1998 Sea Ray 250 Sundancer... rain intrusion driving me nuts

[ostrichegg]

Hi folks,

I have a '98 sea ray Sundancer 250. When it rains, I get a gallon or so of water in the bilge (depending on how much it rains). I have been trying to track this down for months and I'm at my wits end.

I'm pretty sure this is rain water (rather than a leak or something) because a) this water only appears when it rains; b) it basically exactly matches the rain (if there's light rain for a week, I might have a half gallon in the bilge, but if it rains heavy for an hour, I might end up with a gallon in the bilge); and c) my boat is in a saltwater marina and the water in the bilge is 100% fresh water.

The thing is, I can't figure out how it's getting to my bilge. My engine bay is relatively small, and there's only one hole in the firewall between the engine bay and the rest of the bilge. I have taped this hole up and there's no water in the bow part of the bilge (and there's a pump in there, just in case), so it's not coming from the bow section of the bilge. I have checked deck drain hoses and even closed myself into the engine bay to try and see if I could see any light anywhere. I thought that maybe the rain was collecting on my canvas cover and dripping through, but this should land on the deck and drain out. At this point, I have even covered the entire boat AND canvas cover with a heavy duty waterproof tarp. The rain is not getting in through the deck side, I'm pretty sure.

It must be draining in from... somewhere else. But now I'm totally stumped. It's such a long shot since this would be extremely difficult to diagnose without literally crawling around on my actual boat, but I'm hoping maybe Sundancers have this known problem and there's a common fix for it, or something? It's just wild to me that I only get this water when it rains, but when I cover literally the whole boat with a tarp, it still happens. It's definitely fresh water (I've taken samples and boiled them.... when I grab a jar full from my bilge, I get basically zero residue as it boils off, when I grab a jar of water from the water next to my boat and boil it off, I get like a tablespoon or more of salt left). I just can't figure out how it's getting in.

Long shot, but... figured I'd ask here. Maybe I'm missing something very obvious.

Thanks!

 

[tpenfield]

Not sue how you have your boat covered . . . but possibilities range from cockpit drains, to windshield seals, and even water coming through the seats. Could also be the engine bay vents.

Just about every boat I've owned got/gets some rain water in the bilge.

IIRC, the Sundancers have removable hatches over the engine bay that are supported by aluminum 'U' channel. I would imagine that water could get through there as well . . . if it finds a way under the cover/canvas.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Check your rub rail. I have seen where caulking on the rub rail fails and the water runs along the rub rail near the bow, and enters the hull near the stern

Check all deck hardware caulking

Check you bilge vents

 

[JustJason]

When we I inspect boats that sink, we figure out how water gets into the boat by spraying everything with a garden hose to see where the leaks are. As simple as that sounds, I would start there. (obligatory additional comment that the garden hose test does not rule out bellows or transom leaks)

 

[Chris1956]

Does that boat have a self-bailing cockpit? If so, check the scupper hoses to the hull drains.

Most anchor lockers have a drain hose. You might check that.

 

[redneck joe]

I had loose rails on my Carver. Not much but enough that the wood was rotten around each one.

 

[redneck joe]

Oh and clubsearay may know more on the specifis of that model. For motor and general info this is the best forum out there.


Welcome.

 

[JustJason]

Does that boat have a self-bailing cockpit? If so, check the scupper hoses to the hull drains.

Most anchor lockers have a drain hose. You might check that.

For all intents and purposes, boats 20 feet and longer are supposed to. And you are correct, these are a common leak point.

 

[ostrichegg]

Thanks for all the replies! I guess I'm still confused. In terms of how I have my boat covered, I have the stock snap-on cover, but water tends to pool on the cover so I thought maybe some of it was leaking through the canvas. So I put a big waterproof tarp on top of the canvas cover, so now no water pools. It covers from the swim platform all the way over the windshield so that only the last few feet of the bow are exposed. So if rain is getting in, it would have to be coming from:

a) The swim platform. Maybe water collects on the swim platform and pools towards the transom? But in that case, I would expect to see water leaking through into my engine bay, and the swim platform area is dry.

b) it's draining into the bilge near the bow, and somehow ending up in the engine bay. This is unlikely, I think there's only one hole into the engine bay from the rest of the bilge and that's taped up.

c) it's coming in through the gunwales somehow. This seems to be what people are suggesting, but most of my gunwale is covered by the tarp, and most of what hits the bow drains over the sides because of the tarp. So it would have to be only what hits the last couple feet of the bow, which seems like... I'm finding it hard to imagine that enough rain would hit the last bit of the bow and then trickle down the gunwales to the stern and then find a way to get into the boat and then find a way into the bilge to give me a gallon over the course of an hour. One detail that nobody has any reason to know is that Sundancers have shelves for the water tank, batteries, etc. under the gunwales and then the bilge is much lower. I'll have to see if water collects on one of the shelves, that would tell me a lot... but still, a gallon+ an hour seems like a lot of rainwater to have collected when the boat is trapped over like it is, right? Or am I just super underestimating how much rain can seep through a gunwale in an hour?


Either way, I feel like I got some good leads and good things to check, so thanks!

 

[Scott Danforth]

it's coming in through the gunwales somehow.

Check your rub rail caulking

 

[JustJason]

Is your boat taking on water afloat, with the boat on the hard, or both?