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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Are all bilge compartments connected??

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djn
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1561 Posts

Initially Posted - 11/29/2005 : 14:27:12

Hi Finally got all the water out of the bilges of my boat. The temp as been in the 40ties for the last four or five days. There was water in the aft bilge, under the aft dinette seat, under the fore dinette seat, and in the V-birth bilge. Are they supost to be all connected? When I sucked all the water out of one, it did not effect the others.

Dennis
No Boat
S.E. Michigan

Edited by - on

Esteban
Navigator

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139 Posts

Response Posted - 11/29/2005 : 15:02:28

Once the water rises above the floorboards they all connect....

You got it.

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djn
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1561 Posts

Response Posted - 11/29/2005 : 15:44:35

Esteban, I guess I am asking if there is a system of tubes at the very bottom of the boat that will allow water to move from one compartnment to another, assuming it is not over the floorboards. Cheers.

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 11/29/2005 : 15:56:43

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by djn
 Hi Finally got all the water out of the bilges of my boat. The temp as been in the 40ties for the last four or five days. There was water in the aft bilge, under the aft dinette seat, under the fore dinette seat, and in the V-birth bilge. Are they supposed to be all connected?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

In more expensive boats, the bilges would drain to a central location, but alas these aren't expensive boats.

If the water gathered on your boat while on the cradle it likely came from the following sources...

The water in the V-berth is likely from either the anchor locker or bow eye. On my boat, the bow eye was the culprit.

The water under the forward dinette seat could be from either the windows, rubrail, chainplate, or a stanchion base.

The water under the aft dinette seat could have come from window leaks, deck hardware, or something around the rubrail.

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Esteban
Navigator

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139 Posts

Response Posted - 11/29/2005 : 16:03:47

Just a bad attempt at some humor.

I'm not entirely certain, but I don't think they connect. I say that only because I too run through the same routine you described. If you glance under the access panel for the keel cable, you will at times find water there as well. My bilge hand pump has the original hose which runs to... who knows where. It does however empty out whatever water I get in this area. It will not empty out the water found in the compartments adjacent to the trunk. I would imagine that this area is pretty beefy to support the keel, thus the compartments are not "connected". Im assuming this becuase there are two floor bilge access boards. Another thought to support this theory is how quickly these compartments empty out - suggesting they are small in size.

It took me some time to figure out where the water was coming from. I knew it was rain since that's the only time I end up with water in the bilges. I was stunned at how much water leaked through the windows. Might as well have left them in the open position when it rained...

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Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 11/29/2005 : 23:17:09

<center>Bilge Compartment Interconnect</center>
<div align="left">I've spent more time than I'd like messing about in the bilges of my 1979 C-25. Here's how they seem to be put together down there. Obviously the hull is one piece, and shaped on the inside like it is on the outside. The hull liner (furniture) is all one piece too. The liner is attached to the hull in many places where they both touch, or nearly so. The small gap between hull and liner is bridged with fiberglass tabbing made of roving and polyester resin. There may also be some filler putty in places that seems to be polyester resin and sawdust. Before the liner is installed, the swing keel hull has two low spots, one on each side of the keel trunk a couple feet aft of the mast. (The skeg drains forward and doesn't hold water at any normal angle of trim.) The liner itself has a couple of low spots which are easy to see -- galley and head sole, maybe dinette footwell if listing to port, but that's about it. Tabbing the liner into the hull may, or may not, create several additional places for water to collect -- it all depends on the tabbing in each individual boat. Possible water traps include all lockers, the thin gaps under the galley sole and under the head sole including the inaccessible boxy areas to port and stbd of the head down low, the somewhat deeper areas under the dinette footwell, and the walkway through the cabin.

Almost all of these can be connected to one of the low spots in the hull be drilling holes at the low points in the liner and tabbing. (Be carefull not to drill through the hull itself!) Without these limber holes, it's possible for an enormous amount of water to collect under the cabin sole before any of it sloshes into the liner where you can easily see it.

Any water in the bilge is a bad thing. Besides affecting handling and soaking the contents of lockers, it promotes mold, mildew, odors, corodes wiring, and can rot the plywood core that's under the cabin sole, berths, and pretty much all flat horizontal surfaces of the liner. Even if you have to cut access holes in the liner to get at the trapped water, it's worth it.

And as someone else will quickly point out

, it's also worth the effort to hunt down and fix all the deck leaks so that water doesn't get into the interior in the first place! But hunting deck leaks is a whole 'nother topic in itself.
</div id="left">

-- Leon Sisson

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 11/30/2005 : 02:05:28

I wasn't going to say a thing.

Frank, AKA Dusty

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Mark Loyacano
Navigator

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USA
247 Posts

Response Posted - 11/30/2005 : 07:14:11

There are three boat "rules" often seen on another website which state:

Keep the water out of the boat.
Keep the boat in the water.
Stay in the boat.

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Gloss
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1916 Posts

Response Posted - 11/30/2005 : 17:17:05

in the 89 models all water drains to the keel well

they are not cheap boats

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djn
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1561 Posts

Response Posted - 11/30/2005 : 22:58:23

Hi Leon, what I am thinking about doing is drilling holes in the floor on either side of the Keel trunk and adding deck plates so I can suck the water out. What do you thing of that.

Hi Esteban, you wrote that you have floor bilge access boards. What year boat do you have and where are the boards located? Cheers.

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 11/30/2005 : 23:45:36

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Gloss
 in the 89 models all water drains to the keel well

they are not cheap boats
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Now Now Frank, we drive Chevys. At least they are not Yugos! I looked inside a Venture 17 the other day and I was shocked at how little effort was put into that design.

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 12/01/2005 : 14:58:08

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by djn
 
Hi Esteban, you wrote that you have floor bilge access boards. What year boat do you have and where are the boards located? Cheers.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

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Gloss
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1916 Posts

Response Posted - 12/01/2005 : 23:42:48

Chevys? You mean we have a back seat we can have fun in?

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oldsalt
Admiral

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USA
578 Posts

Response Posted - 12/11/2005 : 10:48:14

All of the bilge areas on my '83 drain into the main keel sump by means of 3/4" limber holes consisting of gaps in the corners of the very bottom of the liner supports so they are at the lowest points to facilitate draining.

Later models may have a different setup of drilled limber holes which may have become clogged, but I doubt that they were built without a means of connection between the keel sump and the rest of the bilge areas.

Anyone who considers the C 25 to be a "cheap boat" would be wise to consider what Catalina Yachts would have to charge for one if they were still being built today.

Edited by - oldsalt on 12/11/2005 10:50:07

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