Flooded boat and now foam buoyancy tanks full of water HELP

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 11:46 am

The boat was flooded and the sealed foam buoyancy tanks have got water in them. Has anyone any ideas on how to empty them and does the foam absorb water i am hopeful the water is just round the outside of the foam.. Is there a bilge area between the hull and cabin floor and could this be flooded?

Rondonay · Post by **Rondonay** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 12:47 pm

Hi Mat
Assuming you are ashore, you could drill drainage holes at the bas of the bunks, drain, air and reseal. How did it flood though?
Pauline

Jul 6, 2009 12:46:09 PM, forum-maintenance@swift18.org wrote:

The boat was flooded and the sealed foam buoyancy tanks have got water in them. Has anyone any ideas on how to empty them and does the foam absorb water i am hopeful the water is just round the outside of the foam.. Is there a bilge area between the hull and cabin floor and could this be flooded?

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CHERRY PIE · Post by **CHERRY PIE** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:45 pm

Not sure if this helps but we have a kind of mini bilge on Cherry Pie, take a look at or gallery their is a picture of it with the water tight lid taken off... we usually keep a piece of sponge in there and squeeze it out now and then.. it holds about a cupful of water..Gary

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:58 pm

i will cut the mini bilge hole in the floor. Would the water in the foam under the bunks drain into the bilge ? or is the bilge sealed to the foam.
The boat went over in a storm and was swamped. See my wanted add for a mast now that will be a challenge finding a mast. I have been quoted over £1000.

CHERRY PIE · Post by **CHERRY PIE** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 11:21 am

Re the mast..I would have thought your boat insurance would cover such an eventuality? no idea if the bunk would drain into the mini bilge but we do get a little water in there from time to time.

Terry · Post by **Terry** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 4:23 pm

Try direct messaging Mike (mike boatproject.) As he's made a boat from scratch, if anyone knows how water will drain through a swift it's going to be him.

John Hainsworth · Post by **John Hainsworth** » Mon Sep 14, 2020 12:26 pm

I have similar flooding problems. The big question is how is water getting into, mine is through a hole in the skeg. My approach to the cure was first to find the leak in in inner molding, there were many but most only appeared when sailing. Eventually I installed a hoselock fitting into the partition between the starboard locker and the starboard seat. I then poured about six litres of fluoroscene dye through into the space under the seat. Brightly coloured water revealed the leaks. I patched these but water was still getting into the hull so I had the boat lifted out of the water and took it home on my trailer. I then poured in more dye and found a 3 leaks in the skeg, one at the bottom and two into the rear locker where the skeg is bonded to the hull. I' m now going to patch these holes before doing another dye test. My guess is that thirty five seasons grounding at low tide when at anchor is not good for the boat. The up side is that I've enjoyed 11 of those seasons and hope for a few more.

Swift 18 Owners