Taking on water..

[Jim Picerno]

I was out sailing last week in moderately rough conditions (20 kn winds w/ gusts to 30 kn and unsettled sea state). We had a fair amount of green water washing over the foredeck. We were on a starboard tack for 3 hours when the bilge alarm went off, and we discovered water in the bilge almost over the floor boards. A stop in a nearby marina allowed me and my crew to troubleshoot the issue. The bilge pump had failed, and with an external pump we evacuated approximately 150 gallons of water. The water was salty so definitely sea water. I started looking for the leak by inspecting the thru-hulls, the engine compartment and shaft seal but the only water we found was in the chain locker, and not a lot of it. I replaced the bilge pump with a spare, and motored home the next day in calm conditions and had no water in the bilge. The likely suspects for this leak would seem to be the chain locker, or maybe resulting from us being on a starboard tack in rough conditions. Even with the bilge pump failing this was a large amount of water taken onboard in a short period of time. Anyone who’s had a similar incident or thoughts on the likely cause of this water ingress would be appreciated.

 

[Loren Beach]

You might want to Search this site regarding water ingress via the rudder tube.
Also, check to see if any of the bilge pump exit hoses aft, way under the curve of the hull, have fallen off on the inside,
I also recall that Christian once had water getting in from the "little" hose that goes to the bow fitting from the anchor locker, coming loose.

Probably not closely related enough, but I once shipped a messy amount of sea water thru the head sink drain when we were rail-down for an hour and that side of the boat was hitting waves at deck level. After that learning experience and a soaked TP roll, we decided to close that sink thru hull whenever the wind pipes up.
Good luck finding the culprit!

 

[Christian Williams]

yes, that much water does sound like entry from the hole in the stem for the anchor locker drain.

On the 381, you can see the hose through a hatch in the V-berth (but you can't reach it).

To eliminate this issue as a factor, put a hose on the stem drain, pressurize from outside, and observe within.

Sneaky, because such intake only occurs when the stem-drain hole buries into seas, which doesn't happen every day.

 

[Captain Pete]

I don't know where the bilge hose exits on your boat, but on a Pearson I used to have twice I had an oh Sh%& moment where the bilge had filled above the floor boards, once at 2 AM. It turns out when motoring fast the bilge exit hose submerged and if the bilge pump was on the water flowing out the submerged exit created a siphon effect bringing water back into the boat at an alarming rate. I quickly added an anti siphon valve and was mindful of bilge pump operation under power. If this was the case on your boat, the amount of water may have overwhelmed and killed your bilge pump.

 

[jtsai]

Most likely a compromised anchor locker drain stem. Access is awkward in 32-3, hopefully my own experience is helpful in your investigation on 38-200.

32-3 access hole to anchor drain tube and anchor well construction

My 1990 Ericson 32-3 has a 5" access hole to the forepeak (picture #1). Through this access, reaching behind the V shaped fiberglass structure (picture #2) I am able to touch the leaky drain tube but unable to work on it due to the awkward angle. Enlarging the access hole is one of the options...

ericsonyachts.org

 

[Jim Picerno]

Thanks all for the feedback. The anchor locker drain looks like the likely suspect.

 

[Christian Williams]

Some specialized technique to separate the pan from its caulk. See post #10.

Anchor Locker Hose Failure

My anchor locker drain hose failed offshore. The stub installed in the stem was a short length of 1/2" copper tubing, which corroded in salt water after 37 years of service. I yanked the pan this week, which required only a few hours patience with pry bars and caulk softener, and will install a...

ericsonyachts.org

 

[Jim Picerno]

Some specialized technique to separate the pan from its caulk. See post #10.

Anchor Locker Hose Failure

My anchor locker drain hose failed offshore. The stub installed in the stem was a short length of 1/2" copper tubing, which corroded in salt water after 37 years of service. I yanked the pan this week, which required only a few hours patience with pry bars and caulk softener, and will install a...

ericsonyachts.org

Thanks Christian for your suggestion. The complication is the PO had a windlass installed and his mechanic epoxied starboard to the underside of the pan and the deck to support the windlass which I think will make removing the pan extremely difficult. The boat went on the hard yesterday so I have all winter to figure out some alternatives.

 

[daynardi]

I was out sailing last week in moderately rough conditions (20 kn winds w/ gusts to 30 kn and unsettled sea state). We had a fair amount of green water washing over the foredeck. We were on a starboard tack for 3 hours when the bilge alarm went off, and we discovered water in the bilge almost over the floor boards. A stop in a nearby marina allowed me and my crew to troubleshoot the issue. The bilge pump had failed, and with an external pump we evacuated approximately 150 gallons of water. The water was salty so definitely sea water. I started looking for the leak by inspecting the thru-hulls, the engine compartment and shaft seal but the only water we found was in the chain locker, and not a lot of it. I replaced the bilge pump with a spare, and motored home the next day in calm conditions and had no water in the bilge. The likely suspects for this leak would seem to be the chain locker, or maybe resulting from us being on a starboard tack in rough conditions. Even with the bilge pump failing this was a large amount of water taken onboard in a short period of time. Anyone who’s had a similar incident or thoughts on the likely cause of this water ingress would be appreciated.

Something like this happened to us once. Same scenario as Cpt Pete above. I casually glanced below and discovered the wooden bilge covers floating around the cabin. Turned out that water was siphoning back through the bilge pump. We added a siphon break and it never happened again. The bilge pump outlet is above water when the boat is stationary but under way the boat squats, dropping the outlet below sea level.

 

[Jim Picerno]

Something like this happened to us once. Same scenario as Cpt Pete above. I casually glanced below and discovered the wooden bilge covers floating around the cabin. Turned out that water was siphoning back through the bilge pump. We added a siphon break and it never happened again. The bilge pump outlet is above water when the boat is stationary but under way the boat squats, dropping the outlet below sea level.

Thanks David. I'm really hoping this is the problem as adding a vented loop to the bilge hose sounds like it'd be a much easier fix versus repairing the anchor locker drain stem given my current setup.