Question Regarding Locating Water Leak on 1994 Carver 350 Aft Cabin

[Viper]

I may have missed you mentioning it but I assume you've checked to ensure nothing on your engines is leaking raw water? Same goes for your generator if applicable.

Do you have intake strainers and have they been checked?

Do you have a raw water washdown option? If so, check to ensure the pump, hoses, seacock, etc. aren't leaking.

Do you have an overboard discharge for the holding tank? If so, check for leaks at the macerator, hoses, Y valve, seacock, etc.

You mentioned having checked the shaft logs, and rudders. Did you check to see if there are any leaks at the strut mounts or the stern tubes where the shafts go through the hull?

Have you checked things like transducers for leaks?

Do you have any discharge fittings that are just below or right at the water line, or are they all well above the water line?

Have you checked trim tab mounts and actuator lines at the transom? What about the transom anode mounting bolts if applicable?

Anything that penetrates the hull is suspect.

How long have you owned this boat have have you always had this issue or is this new?

[eswickberg]

Viper
See your questions and my responses following each:

I may have missed you mentioning it but I assume you've checked to ensure nothing on your engines is leaking raw water? Same goes for your generator if applicable.

I have and their fine

Do you have intake strainers and have they been checked?
Yes and I've checked them

Do you have a raw water washdown option? If so, check to ensure the pump, hoses, seacock, etc. aren't leaking.

Yes and the thru hull seacocks are fine as is the pump and hose connection

Do you have an overboard discharge for the holding tank? If so, check for leaks at the macerator, hoses, Y valve, seacock, etc.

Done and they're fine

You mentioned having checked the shaft logs, and rudders. Did you check to see if there are any leaks at the strut mounts or the stern tubes where the shafts go through the hull?
Those are not leaking

Have you checked things like transducers for leaks?

Yes they're dry

Do you have any discharge fittings that are just below or right at the water line, or are they all well above the water line?
Waste discharge and hose connections and they're fine

Have you checked trim tab mounts and actuator lines at the transom? What about the transom anode mounting bolts if applicable?
All checked and dry no issues

Anything that penetrates the hull is suspect.

How long have you owned this boat have have you always had this issue or is this new?

I've owned the boat for three years and although I have a fair bit of raw water coming in from the stuffing boxes on the shafts I replaced those after I got the boat and adjust them as needed so at dock there hasn't been any leaking which I've checked in the last couple of months so this is not the issue right now. I'm at the boat regularly and only noticed this in the last month

[eswickberg]

Viper,

See my responses above in your post in red

Eric

[bud37]

Eric.......As I remember, recently there was another thread here where someone documented that water was moving around his boat thru the hollow stringers from one area/section to another, therefore misleading where his leak was coming from. Have a look around the site here as I can't remember exactly what thread that info was in was in. Perhaps someone will chime in if they remember.

Might be something else for you to consider.

[Viper]

Ya bud is correct, that's why I brought up possibilities in the engine compartment and the stern of the boat even though you stated that the water seems to be in a compartment forward of those. Water can migrate through the hollow Top Hat stringer system from one area of the boat to another and exit through one of the limber holes in a different compartment.

I assume you also checked exhaust hoses and mufflers? Those hoses running to the stern through the aft cabin can be tricky to access sometimes but are definitely a possibility.

If you're sure none of the previous sources or any not mentioned are the problem and that it's actually sea water, I'd take another approach, like; have you or anybody else done work on the boat recently that involved screwing something down? Don't laugh, I see it all the time. Someone screws or drills right through the hull.

have you had an impact recently?

[Viper]

Did you solve this?