KarenS
New Member
- Oct 10, 2011
- 738
- Boat Info
- 1992 270DA in need of some toss pillows to add that "something special"
- Engines
- Mercruiser 7.4
So, on Saturday morning I boarded the boat to get ready for our day. I went into the head and the light was very very dim. My husband opened the hatch to check the batteries and the bilge was FULLof water!! At least 30 gallons!! The bilge pumps (YEP! BOTH OF THEM!!) failed! Thankfully, the Captain had installed an "emergency switch" to the pumps just 2 weeks ago and we were able to empty it out!
After emptying the bilge, it was time to find the leak. (We've been noticing a little bit of water after a run.) The captain always says "A little water in the bilge is normal" which means "Shi*, I'm going to have to climb down in there and find out what's going on." He knows that a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing because I've been doing a LOT of reading on here and I KNOW that water in the bilge is not normal. The first thing I remembered was someone saying in a post that the steering arm could be the culprit. We did notice that it is rusty and there was a little bit of water under the arm (the level in the bilge didn't go up as high as the arm).
However, this wasn't our case. I went into the cabin wash my hands and the sink sputtered. I yelled up to Rich "Didn't we just fill the fresh water tank on Sunday??" Yep!! We filled the tank back up, pressurized the system and turned it on.... The grey hoses that lead into the water heater were disconnected and rigged with pipe dope and some sort of attachments on the ends (forgive me, I'm a girl!). Found the leak! Headed off to Lowe's to get a Gator Bite fitting. Worked like a charm (until we either replace the heater (why was it disconnected in the first place??) or figure out why it was disconnected in the first place).
We took her out yesterday
We're not at a marina so there is no one to really "look after" our boats. That was one thing that worried me when we decide to go with a private dock. Funny thing, one of our dock neighbors usually walks down the dock and checks out everyone's boats and never noticed that our high water alarm was going off and that we were a foot below our water line!!
After emptying the bilge, it was time to find the leak. (We've been noticing a little bit of water after a run.) The captain always says "A little water in the bilge is normal" which means "Shi*, I'm going to have to climb down in there and find out what's going on." He knows that a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing because I've been doing a LOT of reading on here and I KNOW that water in the bilge is not normal. The first thing I remembered was someone saying in a post that the steering arm could be the culprit. We did notice that it is rusty and there was a little bit of water under the arm (the level in the bilge didn't go up as high as the arm).
However, this wasn't our case. I went into the cabin wash my hands and the sink sputtered. I yelled up to Rich "Didn't we just fill the fresh water tank on Sunday??" Yep!! We filled the tank back up, pressurized the system and turned it on.... The grey hoses that lead into the water heater were disconnected and rigged with pipe dope and some sort of attachments on the ends (forgive me, I'm a girl!). Found the leak! Headed off to Lowe's to get a Gator Bite fitting. Worked like a charm (until we either replace the heater (why was it disconnected in the first place??) or figure out why it was disconnected in the first place).
We took her out yesterday
We're not at a marina so there is no one to really "look after" our boats. That was one thing that worried me when we decide to go with a private dock. Funny thing, one of our dock neighbors usually walks down the dock and checks out everyone's boats and never noticed that our high water alarm was going off and that we were a foot below our water line!!
