BELOW WATERLINE OSMOSIS? 1982 TRI CABIN, HELP!!!

aaronbocknek · Post by **aaronbocknek** » Mon May 30, 2011 6:20 am

hey gang, before i head to work this morning i thought i would put this up. over the weekend i had a lot of people taking a tour of my tri cabin on saturday, lots of activity on the forward deck as everyone seems to love that front seating area. anyway, having said that i noticed sunday afternoon, that the forward bilge had more water in that area than i am comfortable with. i used a fluid extractor and i pulled out almost two gallons of water.
now, here is my concern. this was the first time that i had any number of people/weight up front. this was also the first time that the tub/shower was used and it was the first time that the exterior was scrubbed. i also filled the fresh water tank to about 20 gallons. is it possible that the water from draining the genset/engines/water tank last season settled somewhere and with the weight of several people this caused the water to rush forward? she is a little bow heavy as i have not filled the fuel tank yet (about a little less than half a tank of fuel). the boat does not have what is normally the typical 'trojan hollow keel' except for a 'dip' just before the forward bilge pump mounting block, under the floor near the forward head. it's sort of a dimple that i have noticed water seeping through the fiberglass matt. it's not really solid, just sort of looks like a screen from a window but hard to the touch. now those of you that have this model tri cabin know that there is really no way to check under the tub to see if there is a leak in the drain or the hose. at least not that i have been able to discover and i've gone over this boat with a fine tooth comb. i started at the aft cabin and worked forward to check for signs of leaks and nothing was coming from the water tank, the fresh water pump, the through hull fittings or hoses. all were bone dry. even the hoses for the overboard discharge of cooling water for the a/c units. the condensate does NOT drain into the bilge, and yes the a/c was going full force this weekend. all the condensate is drained directly overboard using a system of hoses attached to the a/c drip pans and small through hull fittings much like you would see when you operate a window unit. went over those connections as well with my hand and they are dry dry dry. my next postulation is HULL OSMOSIS. could it be that somehow water is actually seeping up through the hull itself? when she was surveyed in the fall of 2010, there were absolutely no signs of patches or osmotic blistering. trojans almost never experienced osmotic blistering due to the heavy concentration of matt and epoxy resin. OR, could there be an area that runs forward, drains into a hollow area then ends at this dimple and the water just needs to be pulled from this area? i'm totally stumped. all the plumbing is secure, and i do not see any signs of water leaking from the water heater or the holding tank. now, this area where the forward bilge pump is located had been wet for some time as the bilge itself was 'slimy' once i was able to extract the water from the area. however, the 'weeping' from the dimple continued once it was dry. so, there you have it folks. i know it's a lot to digest, but i thought i would put as much info out there as possible. oh, i also checked the hull drain plugs. both were dry and tight. as were all stuffing boxes and through bolts for the swim platform and struts and rudders. no drips from the shafts or the underwater exhaust bellows either. i'm stumped.
thanks.
aaron
AND i did apply caulking around the tub drain yesterday before leaving and drained the aft shower/sink sump box.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Mon May 30, 2011 9:34 am

Can you post a photo of the area it looks to be seeping in at ? could be a blister , not common on a Trojan for sure , but damaged gel-coat from some time back could be the cause. cannot always be seen . But even if it is its a easy fix . but should be addressed. You where going to be hauling out soon any way I would assume .

Water in the bilge is not abnormal , shafts should drip some unless drip-less . rain water also can be a cause.

One other possible cause is a thruhull that is normally above the water line and not chalked properly and with the extra load on the bow went under water ( Trojan put the thru-hulls to low IMO ).

captainmaniac · Post by **captainmaniac** » Mon May 30, 2011 12:39 pm

A lot of possible / probable culprits. Water from washing could have come in through aft deck hatches (common); the fresh water tank has a vent hose that probably doesn't go overboard - filing the tank often results in a bit of water being dumped into the bilge (that's how my '79 is plumbed anyways). Shower being used - if the sump overflowed that would do it to you as well. If the water wasn't soapy it probably wasn't from the shower.

If you go down in a day or two and see the same amount of water or more, then you might want to dig deeper. But if not it's probably just overflow from water tank or residue from washing.

Can't visualize what you mean by 'dimple', but one other thing to check is that your limber holes are clear (right down the keel there should be some space between the bottom of the stringer and the hull interior). These holes need to be clear to let bilge water flow forward or aft to get to a pump. This could be part of why you still saw the trickle after sucking the water out - there will be more water in the bilge that will try to flow forward once you did the first extration. If limber holes are plugged or other obstructions exist, it won't flow as freely.

As Paul said, a picture might help, but I doubt you need to worry about a catastrophic failure.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Mon May 30, 2011 8:24 pm

I don't think there is any danger of a catastrophic failure. But on the slight chance its a hull issues it should be addressed But Like I said it would be a easy fix .

aaronbocknek · Post by **aaronbocknek** » Tue May 31, 2011 6:03 am

prowlersfish wrote:Can you post a photo of the area it looks to be seeping in at ? could be a blister , not common on a Trojan for sure , but damaged gel-coat from some time back could be the cause. cannot always be seen . But even if it is its a easy fix . but should be addressed. You where going to be hauling out soon any way I would assume .

Water in the bilge is not abnormal , shafts should drip some unless drip-less . rain water also can be a cause.

One other possible cause is a thruhull that is normally above the water line and not chalked properly and with the extra load on the bow went under water ( Trojan put the thru-hulls to low IMO ).

i will post a pic as soon as i can. in the meantime, i visited the boat last evening on my way home from the airport. the forward bilge area, just in front of the v-berth has about a two inches of water in it, which means that it's coming forward somehow since the area was pumped dry on sunday afternoon before i left. the water to begin with on the day i discovered this had a 'soapy sheen' to it which made me think think that the tub drain was leaking or the amount in the sump spilled forward with all the guests onboard. the sump does not drain completely and there is about 3 inches of water in it after it pumps some out. i also drained this before leaving. i do know the screws that hold it in place did leak when i winterized and thought that i had rebedded them enough. even if they did leak, there is no way that all that water would be in the forward bilge. it looks as if the previous owners poured epoxy into the forward bilge area to seal up the hollow keel in that area as the epoxy is off white and not painted trojan bilge grey. the area just before the forward bilge pump is totally flat, then dips down to form a well under the pump then rises again with the epoxy filler. the flat are has, from what i see, glass matt that is rough it texture and 'weeps' water when the area is dry which leads me to think that at some point in time that area had water in it and is leeching out to fill the void once empty. either way, i'm totally stumped on this but i cannot address until i have some off days starting on thursday.
as for the through hulls dipping under water, she is riding really high due to virtually no supplies or fuel on board. all the through hulls are well above the waterline. i too thought of that, and felt around all of them and they are bone dry inside the boat.