Water UNDER the bilge!?

[Beam Reach State of Mind]

I was recently opening the various compartments under the cabin sole of our SO419. In one of the compartments, the one just aft of the one that has the AC intake thruhull, I discovered a hole in the "floor", about 1" in diameter, that opened into a lower area that was full of water. The floor is somewhat flexible, and applying weight caused some water to bubble up out of the area below. The water smelled bad and seemed like it had been there a long time.

Does anyone know anything about this? I cannot imagine that it should be there; I assume it got there through the hole in the top when the compartment had water in at some time, maybe when winterizing the hot water tank drains through this area (though I don't think so). I'm thinking of getting a small pump with a hose that will fit through the 1" hole, and pumping out as much as I can, then sealing the hole but that doesn't answer the question of why it's there in the first place.

[Charlie-Bravo]

Pumping it out sounds good, never good to have puddles in the bilge. Filling in the hole might not be a great idea …. will prevent further pumping out if required in the future, and as you ask …. why is the hole there? must be a reason.

Some AC units have a condensate drain running to the bilge, fridges also often drain that way as well.
Figuring out where the water came from would seem the first question needing an answer,  and pumping out will of course reveal if further ingress or if not ingress ….. re occurrence occurs, sinking slowly isn’t good, but better than fast.
A dusty bilge is a happy bilge.
CB

[Beam Reach State of Mind]

I agree about not sealing it, but I plan to put a bung in it. That way I'll find out if the water, if it reappears, is coming into the space from above (through the hole) or below. I just bought a cheap pump to get the water out.

[fma]

I've run into water under the liner (sounds very similar) take a look at this thread:

jeanneau.proboards.com/thread/7815/39i-water-hull-liner?page=2  

I ended up putting an old sink plug in the hole I cut

[Beam Reach State of Mind]

I looked into it some more, used a small hand pump to get what water I could out of there, then had a marina guy stop by and take a look. He said it's normal for there to be water between the hull and the liner, it will make its way to the bilge when we're out sailing and the boat's bouncing around. I had just washed out one of the cockpit lockers and he said that's where that water goes. Since there are also limber holes in this compartment (above the liner), via which water is routed to the bilge, I decided to close up the hole in the liner to stop that water going under the liner. For now I used duct tape; when I'm convinced the problem is resolved, I might replace the duct tape with something more elegant. Though I can't use the compartment for storage anyway because it has water running through (at least potentially and occasionally).

[diverdan]

Hi Folks!
New to the forum, though I’ve done quite a bit in automotive forums.

I’m reviving this old thread, because I am experiencing the same thing in my new-to-me 2015 SO 439.

In the salons, storage spaces under the sole are molded Fiberglass inserts that have limber holes in them fore & aft. Putting your finger in the limber hole, you can probe down about .5” to the actual hull. As described by the OP, I find water pooling in the space between the centerline storage space beside the galley  and the space directly under the companionway stairs. Once it accumulates to a point that it starts to intrude into the centerline storage space under the sole, I notice it and pump it out ( it takes a fairly long period before this happens -1 to 2 months). I usually get about a quart of water out. There’s more but that’s all I can get out.
The actual bilge remains bone dry and I can’t find water any where else.

My working theory is that it is condensation from the fridge, though it could be a topside leak somewhere.

Obviously, this isn’t an emergency, but it would be nice to know the source/cause, if anyone has worked out the problem.

[jonnyboy]

diverdan I had a similar problem in my 2005 SO 40.1 and it turned out to be the Venturi pump system that was connected to the AC unit under the salon seat that was leaking and the water made it's way into the compartment under the floor. I removed the Venturi pump and drilled a hole in the floor where the AC is located and was able to feed a 1/2 inch pipe from the drain pan into the bilge and this solved my problem. If your AC is located close to the problem area I would check it. Hope this helps.