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Posted by Dave Peoples (204.119.20.94) on May 30, 2000 at 09:35:32:

I understand this is a common problem with the 42, but has anyone solved this. As far as I can tell the water in the bilge is coming in through the top of the Mast. I remember it being quite open when it was installed. I installed a check valve in line from the pump to prevent back flow , and that helped alot. I then installed a smaller pump with a checkvalve to finish it off. I still end up with 3/8" of water. I can't believe that a constant wet bilge is ok on a boat. I wonder why Catalina hasn't installed a small sump well in the bottom of the bilge to set the pump in. This would sure reduce the area that's wet. Has anyone out there been able to eliminate this problem or even come close. I thought about filling the top of the mast with spray foam. moving the lines up and down while it hardens. Is there some kind of cap that can be installed? We live in the Pacific Northwest. We just get too much rain!!!!!!
Any Ideas? thanks -Dave Jammin #560 3 cabin

Posted by Tony Williams (149.199.62.254) on May 30, 2000 at 10:56:01:

I've been suffering from this problem since I bought the boat (brand new) about a year ago. I have a small leak in the hot water tank (around the electric heating element gasket I think) but I doubt that this is causing the constant 1/2~1" of water that's *ALWAYS* present in the bilge. I hadn't thought about the mast being a possibility... I shall look into it.

One word of caution about the check valve in the bilge-pump overboard hose... I did the same thing and was happy with the reduced amount of water left in the bilge when the pump shuts off. However, I noticed that the bilge pump is now unreliable as a result!

The problem is due to the large volume of water that's trapped (by the check valve) in the overboard hose after the pump shuts off. On my boat, the overboard hose is about 15' long 1" diameter and holds almost a gallon of water! The bilge pump can't prime with that amount of water sitting in the hose.

In particular, if air gets into the short section of hose between the bilge pump and the check valve, the pump will not prime the next time it's switched-on. It just sits there spinning away without moving any water. This would be a disaster if the boat developed even a small leak while left unattended!

Tony Williams
Windriver (#678)

Posted by Ernie April (151.198.134.22) on May 31, 2000 at 09:32:49:

Hi, Dave--

Surprising just how much rain water comes in through the halyard sheaves and cut-outs.

I also had a leaking subsole water tank fitting at one point.

After manually cycling the bilge pump until it loses prime, and after the contents of the hose drain back, I'm left with about a gallon in the bilge. This is easily taken care of with a squeegee mop. A minor inconvenience at most and one I live can easily with when the alternative is a deck-stepped mast. The flow of rainwater and mopping also keeps the bilges clean and sweet.

BTW: I don't recommend a check valve in the hose from the bilge pump. I had one on a former boat and it was a source of trouble. It can stick closed and the worst time.

Cheers--Ernie April WindCatcher (618)