Over the years, one of the biggest frustrations of owning my C36 has been the constant water in the bilge. While I have pumped and sponged it dry many times, the water returned, eventually turning slimy and causing rust the appear on the exposed keel bolts.
On this and other forums, there have been numerous causes proposed. The most obvious is water entering through the mast via the roller furling slot or the mast boot. (No water enters from the prop shaft as I have a PSS seal). Solutions have been proposed such as plugging the interior of the mast with foam, clearing out the drain hole etc, etc. On later Charleston mast sections, the mast is actually sealed at deck level below the drain hole under the roller furling screw.
Another cause is overflow from the water tanks which when overfilled leak into the bilge - this is easy to fix if the tanks a aren't overfilled. Some owners have used sealant around the inspection ports.
However, in my case, the culprit has been rain water entering via 4 holes at the masthead as shown in the attached photo. Water entering here has made its way down the aft inner cable conduit to the bilge. To stop this I simply filled them with silicon and my bilge has been perfectly dry for months despite torrential rain at times.
Peter Taylor Melbourne Australia. Altair #2227 2005 C36 Mk11
looks great - I still have a few gremlins to go --
Les & Trish Troyer
Mahalo
Everett, WA
1983 C-36 Hull #0094
C-36 MK 1 Technical Editor.
Commodore
Can you come do mine? I got vertigo just looking at the photo!
Don Lincoln
"Nancy Lynn"
1993 Catalina MK1.5, Hull 1238
LaSalle, MI (Lake Erie)
Universal M-35AC
My question is why are the holes in the top of the mast. I would think if Catalina went to the expense of making the holes there they would be needed for something?
__/)__/)__/)__Capt Mike__/)__/)__/)__
Punta Gorda Florida
1990 Std WK M35 Hull #1050
Not sure what purpose is. Possibly to allow access to inside mast and conduit tubes.Mast sections and castings are made by/for Charleston so not necessarily a Catalina specification.
Peter Taylor Melbourne Australia. Altair #2227 2005 C36 Mk11
Well done in hunting that down. I filled mine with some spare butyl tape the last time the mast was down. I'd still hunting the last few leaks as the PSS dripless shaft log has made it theoretically possible to be dry!
John Parsons
"Water Music" 1999 Catalina 36 Mk II - Hull 1771
Tall Rig, Fin Keel
Bay City, MI, USA
Question: does butyl tape degrade with UV rays?
peter g
2000 C36, MK2, Hull. #1897
wonderful, wonderful, wonderful ! ! !. 5 th Catalina
Butyl tape is very stable. Google says that good quality butyl does not degrade over long-term exposure, but that mixing it with other synthetic rubbers will make it more sensitive to UV. Personally, I use the BedIt brand stuff that MaineSail sells mail-order, and have not noticed degradation on the edges of fittings that I have re-bedded. It seems to be as soft as when I first applied it years ago.
John Parsons
"Water Music" 1999 Catalina 36 Mk II - Hull 1771
Tall Rig, Fin Keel
Bay City, MI, USA
Since were on the subject of masts and water - When I pulled my mast this January (new anchor/tricolor/strobe and wind instruments) - there was over a gallon of water and ice in the bottom. I don't know about later models but my 83 had no way of getting rid of the water until it reached where the wires exit the mast. I potted the mast step and then drilled a hole to the outside so water can drain. The base of the step was very uneven so potting made sure all the water was removed.
Les
Les & Trish Troyer
Mahalo
Everett, WA
1983 C-36 Hull #0094
C-36 MK 1 Technical Editor.
Commodore
Hey Les,
Please explain term "potted the mast".
Thanks,
peter g
2000 C36, MK2, Hull. #1897
wonderful, wonderful, wonderful ! ! !. 5 th Catalina
Potting is an electronics term for covering a circuit with RTV or epoxy. I just mixed up some unthickened epoxy and filled the inside of the mast step till it covered the lag bolts. I drilled weep hole at the base first then put a straw in it so it didn't fill with epoxy.
Les & Trish Troyer
Mahalo
Everett, WA
1983 C-36 Hull #0094
C-36 MK 1 Technical Editor.
Commodore
I have an 89 Mk1 and have never seen a dry bilge except when I just vacuumed it out the dried with paper towels. I think that lasted 2 days. I have addressed most of the issues I've seen on our site but I have a Spinnaker halyard that enters the mast near the boom and exits through a nice little SS funnel that faces up of course to allow the halyard to exit smoothly. I've thought about just running the halyard outside the mast but other than that I have no idea how to remedy that issue. Anyone?
_____________
Harold Baker
S/V Lucky Duck
Duncan Bay Boat Club
Cheboygan Michigan - Lake Huron
1989 C-36 mkI TR/WK M25XP
I got up the mast today, ready to cover the holes up top....only to find out the top of my 2000 Catalina 36 has a solid plate up top, and no holes to cover. FYI - the plan was to use butyl tape to secure thick plastic covers, to be cut up top the mast with a Craftsman cutting tool.
Now to plan B: re tighten the shaft log nuts, clean out the one way valve I installed a few years back in about ten inches from the pump discharge side and probably replace the bilge pump next spring.
Ah, so it goes. last two months sailing have been great.
peter g
2000 C36, MK2, Hull. #1897
wonderful, wonderful, wonderful ! ! !. 5 th Catalina
Gee Peter
I feel as though I sent you up there for nothing!!! Sorry about that.
Overfilling the water tanks is another source - solutions described in numerous posts over the years.
Hope you enjoyed the view.
Sailing season just about to start down south here.
Peter Taylor Melbourne Australia. Altair #2227 2005 C36 Mk11
We too have a dry bilge. Our mast head is solid as well, no holes as the one in your picture Peter. This is our 5th sailing vessel and a dry bilge is very important in our experience. For one thing is there ever is any water in the bilge we hunt the source down and make sure we take care of the leak or whatever the source. If you keep a wet bilge all the time how do you know when there is a problem?. Our last boat was a 42' 1987 Endeavour. We spent a lot of time adressing even the smallest of leaks and on a 42' boat there can be way more points of entry for sure. There was a very small leak coming from some where on the deck and it took the longest to figure out the source since it was just one screw that allowed a tiny trickle in when it rained. The screw was at least 8 feet away from where the water entered the salon area of the interior. Our second boat was a C30 and we had water entering the mast during rains. I plugged up the holes on the mast head and we still had small amounts coming in. I finally removed every screw along the mast and bedded them with sealant, no more water after that.
Steve Steakley
SNOWBALL
1998 C36 #1711
Seattle,WA
https://svwandrinstar.blogspot.com
It took me about 2 years and tracking over 10 different leak sources to get a dry bilge which I now have. I could not live with the idea of my precious keel bolts being underwater waiting for crevice corrosion to get established. I also could not live with the idea of unecessarily moist air in the boat all the time, encouraging a mold fest. My bilge is dry and there is no mold issue. I recently had to leave tbe boat, which I normally live on, for a year, locked and everything closed. No smells on my return ☺. There is no need to live with a wet bilge. All it means is you have a leak(s) waiting to be found and sealed.
Duncan McNeill
1984 Catalina 36 #178
standard rig fin keel M25
Channel Islands
I had our local marina mechanics replace the 18 year old packing gland material with gortex gland material. Hey, we have a very very dry bilge!
i thought about doing this myself - then remembered how difficult it was to tighten the nuts. Very small space, very little leverage room. The guys did it in the water which scared the daylights out of me. Sometimes it’s best to hire somebody who really knows what the heck they’re doing.
peter g
2000 C36, MK2, Hull. #1897
wonderful, wonderful, wonderful ! ! !. 5 th Catalina