Bertram33 User Forum

has anyone experienced water coming in to forward compartment on sportsfish model? i have a little water that loks like is coming in from main stringer up by v berth. i have checked everything - its not toilet, a/c, water tank, shower pump, etc.. i have dried everything out with paper towels and i still get a little water that loks like its seeping through fiberglass. we just hauled boat on advice of a marine surveyor - loking for a hair line crack in hull - but we found no problems. So it loks as though its on board water ( coming from rudder shafts i think) getting up forward. and as you know the forward compartment is completely isolated from aft. All of my stringers look good - at least the ones I can see. i cannot se the ones under the fuel tank. Any thoughts?? roger

Do you know if it's salt water or fresh? I hate the thought of tasting it but.. I do get some water in my forward area from time to time and I'm pretty sure it's rain water getting in the deck pipe for the anchor rode, which has no cap.(yet)

It also can be condensation from the ac ...either sweat from the lines or from the condensation drains themselves.There are 2 condensation drain lines that empty into the bilge 1 from each blower. I ran these lines to my shower sump pump so they would not drain into the boat.

i dont get any water in the forward compartment - only in the mid bilge. i actually clean and shopvac my bilges after each trip and have noticed that some water collects in the mid bilge and there is never a time when NO water is there....but the way the boat sits - it all runs to the center and I have never seen evidence of any water getting to the front. If water accumulates, it works its way to the back.

Could also be the pressure relief valve to your Hot Water Heater. I had one go on a 2 year old water heater. Thing is, it drains behind the water tank and you can't see it. But you can hear the water pump running when your not demanding any and extra water will get in there. It's shouldn't be coming from the shafts. Even if those are leaking, the water doesn't pass from aft to fwd bildge. Those limber holes are sealed in most models as they are mine. Rick Ticket 85 SF Falmouth, MA

I have water in my salon bilge. I think it might be coming from the bulkhead inbetween the salon and the engine area. I am going to pull the boat in a month to do some maint and plan on drying everything and then filling the aft bilge to see if I have any water transferring. Mike

Mike I have water the same place as you.I was looking at it yesterday and was wondering if water was suppose to move backand forth between the engine bilge and the salon bilge.If you find something let me know.Michael

Are the bilges plumbed to each other on everyones boat - my boat's bilges are interconnected through small 1-1.5 inch pieces of pipe. If water is in any bilge - it would eventually work its way to all of them. I have heard some people say that theirs are closed off to each other?

On my boat there are 2 pipes on the cabin side which are plugged up.The plugs are not pretty.It looks like someone dropped fiberglass resin from the cabin floor until the holes were plugged.On the engine side there are no pipes that i have found.Maybe we are getting rain water into the bilge.

My FBC bilge is sealed between engine room and water tank compartment with no water transfer between them. You might double check your water tank for leaks. This winter I pulled my water tank to flush it out and found a puddle of water underneath and corrosion that caused pitting of the aluminum. Then found pin hole leak. This could be a source of water in forward bilge? You seemed to have narrowed it down to that stringer area, though? Brian '90 Bertram 33' FBC Never Say Never Guilford, CT (Homeport) Kinnelon, NJ (Home)

Pump out all of your fresh water and see if water is still coming in. Rick Ticket 85 SF Falmouth, MA

is there a benefit to "plugging" the trans-bilge ports. Mine are all open and water flows easiy from bow to stern depending on the angle of the boat. The good part is that when running - all of the water goes back to the aft bilge and pumped out since it accumulates enough to kick that puno on. The onle time my bilges are dry are immediatley after stopping and coming off plane. Besides that, rainwater, water from cleaning the boat, or some unknown slow leak seams to always be there. Should I plug these ports, or leave it?

I've thought of plugging mine. I have two Rule 1500 gph pumps next to the transom. They practically don't get used as everything now drains forward including above the outside stringers. That's a pain as at the dock there is always a puddle trapped along the stringers outboard of the engines. Al 1978 33 FBC NITES OFF

If you plug the drains the stern will always have some water in it where the gen sits. With it flowing to mid ships, it keeps the gen area dry. I would keep them open. My mid bulk head is also plugged. I think that the plugged area is not holding. I want the salon bilge dry. Keeps the salon smelling nice. Mike

Mike, with a FBC, my amidships is the salon. As it is now, every drop of water that makes it through the deck hatches ends up in the compartment by the head. Plus, it is just uncomfortable kneeling in water every time I try to do anything on the outboard side of the engines. Al 1978 33 FBC NITES OFF