Well, not really, but I kind of felt that way.
I am getting used to all the different noises my boat makes at dock, and pretty much know what all of them are.
Water pump, Vaccu Flush, Inverter/Charger, Refrigerator.
Yesterday I was cleaning inside of boat and heard a very faint humming noise that kept on cycling on and off. A noise that I had never heard before. I finally isolated it to the center of the boat, down low.
I opened a floor panel, and discovered it was my bilge pump, and that I had water in the bilge. I'M SINKING! I quickly removed all the water from the bilge and determined it was coming from the back of the boat. Checked engine thru hull, closed and not leaking, but a little water present. Galley sink drain thru hull, closed and not leaking, but a fair amount of water present.
Water was clear, so I stuck my finger in it, and gave it it a good smell. No diesel or human waste smell. I then tasted it. Not salty.
I had just washed the boat, and considered the possibility of the run off getting in the bilge. I don't know if that is possible, so I kept looking. I had just filled my rear water tanks, for the first time. I figured that had to be it. I pulled out the mattresses and removed the boards that cover the tanks, and there was water allover the top of them. Both of the lids did not seem to be on very tight, so I am guessing the water came out of these ports?
I turned on rear shower and drained the water down on both tanks around 4 inches, and then completely dried out the bilge.
Hopefully when I go back to boat this morning, it will still be floating.
It would probably have been pretty funny to video tape and fast forward my exploration process. I was moving rather quickly and cushions were going everywhere.
Blair White
2004 C36 MKII # 2169 "Dash"
Pacific Beach, CA
Well you found out about the trouble with over filling the water tanks. It is very common with those tanks. The seals for the caps are not that good. Earlier model's had rely no flat seal on the caps. I got some new caps from ronco who make the tanks for Catalina and I still get leakage.
Randy Sherwood
Mutualfun 1990 # 1057
T/R W/K M35a
Home. Charlotte, Mi.
Boat. St Augustine,Fl.
Blair, you've overfilled the water tanks.
The Mk II water tanks are made of translucent polypropi-something...anyway, plastic. As they (over)fill, the top of the tank bulges up, thereby opening the seal around the access port. Notice that your aft cabin floorboards also raise a small amount. It's a minor issue, but easily solved.
Do a search on this forum for the topic and read past discussions. I may have written this up in an article in the past, and if so it would be archived in the C36IA Technical - Maintenance library. I can't remember. But anyway, the solution is one of the rare opportunities on a boat to use 3M 5200. 5200 doesn't stick very well to the Mk II's plastic water tanks, so you can squeeze a small bead around the threads of the tank access port caps. Then re-insert the caps in the access holes. Henceforth Do Not Disturb. The 5200 will seal the caps, and if you ever need to access the tank you will still be able to 'crack' the 5200 sealant to open the cap.
Whenever you fill the water tanks - and it's virtually impossible to avoid overfilling - you'll want to run some water off each tank to bring the tank back to its 'uncompressed' shape. You'll notice after each fill that the floorboards in the aft cabin have raised up a small about, bowed up if they are screwed down (mine aren't screwed down)...so just select each tank and run water for a minute or so until the floorboard lies flat again.
Larry Brandt
S/V High Flight #2109
Pacific Northwest, PDX-based
2002 C-36 mkII SR/FK M35B
Blair,
I have a MKI, and used to get the excess water acumulation in the bilge from overfilling the tanks as well. A much easier fix I've found, rather going the 5200 route, is to use plumber's teflon tape and lots of it around the threads of the caps before screwing them in. This was such an easy and inexpensive solution! Just make sure you wrap it the right direction so when you screw the cap in it doesn't unwrap the tape. Give it a try!
Robert Perkins
[I]Andante[/I] #450
Cleveland, OH
Robert Perkins
Andante
Cleveland, OH