Water intrusion

[Chuck Waygood]

Experiencing water intrusion in my 35 TE at the lowest/deepest point of the bilge showing up at the midship bilge pump. That is forward of the mid bulkhead and below the batteries. There is no apparent leakage from the rudder posts or the dripless shaft logs. Any idea where it might originate? Is there flow thru from the stern to that point? Any advice would be appreciated. And thank you!

[chiefrcd]

How much water? Is it fresh or salt. I had two issues that caused me to collect water on my 28, so I'm not sure if either would apply. First...my deck hatches leaked like a old roof. Every time it rained our I washed the boat I'd get a bilge full of water. Found out that the drains from the hatches will stop up if a mosquito dies and falls into it. I keep them flushed out and put some gasket material around the hatches. The gasket material lasted a few years and then just got pushed off the hatch lip, so I purchased a entry way carpet with a rubber backing and put it over the hatches, no more problem. Then, I had a issue with water intrusion near my rudder post, but it did not involve the packing. I had the boat hauled and found that in 1999 Albin did not out a exterior plate on my boat. In essence there was nothing to prevent water from entering the area between the rudder bearing (post) and the boat itself. If you do a search on the forums here, I posted a few pictures. Long story short I had my boat yard glass in a tube where the rudder bearing sat, then build a fiberglass plate and bolted it on around that area. Orginially Albin had just run 4 bolts right into the hull, didn't even have a washer on the bolts. This fixed the water intrusion from that problem Other than that, check the sea water pump and make sure you don't have a leak, any hoses to the coolers, especially if you've never flushed your cooling system. Hope this helps some.

[skye peak]

leak in the freshwater system? shower sump overflowing?

[Chuck Waygood]

The mystery is solved but without a solution as yet. My nice white oil sorb blankets were covering up the drip from the dripless shaft seals! Port side only and the water ran under the oil sorb and ultimately into the deep pocket of the bilge at the midship bilge pump - all nice and direct but not obvious. There are manuals or installation directions for everything on this boat except the shaft seals. Moving aft from the engine is a black collar, then a few inches on is another collar that has the water hoses attached, including the crossover to the starboard shafts collar. Aft of that is another shaft surround about 6 inches long and of a softer material, colored blue. I do not know the make of this. The leak appears to come from between that and the black collar that has the water lines attached. Anyone have any idea of the make or a fix short of removing the shaft? I understand replacing these dripless seals involves removing the shaft? Oh for my old fashioned boat' just loosen the collar and shove in some more packing! Any suggestions will be appreciated and thanks for your prior feedback as I was fairly frustrated...

[RobS]

What you have described is the dripless shaft seal setup by Tides Marine. Either the Strong Seal or Sure Seal by Tides. Below is the website for Tides Marine as well as a PDF of the 2 different shaft seals. Fix this ASAP. Unlike a traditional stuffing box shaft seal, this setup can instantly go into total failure and flood the bilge and sink the boat. As first attempt, check the hose clamps holding the seal carrier into the end of the blue hose.

http://www.tidesmarine.com/

[Chuck Waygood]

Thanks for the heads up. I had heard these could fail catastrophically. Getting hauled tomorrow to replace both shaft seals and might as well do the bottom at the same time. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.