Water under the blige step
 

Just an FYI to other 357 owners: I've always had water collect under my cabin step like a lot of other 357 owners. Not a flood- but it'll bilge a gallon or so every 10-15 minutes. I finally got to where I wanted to figure out where it was coming from just because every theory I came up with didn't make sense. I'll spare all the details of what I did to absolutely confirm that the keel is leaking but trust me- I spent 1/2 a day working on the problem with the boat both in the water and on a lift. Bottom line: there's 2 very fine 12" cracks along the keel amidships. They look like nothing more than gelcoat cracks but they're the source of the water. I've read threads in here before about others with this problem as well as gelcoat cracks in front of the windshild (which I have also although I have a custom windscreen). My boat was used offshore by previous owners so I'm sure its taken a lot of pounding- its a lake boat now. I'm not too concerned- the leak hasn't gotten any worse in the 3 seasons I've owned it. I'll patch it inside amd out this fall. Maybe I'm the only one with this problem but if you've got a leak you can't find- look closely at your keel-

Re: Water under the blige step
 

There is a hole on the bow ...Starboard side ... I think its a vent for the water tank .... Seems there was a thread About wave action or spray causing water in the forward Bilge ....

Re: Water under the blige step
 

yeah we where talking about that a while back, mine has it and I don't even have a water tank

Re: Water under the blige step
 

Were the cracks parallel with the strakes, or were they from side to side?

Re: Water under the blige step
 

Ctuck,
I really don't think your water source is the hairline cracks along the keel. Those are most likely just gelcote cracks. If in fact that is the source of the leakage, I wouldn't be using the boat!! It's a very serious condition if the hull is cracked through.

Another reason I don't believe it's the keel is that area of the boat is quite thick. To be cracked near the keel all the way through the hull is unlikely.

No, I think your water source is the same as everyone elses; windshield leakage.

As for the little hole in the bow, according to Formula, that was intended to be a drain for "anchor locker". When I say anchor locker,,,,,,,, that storage space in the cabin, under the front v-berth cushion was intended to be anchor storage. Believe it or not, that was what the Formula Tech Line told me. They admitted it was stupid and useless. Who the hell is going to drag a dirty, wet anchor through the cabin to store it?!?!? In any event, even when water comes in the little hole in the side of the bow, it can't travel back to the under-step area, there is no drain communication between the two areas.

So, unless your boat really has a through-hull crack, it's coming from the windshield.

Re: Water under the blige step
 

Thirdbird: Actually, I don't ahve a windshield, my boat has a custom wind cowling. Besides its stored under roof. I understand your skepticism about the cracks but I know I'm right. As I said in my origional post, I spent hours troubleshooting the problem. In a nutshell. here's what I did:I keep my boat in an electric lift slip. First with boat raised out of the water, I used a shop-vac to suck ALL the water out from the step bilge area and the engine bilge. I lowered the boat into the water and within 15 minutes there was an inch or so of water in the step bilge. The engine bilge stayed compltetly dry. Next, I removed the forward bulkhead in the under-step area. With a mirror and a flashlight, I could see water trickling down from forward of the step bilge. Next, to make absolutely certain that the water wasn't draining back from the very front of the boat which is filled with floatation foam, I pushed the boat most of the way out of the slip and raised just the forward 1/2 with the lift. The boat was out of the water from about the front of the cockpit forward and after vacuming the water out again, it stayed completely dry. As soon as I lowered the bow back down, water began to collect again. Next I put the boat back on the lift andI raised it high enough to get beneath it and that's when I found the 2 cracks, which are each about a foot long and absolutely look like nothing more than gelcoat cracks just forwaard of the step area.. I then examined the keel area from the inside and found a hairline crack which seems to be in the same place. Perfectmix: yes they run front to back more or less at the very bottom of the keel. As to concerns about the structural integrity of the boat, I agree that a crack in the hull isn't a good thing, but I've had the boat for 3 seasons and the leak hasn't gotton any worse whatsover. The season's almost over anyway, so sometime soon I'll cut a couple of feet of the cockpit sole out, reglass it on the inside and notch and fill the cracks on the outside.

Again, I have to wonder if I'm not the only one with this problem given all the discussion about water under the step I've seen here-

Re: Water under the blige step
 

I have water that collects there also, but mine is from the raw water inlet to the ac. The ball valve is mucho suck-o and I need to replace. Have you checked that?

My 223 LS has the identical problem

Are you saying that you think yours is cracked also?

my 312 started doing that last weeekend, I have 2 minor chips on the hull about 3/4" big around that area you ,can see the fibers, one was from backing the the boat off of the trailer before it was deep enough for the step in the hull to clear, and knocked the bunk off and caught it a few times, its hard to believe that just a small chip in the gel coat would make it leak.So i will repair those and go from there.