lake water leak

[Ken McDonald]

I have a 1987 - 3807 carver aft cabin. For a few years now, I have had lake water getting into my forward billage located at the entrance to the forward cabin. When the boat is sitting there is approximately 3 to 4 quarts of water per week accumulating and when the boat is in motion in motion it's considerably more. The billage pump automatically removes the water when it gets too high. I can't say for sure the directon the water is coming from there are no obvoius signs of a leak other then the billage. There are 2 holding tanks to the aft of the pump.
I had the water tested to determine if it's from the holding tanks or lake water and it's definitely lake water. I checked for leaks at all 7 seacocks and everything is dry. The water from the stuffing box (very little) goes into the aft bilge.
The boat comes out of the Water in a few weeks and I'm hoping to figure out where the leak is coming from so that I can fix it on the hard.
Any thoughts of how I can diagnose this problem or where it may be coming from would be greatly appreciated.

[Viper]

Are you sure the water from your stuffing boxes goes aft?? Mine heads forward and accumulates in the exact spot you've mentioned in the fwd bilge. Unless yours is sitting aft heavy or mine is aft light, the bow seems to be the lowest spot and thus water accumulates there. The only area I have leaking lake water is from the stuffing boxes and in my case it runs forward, the aft is always dry.

Do you have the original shower sumps that look like open Tupperware containers? The forward one in mine is located right in front of the forward water tank in the floor beside the galley. If the shower sump isn't working and you have the original sump, it could be overflowing into the bilge. The shower drains into it but so does the condensate from the forward AC unit. If you have a raw water leak at the front AC unit, it could be draining into the sump or the bilge.

Also check and ensure that your engines and generator including the exhaust aren't leaking raw water either running or not.

[Ken McDonald]

I think you may be right about the water from the stuffing box. The boat is bow heavy with an unnecessary amount of chain (350'). I was thinking to remove at least 1/2 the chain.

Maybe I should dam the water coming from the stuffing box in the engine area see if the forward bilage remains dry?

I checked for leaks in the engine cooling system and everything looks good. The forward A/C was removed before I bought the boat and the forward shower pump was replaced with a much better and more efficent one then the original.

Thank you for your insightful comments.

Ken

[Viper]

Testing to see if the chain is the problem is easy. Just drop your anchor when you're in your slip and let out as much chain as you think is presenting the problem, then pour some water in the engine compartment and see which way it runs. I suspect that even with all your chain out, water will still run forward, but I could be wrong, every boat is different. I'd like to hear what your results are so keep us posted.

[km1125]

Source of the post
... Maybe I should dam the water coming from the stuffing box in the engine area see if the forward bilage remains dry? ...

You could also take something like a milk jug and cut the top off, then position right below the stuffing box and hold in place with a couple small two-sided adhesive pads underneath. They'll eventually overflow, but should give you plenty of time to further diagnose. (and you could periodically vacuum them out if you need more time).