Leaking hull,but not sure where,Riptide 31

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clarky
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Joined: Wed October 14th, 2009, 9:36 pm

Leaking hull,but not sure where,Riptide 31

Post by clarky »

Hi,

Whenever I go out in windy weather ,rough seas when the boat is slamming I start to get quite substantial leaks in the bilges.Removed about 15 buckets last weekend .I was beating into a Force 5/6.
Its Ramilles a Riptide 31.I know Sid previous owner had some bother,but he is not around to ask ,does anybody have any idea of previous problems or what this might be ?

Regards,
Iain
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Kevan
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat June 26th, 2010, 9:10 am

Re: Leaking hull,but not sure where,Riptide 31

Post by Kevan »

A humorous response comes to mind! But in all seriousness, without stating the obvious possibilities, one that "springs" to mind is that the lateral force on the bilge keels when under heavy way, may be too much for the connection to the hull. I note from the builder's page that there was a non-standard connection. It may be lightyears ahead on the original design, but without knowing what was done it is worth considering. Should be easy to trace too, depending on the amount of furniture in the way.

A bilge keel owner on another forum noted that their bilge keels weeped (I think that's what they said) when settling on the shore. If the lateral force there could cause weeping, slamming up and down on the seas could also be a source.

Cheers, Kevan

Oh, yeah! I forgot to mention that I also noticed on the build page that the Ramilies has an in-board rudder shaft. John W responded to a post some time back about the force of the prop wash commonly forces water up the rudder tube (forgive the crude terminology). To paraphrase John W "I have seen mini fountains". So, you may wish to check that the tube is not "discharging" its fountain into the bilge. Cheers
john walpole
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Joined: Wed May 5th, 2010, 11:58 am

Re: Leaking hull,but not sure where,Riptide 31

Post by john walpole »

My GH31 had a very slow leak which appeared to come from the outboard edge of the stb'd bilge plate. Decided to drop the plate & rebed it. Once the plate & the fore & aft "doubler" were off water from the bilge began running out and a 1 metre longtitudinal crack through the ply hull was clearly seen. This crack was not visible with the plate on as it was sandwiched between the doubler & the internal stringer. Shipwright's diagnosis is that the crack was probably the result of severe lateral impact to the stb'd plate. Solution was to cut out & replace a suitable rectangular section of the ply centered on the crack, resheath the area, fit new doubler & replace the plate. Good luck with yours!
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Fiddler's Green
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Location: Essex
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Re: Leaking hull,but not sure where,Riptide 31

Post by Fiddler's Green »

Leaks like this are annoying, but I would doubt the bilge keels should cause a real problem unless not fitted as design. The size of the backing timber on the drawings and the bolts and sealant are normally sufficient. Of course if your boat has grounded badly on one keel or suffered some other damage the keels can cause massive wringing strains.

I have investigated many boats with leaks and find one of the best tools is talc. Sprinkle talc in the bilges, a leak running over it will leave a mark. then move higher or further forward or back till you find the leak. Often chines leak because there are voids in them.

One feature of some boatyards is they do not use spreaders when lifting with a crane, the compression loads can crack hull joints. I would refuse to have my boat lifted this way.

Seen several with voids in chines. The cure was to rout out and dry out, then fill with Epoxy and filler. Look also at the joint between the keel and the ply along the garboard.

When the boat comes out go over the chines etc with a magnifying glass. any slight crack should be dug out......

Hope this helps,
John
Proud owner and builder of 'Fiddler's Green'
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