Can someone identify where this mysterious water is coming from? (Photo)

[waterman46]

The liner should be removed in the area of the thru-hull fitting, or should not extend that far down on the inside of the hull. No need for liner down low, where if hull damage occurs underway it will be impossible to fix from the inside. There should also be a substantial build-up of solid hull thickness on the inside surface in the area of the thru-hull.

[ben2go]

Two options I have seen to get water out of the space between the liner and the hull.


1) A low point inside the hull has a hole drilled in the liner to allow water to drain into the bilge.


2) Holes are drill in the hull on both sides of the keel at low points and bronze garboard drain plugs installed.


I don't know if these are viable options on the B265 but it's what I have seen done on other boats with a hull and liner.

[Ralsy]

So how did you go?? Did you get the experts in to have a look?

[MurrayC]

Yes core can get wet from a screw from the outside. This is analogous to deck damage caused by dodger and b bimini hardware screwed into the deck by incompetent installers..BTW, owners of cored hull boats should know that core can wet from the inside too by screws in the bilge. Survey with a moisture meter - maybe it's not a large area. Don't expect it to dry out on its own.

[dgmyles]

The second set of photos suggest that at some stage the position of the through hull has been moved but the previous hole has not been filled correctly. I would definitely be drilling out that cavity and repairing it, not just with epoxy but properly layering up a glass plug to fill the void completely.

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by dad_n_Seattle

Thanks to everyone for participating in this thread. I think I've come to a satisfactory conclusion.

So the 1992 Beneteau First 265 is a solid GRP hull with an extensive inner lining that also provides structural support to the hull. In several parts of the hull, there is either a plywood reinforcement where transducers are expected to be installed (bow), and where factory thru-hulls are located, solid GRP reinforcement across both layers (liner and hull). I verified this with some factory documentation I found in the boat.

This is why when I removed the salt water inlet strainer, some folks thought my hull was thicker than expected. That thru-hull was factory set, so it was reinforced with solid GRP. The strange cavity-like appearance visible from the outside seems to be a wierd by-product of the resin reinforcement. It turns out it is solid, just not well painted and semi-translucent. I stuck a long wire into the old hole where the screw was, and I could not get it to show up in that 'cavity', but it went in deep, so the conclusion is that a 3/4" screw is enough to go through the hull into the space between the hull and liner, which definitely has standing water in my case.

Conclusion is that other than a lot of salt water between my hull and liner just out of reach of the bilge intake, my hull seems to be still sound. I got rid of the old brass grill-dome type saltwater inlet and replaced it with a normal bronze groco, with plans to add a saltwater strainer inside (west marine universal strainer).

On to the next problem (Volvo Pental 2001) !

This is GREAT news, Seattle!

It's amazing how caught up some of us (meaning me) can get in another sailor's dilemma. I've been on tenderhooks following this thread and imagining a worst-case problem.

The "moral of the story is" : Do your homework, eh? Once you were able to establish the actual construction of your hull, you could logically understand what was going on.

Well done!
(And good luck with that Volvo Penta)
LittleWing77

[robertmfranklin]

I know this is contrary to everything everyone else has said, but it seems to me the jump to conclusion is that the problem is the worst of other possibilities. I am not proficient to offer alternatives, but I think they should be considered before assuming your hull has become a sponge.

[Jim Cate]

Folks, PAY ATTENTION!

It has been established that his hull is NOT CORED. Thus all the advice about how to deal with saturated core is inappropriate.

Jim

[jimbunyard]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Folks, PAY ATTENTION!

It has been established that his hull is NOT CORED. Thus all the advice about how to deal with saturated core is inappropriate.

Jim

Was kinda thinking that was at least partly why Littlewing chimed in (saving me from a probably less-civil response)...

[dad_n_Seattle]

Haha, thanks for the continued discussion on this (now solved) issue, gents. I did post a conclusion a while ago, but I'll recap below:

Yes, the boat was never cored (verfied via manufacturer documentation) and the water was indeed from seawater between the extensive inner liner and the outer hull. Beneteau's proprietary inner+outer hull construction methods, while providing good performance and rigidity, produced chronic residual water between two GRP layers. Theoretically, its all connected to the bilge via limber holes and what not so it should not be stagnant, but everyone wants a dry boat if they can help it.

I removed the old seawater inlet with strainer (and offending screw), replaced with normal Groco through-hull fitting and added an internal seawater strainer.

At any rate, thanks to a lot of folks who gave me ideas.