CD 25D water in cabin!

[frankfurder]

After a month of neglect by me, I was surprised to find 3" of water (clear) in the cabin sole a couple of days ago. This 1983 boat has been remarkably dry and other than one leak thru the sliding hatch cover had very minimal water in the bilge until this week. I made like a scared man with a bucket and bailed for 1.5 hours to get the water down in the bilge and found bubbles and an intermittent trickle coming into the bilge from the pump screen (Whale hand pump).

I removed the bilge pump screen and the trickle was coming thru the discharge hose, plugged the hose with a tapered plug and band.

When I inspected the bilge the next day the water level appeared to have stabilized, so here are my observations-

1. I estimated about 20 gallons of water in the boat (more than the bilge holds by 2x)
2. did not inspect water tank for leaks
3. the last thing I did before leaving her for a month was to pump out the bilge (which had a little more water than normal, but not much)
4. Boat was hauled in November 2016 for a bottom job, no other work on the hull
5. Stuffing box had been dripping normally, need to inspect
6. There was over 2" of rain during February, but rain has never even raised the bilge level appreciably in the past.
7. Water in the cabin sole was clear, no odor. Water in the bilge (which has never been cleaned was blackish) I checked engine oil and it was normal.

The problem I have is-I CANT FIGURE OUT HOW WATER IS BACKFLOWING THRU THE BILGE PUMP DISCHARGE HOSE?
The bilge discharge at the stern is above the water level so back siphoning should not allow more water in than what is in the hose.

This weekend I plan to inspect the bilge discharge hose and water tank for leaks, but I am baffled by this mysterious water intrusion. Any suggestions?

[Sea Hunt Video]

Frank:

You posted your question in the "Buy/Sell" section. You may want to ask the webmaster to move your post to the "Cape Dory" section to get more responses.

[tjr818]

. . . The problem I have is-I CANT FIGURE OUT HOW WATER IS BACKFLOWING THRU THE BILGE PUMP DISCHARGE HOSE?
The bilge discharge at the stern is above the water level so back siphoning should not allow more water in than what is in the hose.

Have you checked the routing of the discharge hose recently? Perhaps some of the retaining clips have broken, or the hose itself is broken and it is now below water level.

[frankfurder]

Thanks Roberto! I moved the post to "Cape Dorys"