine oil heater (like a dipstick with an electric cord) used to warm the oil in an auto engine block.
a heat lamp in a clamp-type socket that will swivel in any direction so you could clamp it on the hole edge and aim the lamp into the bilge area.
FYI - i use a treated canvas tarp on my ty in the backyard. the boat is completely covered since the tarp is the full length of the mast which acts as the ridge beam. i leave the cockpit seats off, the hatch boards off, and the deck plate behind the tiller out. do not get water, do not get condensation. the tarp is heavy enough when tied down to the trailer that it forms the perfect tent. most snows and rain are shed right off. now cleveland snow could be different than philadelphia snow.
GOOD LUCK!

The boat is on a trailer and I think all the water is forward. However, it's really hard to see into the bilge on the Ty so I'm not completely sure. I hope I can get it inside for a couple of days to thaw it then pump it out. If I can't, how would you go about getting heat down there? Is there another way to access the bilge other than that little hole above the padeye?

Some mentioned pouring antifreeze down there. Is that something to be done at this point? Or, is that to prevent this problem? Sounds kind of messy.

As far as the bilge on the Ty is goes, it seems to be flat right above the padeye. Is there a crevice farther aft or is the entire bilge flat?

Thanks for the advice, I don't want to ruin my boat already!

Marino

[Richard Stephens]

Marino,

When my boat was blocked a little down at the bow, I found
pools of water along the rail about at the chain plates.
I drilled some extra limber holes through the teak caprail
to drain the water.

Maybe you have a leak at the chain plates and water is getting
in there?

Nowadays I keep the boat on a trailer, and I can adjust the
jockey wheel so that the deck drains through the limber holes
aft and the cockpit drains forward. It is quite a fine adjustment.

Regards,
Richard.



stephens@lightlink.com

[Marino]

I ended up using Prestone Driveway heat then sucked the water out with a wet vac. It did a pretty good job. The only problem is that I can only reach so far back into the bilge area. I'm pretty sure there are a few hunks left back there so I dumped in about a gallon of antifreeze. Hopefully that will take care of the rest. I got a brand new tarp; covered it up and plan on checking it again in a while. Now I need to thaw myself out!

Does anyone know how far the bilge goes back and how you're supposed to access it? If there has been damage done, how can you find out for sure?

Thanks for any help,
Marino Curati
Typhooncicle #74 Snug

[Jonathan Dodge]

Marino:
I also had the same problem accessing the back of bilge. My solution:
8" inspection screw-off lid 5" aft of the bilge hole.

-10 with -40 wind chill
Jonathan Dodge
CD Typhoon
"Lion's Whelp"
Lindstrom MN

Merry Christmas



Jonathan.D.Dodge@HealthPartners.com

[dickeesis]

stick your arm in the handhole past your elbow, the deepest part of the bilge is about 1 1/2 or 2 forearm lengths to the rear, you have to repeatedly flick a strip of towel back in there (and wring) to sop most of it out. Carl Alberg did not insist that Cape Dory provide more direct access on this particular boat.

TY #167



dickee@crosslink.net