wet carpet in galley

[Chris S280]

I have a 2006 280 sun dancer. I have had issues with the water coming into the sump under the step but have been able to get the water out with a shop vac but with the boat sitting on the trailer right now for the next month until i will be able to put it in its slip for the summer I have been doing some maintenance on it and noticed that the carpet in the front of the galley area is now wet not back by the sump under the step. I am assuming that having it sit on the trailer and it leaning bow down that the water has moved towards the front. I am wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to get the water out of there. I have tried to lift the front of the trailer up as high as i can get it safely but got no water running to the back. Would it be safe to drill a 4" hole in the galley floor to get the water out and then put a patch back in after dried out?

 

[Henry Boyd]

Been there, only from boat stands. Carpet may be wet because the cabin carpet goes under the stairs and is rolled over the edge of the bilge and stapled/attached to the vertical face of where the sump box is located. Trimming back the carpet edge will solve this problem. Won’t fix the cause of the water though.

The area around the sump is lowest point of the forward bilge and everything drains in there. The big question is whether this is new, or only happens in storage? If it’s a storage only issue that means when the boat is floating (the best way to support the hull) everything is closed up, and in turns there is probably nothing inherently wrong with the boat. This means the solution is to keep the boat under cover when in storage, play around with how it sits on the trailer, trim the carpet edge in the bilge back and keep an eye on the inside water when in storage.

If it is an in water issue, possible sources:


portholes
1. Poorly fitting porthole glass (adjustments on handles to increase pressure of plexi against gasket.
2. Bad porthole gasket
3. porthole assembly has lost caulking. Head porthole was common is common spot.

All of our portholes needed constant care.

Bow rail attachments
the sealing at the attachment points of the bow rail stanchions can be a source of leaks. There are round upholstered covers in the headliner that cover where the fasteners to the stanchions are located. They have Christmas tree fittings and just pull off. Signs of leakage should be obvious.

The above is not all inclusive, just the usual suspects.

 

[Lazy Daze]

All excellent points by Henry - Chris, he owned a 280DA for a long time and is very familiar with the ins and outs of that boat.

I'll just add... that from my experience with all of the Sundancers with a similar setup is that the head window is the most common culprit for wetness in that area. If it is the rubber seal/opening glass... then water would drip into the head and to the drain. If the drain is leaking, then it leaks into the sump area. However, as Henry pointed out, the outer sealant of the porthole could have failed (sealant does eventually fail - that's normal) and that would cause water to drip between the outer hull and the head... and then directly to the sump. So, there's two easy ways for water to get there without any water showing up on the galley floor.

When you said "got no water running to the back"... do you mean the engine bilge - or just to the shower sump. Water should NOT be running between the bilge and the shower sump.

Don't cut a hole. If the cockpit or galley floor isn't already angled up (a level will help), get the bow higher. Build a cradle for the front of the trailer or the jack stand, but there's no need to cut a hole.

I assume the trailer must be parked the wrong way on an incline? Otherwise, there's an issue with the way the trailer is setup because it should be able to get the bow high enough by itself.

If you don't already have one, you could always replace the jack stand with a "drop leg" jack stand to get more height.

You can check for leaks with a hose. You can tape/cover suspected leak points to keep water out till you fix it.

 

[Henry Boyd]

Chris,

The front and rear bilges are sealed for good reason. The 280 is a gas boat, carbon monoxide is always a risk. That’s significant but not the major point. The real issue in my opinion is water incursion. All 280s are sterndrives. If a bellows ruptures the boat will sink, not may, will. The two auto bilge pumps in the ER will only slow the inevitable.

Unlike smaller boats there are no flotation chambers on a Sundancer. However even on a boat with them, they won’t necessarily save the boat. They just buy time for escape.

By sealing the fore section, the back half can take on an awful lot of water before things go bad and buy time. The stern goes down and the bow goes up. That significantly increases the time between water ingress and sinking. This allows time for the bilge pump alarms wake everybody up and everybody get out.

 

[Chris S280]

Thanks for the info. The leak is coming in from the head porthole. when spraying with a hose or just rain I can watch the water come in. tried tightening the clamps to make a better seal but that didn't do and better so now i am looking for the new seal that goes in there.

 

[Lazy Daze]

But... if it's leaking past the glass/rubber seal, that should simply be dripping into the head and down into the drain. Which means the leak that you (really) need to address is the drain. Did you verify the drain is leaking, as well? Gotta look underneath the head floor - or at least observe the sump area while pouring water into the drain. Otherwise, you may ALSO have the leak that Henry I was referencing above.

Try cleaning the glass and the rubber real well - it doesn't take much dirt to create a leak. 303 is good for the rubber. The rubbers are easily/readily available - your local dealer may even have them in stock.

 

[Chris S280]

But... if it's leaking past the glass/rubber seal, that should simply be dripping into the head and down into the drain. Which means the leak that you (really) need to address is the drain. Did you verify the drain is leaking, as well? Gotta look underneath the head floor - or at least observe the sump area while pouring water into the drain. Otherwise, you may ALSO have the leak that Henry I was referencing above.

Try cleaning the glass and the rubber real well - it doesn't take much dirt to create a leak. 303 is good for the rubber. The rubbers are easily/readily available - your local dealer may even have them in stock.

The drain in the bottom of the shower is not leaking i have pored water down that and all the water goes into the box and then pumped out. I am thinking after looking closer where the fiberglass meets the window in the in the head there is no seal there and water can get behind the fiberglass there.

 

[Lazy Daze]

I know the seam you are talking about - I remember seeing that on mine. I don't have mine to look at it, but from memory, I don't think water that leaks in past the rubber seal will drip into there?

Plus, it would make much more sense, based on how much water was collecting in the sump, that the leak causing the issue would be on the outside of the window and not the seal. A lot more water would come in via the outside than through the seal.

If you can't get the glass/rubber to stop leaking, try something simple like taping (on the outside) where the glass seals. The do the hose thing again.

 

[Henry Boyd]

But... if it's leaking past the glass/rubber seal, that should simply be dripping into the head and down into the drain. Which means the leak that you (really) need to address is the drain. Did you verify the drain is leaking, as well? Gotta look underneath the head floor - or at least observe the sump area while pouring water into the drain. Otherwise, you may ALSO have the leak that Henry I was referencing above.

Try cleaning the glass and the rubber real well - it doesn't take much dirt to create a leak. 303 is good for the rubber. The rubbers are easily/readily available - your local dealer may even have them in stock.

Dennis,

Not necessarily if the whole port light assembly is to blame. Unlike the other three, the head porthole has collar like affair that bridges the head compartment shell and the hull. The flange of the collar fits under the inside ring of the porthole assembly. If the inner ring is loose, or the collar/head shell has shifted, water can run down between the hull and the head shell. Usually that’s a shower time issue (or at least in our case) though. There was a thread here a while (years) back about removing and re-caulking the head porthole which was what triggered the corrections I made. I don’t recall what model boat it was. I thought I took pictures of the fix, but can’t find any.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Well, now you're testing my memory, Henry! Maybe I'm still not remembering correctly, but what I was getting at was any water that got past the rubber seal shouldn't be getting between the hull and the head liner - just like if you take a shower. Unless, as you said, there are other issues. But that's my point, I suppose, that the rubber seal, itself, is not the issue. Unless I'm still totally not remembering correctly.

I took pictures when I fixed mine, too. But I think I left them in the same place you did.......

 

[DWABoat]

Alright, you guys are teasing me. I have a 2001 280DA. I will be dealing with this head porthole myself. No leaks now, but I am sure they will be soon.

Please find and post those photos!!!

 

[Chris S280]

Just dropped the boat off at the marina today for them to fix the bellows. Suppose to get it back Tuesday then I will take a pic of the area that I'm thinking that the water is getting behind the shower. There gonna try to get it positioned a little better on the trailer while its there so it sits a little more level. The trailer didn't come with the boat bought it from a private seller so it wasn't set up right to begin with and by the time i got it on the trailer for the first time at the end of last year I was in more of a rush to get it winterized and wrapped. Thanks for all the advice and helpful ideas of things to check. I'll post pics as soon as I get it back hopefully I can get it out even though they just said today after I dropped the boat off that we have to shelter in place.