Bilge water & cockpit water

[Tom Mierau]

This is my first Cape Dory. I have a 1980 Typhoon Weekender.

For three weeks after launching, opening & inspecting the bilge for water revealed nothing. The bilge remained bone dry. Then I noticed water in the bilge. The cabin sole was completely dry. I pumped a LOT of water out of the bilge.

Over the course of the past week, I have watched this closely. The water remaining in the bilge, is what I was unable to pump out after my pump started sucking air. No new water appears to have come into the bilge since I pumped it out.

I have examined the interior of the boat closely. It appears to me, the only opening into the bilge is at the inspection opening located in the cabin sole right at the bottom of the companionway. I cannot figure out how the bilge filled with water after three weeks of remaining totally dry, WITHOUT leaving a bunch of water on the cabin sole. Can anybody enlighten me on how this could happen?

The Rudder shaft passes through a tube which runs from the bottom of the hull up through the cockpit floor. The tube is bonded to the bottom of the hull and appears to be not cracked or leaking there. Yes, the rudder leaks a bit up through this tube around the rudder shaft, and might possibly leak back into the interior of the hull around the sole plate which surrounds the top end of the rudder shaft tube. I plan to caulk the sole plate.

Even so, the hull appears to be bonded to the cabin sole, somewhere back under the cockpit. Therefore, water leaking into the hull should show up on the cabin sole. Right? There is a support (sort of looks like a centerboard trunk which lies fore/aft between the hull bottom and the cockpit floor... Hard to see in that area... maybe there is an opening to the bilge back in there. Anynbody know about this?

Finally, the cockpit floor must be very close to the actual waterline. When sailing with four aboard, when the boat heels, the leeward cockpit drain takes water into the cockpit. This, plus the leakage around the rudder shaft makes a mess. Is this common to Typhoons?



tunertom@tunertech.com

[Mike Wainfeld]

This is my first Cape Dory. I have a 1980 Typhoon Weekender.

For three weeks after launching, opening & inspecting the bilge for water revealed nothing. The bilge remained bone dry. Then I noticed water in the bilge. The cabin sole was completely dry. I pumped a LOT of water out of the bilge.

Over the course of the past week, I have watched this closely. The water remaining in the bilge, is what I was unable to pump out after my pump started sucking air. No new water appears to have come into the bilge since I pumped it out.

I have examined the interior of the boat closely. It appears to me, the only opening into the bilge is at the inspection opening located in the cabin sole right at the bottom of the companionway. I cannot figure out how the bilge filled with water after three weeks of remaining totally dry, WITHOUT leaving a bunch of water on the cabin sole. Can anybody enlighten me on how this could happen?

The Rudder shaft passes through a tube which runs from the bottom of the hull up through the cockpit floor. The tube is bonded to the bottom of the hull and appears to be not cracked or leaking there. Yes, the rudder leaks a bit up through this tube around the rudder shaft, and might possibly leak back into the interior of the hull around the sole plate which surrounds the top end of the rudder shaft tube. I plan to caulk the sole plate.

Even so, the hull appears to be bonded to the cabin sole, somewhere back under the cockpit. Therefore, water leaking into the hull should show up on the cabin sole. Right? There is a support (sort of looks like a centerboard trunk which lies fore/aft between the hull bottom and the cockpit floor... Hard to see in that area... maybe there is an opening to the bilge back in there. Anynbody know about this?

Finally, the cockpit floor must be very close to the actual waterline. When sailing with four aboard, when the boat heels, the leeward cockpit drain takes water into the cockpit. This, plus the leakage around the rudder shaft makes a mess. Is this common to Typhoons?

Tom
I was also puzzled about water in my bilge. Sometimes after a rain there was water, sometimes it was dry. Of course a good way to find the leaks is to get in the cabin, close her up, and have someone outside spray the boat with a hose. I did this and found a leak at the deck plate in the bow. The water would drip onto the V-berth, and then I think into the lockers in the V-berth which communicate with the bilge. This was fairly easy to rebed.
If you open the inspection ports for the chainplates you can reach in and feel the bolts. There was a leak here also on one side, and again I think the water can run down into the bilge. I had some trouble trying to rebed the chainplates, but thats another story.
I've also heard, as you mentioned, that if during a heavy rain, water collects in the cockpit faster than it can drain thru the scuppers, the rudder shaft sole plate can leak. If you do decide to rebed the sole plate, please let me know how the job goes.
My cokpit drains also will fill when the boat is heeled. Its not a problem.
Mike
CDTyphoon "Regalo"





ripcord1@erols.com