J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment J 224

My boat is a 1980 production and I keep getting water in the interior storage lockers next to the engine. There is no leak from the engine cooling valve and there is some correlation as to rain or recent engine use. Is this due to rudder pintels, toe rails or what? Why doesn't this drain to the bilge, the water is clear. I'm still trying to figure this out after 5 years! Steve

I've got #337, '81, and have a similar problem.

I posted about it here in this forum.

On my boat, there's a molded drip pan under the engine, and the two engine mounts are molded into it. However, on the inboard side of the engine mounts, there are two big cutouts, and I can reach an arm down in there and feel a void between the drip pan and the hull, which can fill with water. That void connects to the quarterberth storage lockers on either side of the engine, and when there's lots of water in there, it migrates to the two quarterberth lockers. And I have found no drainage path between that void and the bilge, which really bothers me.

So far I've primarily been concerned with how to get the darn thing to drain into the bilge, not with what's filling it. But I have two theories:

1. Judging from posts on this forum, the ice box drain tube is notorious for cracking, and it's in that general vicinity. I'm wondering if it cracked, whether the water would make its way into the bilge, or back into that unconnected void between the quarterberths and under the engine. In this case, it would certainly be freshwater from the ice.

2. Stuffing box drips. They are caught in the drip pan under the engine and should, in theory, drain through the limber holes in the track that holds the steps. But I have no assurance whether these limber holes actually drain into the bilge, or into that void under the drip pan. And, for me, those large holes inboard of the engine mounts are below the level of the drip pan, but when the boat heels, I wonder if the contents of the pan can slosh in there.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.


[This message has been edited by rdpierce (edited 05-02-2005).]

My strong hunch is rainwater. Remove your engine cover and look for a streak of grey dirt residue left by infiltrating rainwater. It will give you an idea where to start looking.

With someone hosing the deck crawl head first on your back into the each of the quarter berths. With a strong flashlight, closely check the bolts on each of the stanchion bases. I'd also look for leakage at the seal between the gaiter for the bilge pump and the lazarette, the engine controls, the tangs for the backstay bridle, the padeyes for the spinnaker sheet turning blocks, and the mounting hardware for the winch handle pockets.

I expect that the limber holes that should be draining this water into the bilge are plugged with the residue from the rain. I found the limber hole by at the mast step was clogged with this gunk. I'm amazed how much of this I remove when periodically clean this hole with a machinist's pick.

I have hull 539 and have a similar issue. I will check the bilge before heading out and it will be dry or close to dry. I will later have sloshing water on the cabin sole when I am healed over (my sole is fiberglass with only the teak grate where the table inserts are.) The water is usually there after running the engine to come in or out of the harbor. I think it is water from the stuffing box and am replacing it with a dripless version in the next couple of weeks. I will let you know if this solves the problem.

I have a dripless seal. It hasn't significantly reduced the volume of water. It's still worth changing from the stuffing box.