Last bit of water in the bilge is driving me crazy

[SeaNile]

Spent all weekend chasing the fresh water that accumulates in my aft bilge. Thought for sure it was the rudder posts so I disassembled the bilge area and found that in fact, the rudder posts are bone dry. Looked around and figured out it's coming from right above the exhaust area. Long story short is I recaulked the area and so far so good. It's the seam were the aft wing meets the transom above the swim platform. But.....there is still water in the bilge and it seems to be coming from the rectangular diamond plated box between the engines and before the battery box.

Is this the same area that gathers water that I remember reading about on the 42/44 sedan bridge? People have mentioned cutting a hole in there and getting out a lot of water.

 

[Pirate Lady]

I always have water, in every SR i ever owned. Right now, its bone dry. On land 7 months. Launching Friday morning. By this time next week there will be a few gallons in bilge.
I long ago gave up trying to figure it out or caring.

 

[mrsrobinson]

No water in my bilges ever, this is a first for me with a boat kept in the water 24 X 7. They were all dry as a bone when I showed up to dewinterize.

@SeaNile this drives me crazy as well. When I turned on the AC seacock to dewinterize there was a drip every 10 seconds or so at the strainer. I was toweling it up, looking for the source, etc. Figured it out, all dry now.

 

[northern]

Shop vac once a day. I do it once a week, helps grunge level down.

 

[bfernald0]

See the dry bilge thread. Some great products out there to address this issue. https://clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/diy-dry-bilge-system.111546/page-4#post-1400195

 

[Pirate Lady]

I always have water, in every SR i ever owned. Right now, its bone dry. On land 7 months. Launching Friday morning. By this time next week there will be a few gallons in bilge.
I long ago gave up trying to figure it out or caring.

For update, check out the splash 2023 thread.

 

[Soulshine]

Fortunately I don't care if I have a pint of water in the bilge.

It's not the hill I'll die on.

 

[FootballFan]

Finding and fixing the reason water is getting in is the best solution in my mind. Not because you are ocd about water in the bilge, but it becomes an indicator for other problems you might not immediately pickup.

recently battled an issue with water in bilge. At the end of the journey found a ac pump which had developed a leak - probably because the bonding was in bad shape and caused electrolysis.

fixed that. Called a electrician to check all the bonding on every through hull.

if I had just automated getting the water out - would have never found the problem that eventually been a headache.

it’s worth the effort to chase it down.

 

[Stray Current]

Its a hill I was prepared to die on. I resealed the bond flange and rub rail, all the thru hulls and the cockpit drains.

After chasing many things I found the final leak

 

[mrsrobinson]

Having a bone dry bilge is how I noticed my shaft seal area leak. My bilge pumps never go off either so when I heard it pumping overboard I knew something was up.