HELP! Water In The Bilge!

Where does it come from?

When we were inspecting this gorgeous sailboat before we bought it, we noticed almost straight away that there was some water in the bilge. The water had been there for a while. We thought it was quite a problem that we needed to sort out before we bought it.

We informed the owner, and he was adamant that the water would come from the corroded boiler. We needed to be sure that it wasn't a leak in the boat and that the boat wasn't slowly taking on water. When we tasted the water, it was fresh water. The boiler wasn't that bad, we thought; it needed replacement anyway. But we needed confirmation of the case.

We asked the surveyor, as he inspected the boat, to check up on it. When the report arrived, there was no mention of the water. The surveyor obviously didn't think much of the problem, so we went ahead and bought the boat.

Once we got acquainted with the area, we found a company that helped us install a new boiler. However, after installation, there was still water in the bilge. We learned the problem was not the boiler.

Finding WHere The Water Comes From Wasn't as Easy

The problem really needed to be solved, though. We needed to find where the water came from. We looked for hours and hours but couldn't find any cause. We decided to ask a plumber.

A French plumber recommended by another boat owner came by. He literally took the whole day to change a few valves and went to a shop three times to get parts. He overcharged and threatened me over the money. Well, I tell you, that's definitely not a great moment, being a woman alone with two children on a boat. Scared of what lengths he might go to, I was forced to pay him that immense amount. Afterwards, I gathered the courage to give him a piece of my mind about his actions. He seemed startled as I left. But so was I, startled and struck by the realization of how vulnerable you are as a woman alone. Luckily, we got past it.

The next day we left for a trip to Manchester. As soon as I got back and filled up the tanks, guess what? The bilge was full of water again!

Knowing the water wasn't salty, we knew it must have been an issue with the water tanks. We got to Tunisia and spoke to a few people about the problem. The idea was to check the tanks one by one to see if any of them were leaking. Then someone suggested taking all the tanks out and checking if they needed to be fixed on the welds.

We found a contractor who would do the job for a very good price, and we went for it.

The process of taking the tanks out of the boat was a massive job. We had to pull out the whole saloon, break the floorboard, frame, and even deconstruct the engine bay to get the tanks lifted out. It was an utter mess.

The sailboat looked like a complete disaster!"

There was mold buildup where the tanks were situated; it smelled and was black as the night. What an awful sight. As I looked at the place, reality kicked in and it started to overwhelm me. This immense job is going to take a while, and I was supposed to live in here with kids? I was questioning my decision to stay on the boat whilst doing the work.

I'm so lucky that we are staying in this beautiful marina in Tunisia where the liveaboard community is large, and we made quite some friends. As I sat defeated on the transom overthinking what I should do, a friend walked past and saw me. He immediately acted without a question and went to check out if there are any apartments for us to stay. Sadly, because of the EID week, they were all fully booked. Another friend got knowledge of our situation and offered us a sleepover on their boat. I decided to take it. Just to change scenes for a bit.

That was the best decision as our friends from @theadventurelocker arranged a fun night for us with pizza, games, and drinks, and it totally refreshed my frame of mind

The next day, the tradesmen finished the demolition part of the task and started to rejuvenate the bilge. Cleaning, a coat of fiberglass, gelcoat, and paint. The bilge looked fresh white and glorious! Most of the wood of the framework was rotten and old. So we decided to get a full new framework built. With a fresh batch of Sapelli wood. The carpenter was super skilled, with just a few tools he made a beautiful new frame.

Now the bilge was ready for the tanks. In the meantime, the welder requested us to come by his workshop to have a look at the tanks. He tested them and looked at the state of all 5 tanks. Sadly, the tanks were all eaten away by the electrolysis. There were small punctures everywhere

Unrepairable, as the welder mentioned. He could not guarantee if the tanks would survive another 2 years after a repair and offered to make completely new tanks. Giving us the price for building new tanks, I was again struck down by this new information. We did not have a budget ready for building completely new stainless steel water tanks. Also, we needed to reset again and see if stainless steel is actually what we want after the disaster that just took place.

We went on a hunt for other options.

In Search of the Solution

When the ideas were flowing, we needed to think of viable options that are available in Tunisia and within reach of quick installation.

At first, we were looking for a place that could make us food-grade PVC tanks. We visited a factory that makes those tanks on a large scale. However, they told us that the size and dimensions are hard to come by. They would have to create a mold, and that would be even more pricey than the stainless steel tanks.

Moving on to the next solution. Flexible tanks, bladders they call them. I certainly never heard of them, but it seemed like the perfect solution. They just look like waterproof pouches, which is easy as when empty, they would be easy to install into a bilge.

The only problem I would see is if they move around or pop. So we needed to come up with a good system so that every bladder could be closed off easily from the pressure system.

We found our solution... now we just need to do the work.

Bolongo boatworkx..

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