Carver 506

[tomschauer]

I have a 355 not a 506, but all three of my bilge pumps are mounted in such a way that there will always be water in the bilge if you have any type of leak.
Every spring after bringing everything online I flush my bilges with fresh water to remove dust, spilled pink stuff etc. I shop vac out what the pumps won't get.

[Viper]

I do the same the same Tom. I have regular shaft logs so they're meant to leak. The bilge pumps never get all the water out. To prevent that water from getting stagnant, I stick the garden hose down there periodically and let the pumps do their thing, then I vacuum what they don't get. How often I do this really depends on how much running time on put on her. The more you run with these shaft logs the more water you'll get. I like keeping a clean bilge so I keep on top of it. Dripless logs are on my bucket list but definitely not a priority.

[km1125]

Source of the post I have regular shaft logs so they're meant to leak.

So I'm not the only one!

I grew up with "there's always water inside a boat" because we always had old-style shaft logs. New generations of boats have changed this and it's actually pretty cool to see a dry clean bilge. Maybe someday I'll have one like that!!

[Viper]

I'm an ex wooden boat owner so water in the bilge is no biggie for me. It's a boat!

[Carpediem]

Today was Sea Trial day and Haul out for Survey, It did not go well We departed right on schedule from Benicia for the 20 mile ride to the boat yard for the haul out and survey with a professional Veteran Captain and Surveyor (also veteran Captain). After a few miles of cruising at 12kts we start the engine performance and SOG tests. RPM we were shooting for was 2500 RPM and expected SOG around 18 knots. The best we could get was 2200 RPM and 13 kts. Its been 7 months since a bottom cleaning so I expected to not get to spec but....
The boat seemed to list a bit and the tabs were ineffective and the steering indicator started to to read way off yet we were not turning. I went below to the aft cabin to see what might be up, Pulled the aft hatch open and about shit my self! The bilge was full of water! I looked out the aft escape hatch and found the the swim platform 2 feet under water, Ran forward to open the ER hatch and found the ER flooded all the way forward. I reported the water to the captain and he immediately hit the manual bilge pumps. We slowed to idle, continued on course although closer to shore and found that the pumps significantly bailed the bilge in about fifteen minutes. Where could that much water be coming from? We had to use an auxiliary pump to bail out the engine sumps to reduce the water level where we could see the prop shaft PSS seal assemblies. At 1100 RPM they were both dry. Once the water level was getting to a comfortable level we increased RPM to 1600 and the starboard seal began leaking, we finished the trip at 10 kts at 1500 RPM and the yard was ready with the travel lift as soon as we got there.
I am not convinced that that much water could pass by the seal at speed and be completely dry at rest or low RPM. The props were pretty encrusted and the cutlass bearings looked a little warn and we did have a bit of vibration at speed so that may be it. Interested to know what you guys think.
I am seeing where Carver falls short on design and appointment though. No high water alarms and no emergency secondary bilge pumps. If we buy the boat I will be adding several safety features for sure.
Incidentally everyone stayed calm, worked together to form a plan and stuck with the plan. No call was made to Coast Guard.
We ordered the yard to wash the bilge down with fresh water as a few components did flood including the brand new Side Power Bow Thruster. The relay on it fried and stuck on to port so we just killed power to it. Ill call Side power to ask what we should do to mitigate the salt water intrusion.
All in all not the way I wanted my sea trial to go. The owner was not along for the ride and upon getting the report from his captain told him to FIX EVERY THING!
We are going to go thru the entire boat again and rule out any other water intrusion sources
Rusty Mayes

[km1125]

Wow! Interesting trip for sure! That might explain why you were seeing water in the bilge on the earlier inspection!

I think a high water alarm is a great idea. I don't think it should be very much at all above the level that your normal bilge pump works at, so you'd know immediately if there was something that the normal bilge pump couldn't keep up with. You'd only want it high enough to eliminate false alarms. I've seen some mounted nearly a foot from the bottom, and - while that might keep the boat from sinking - it seems like you lose a LOT of time tracking down the cause of a big leak.

[buster53]

What a rough day. Sorry you had to go through all that.
One big question, and not trying to give you a hard time on this...what was the deal with the bilge pumps? Shouldn’t they at least been in auto mode? How many bilge pumps were there. I would say at least 3, probably 4.

[Cooler]

Carpediem - There may be a couple of spots that will hold water draining in from a real hard rain or other source. You should be able to get a wet vac nozzle in there to suck out the water. I need to do this once in a while, but then the area stays dry until the next really hard rain. Essentially, the rain is overwhelming the cockpit draining system. Anyway, it is important to determine the source of the water. Could be coming from shower sump that has a failed float switch or pump. Typically, air conditioners drain condensate into a shower sump. The hull is solid fiberglass so that is good. The water level is below the bilge pump minimum level, most likely. Still good to get the water out so there is less source for mold & mildew over time. Good luck! er

[Cooler]

Oops! I was responding to your Jan 12 post. Did not read page 2 of the string yet. What a sea trial. I would surely require the owner to fix every thing. Good thing is, the bilge pumps did turn on with manual switch. They probably have bad floats. Great job at remaining calm. I'm thinking the captains you had onboard were feeling that drag. Feels like boating in mud. Good luck! er

[tomschauer]

The bilge pumps should work on auto. The green indicator lights on the pump switches should illuminate when the pumps are running. Its not a high water alarm, but should get your attention if they light up under way, or stay lit.