Leaking ballast tank

[normalfornorfolk]

Help! My Mac sits on a mooring that dries out. This means that I can see and hear (which I wouldn't otherwise) water coming out of the ballast tank gate on the transom. It's not gushing, but if left for a week, I'd be surprised if much was left in there. Has anyone had this problem, and found a way to fix it? The gate is fully shut, but water is coming round the bottom half of it. Is there a seal to replace? I'm a bit worried that water will come out while I'm sailing, and destabilize me.

[James V]

Hello and welcome.

Let us check a few things. No insult, I miss things often enough.

Is there blockage in the valve? When open, feel with a gloved hand in the groves, Clean if needed.

Some of the boats have the nut on the handle loose. Make sure that it has enough play to close fully.

[tangentair]

I am with James
Check for loose nuts or blocked slide groves, and check if it is worse if you open the vent or close it. I don't know how much is coming out but if you are on an extended reach and can look over the stern and see the valve out of the water you might try and see if you can tell if it is leaking. (That might be difficult to tell if it is leaking or just wet, I know) The valve as noted on many previous posts is half of a holding tank valve for a camper or motorhome and is not difficult to replace. I seem to remember a thread where the screws were mentioned and that they had lost their holding ability.

[puggsy]

TRY adding some brightly coloured food dye to the air breather under the front bunk.
If you are leaking from the filler valve, the dye will show up as you go. It cannot hurt the environment.
Puggsy 06

p.s. its 21.57 hrs. 18th. her in the West. On the other side of the world.

[bastonjock]

ill go with what the others have said, check for sand and stuff,i had a good look at mine this weekend,im glad i went down to wells,my mooring rope had almost chaffed through,ive been looking out for you on the sea,i have not seen you yet

[normalfornorfolk]

Thanks for the tips. So far, I've only tried to sort it out while it's still got water in (which means it's a bit tricky to see what's going on when it's open, what with all that water spewing out), but I guess I'll have to empty it all out and see what I see.
Jock, I've stayed onboard most of this week, but so far haven't summoned the courage to get out past the Point - the channel seems even smaller than last year, and the waves have been pretty big. When I do, am I right in thinking I want all the ballast in, the c/b and rudders down, and motor like crazy?
Not much point having the boat if I'm too much of a wuss to put to sea!

[bastonjock]

when i leave my mooring,i have about 4 inches of centerboard line down and usually only one rudder,once in the marked channel i put it all down,when i get to "the pool" oposite the lifeboat station,i usually open the ballast and reverse just to check that its full,then its out and over the bar no need to motor like crazy,i usually run along at 2000-2500 rpm

at wells you can sail inside the bar,have you sailed your boat much?

depending on the weather,i might head down there on saturday to go out on the sunday morning tide at present its forecast for rain and 18-20 mph winds

[normalfornorfolk]

We took our courage in our hands and went out past the point and trundled half way to Wells.
Had a great week, my brother looking after the kids, and me and 'er indoors sleeping on the boat and seeing how the sails worked. Had a few good sails, the wind getting a little stronger each day.
Coming back in past Blakeney point was nerve-racking; waves coming from the starboard quarter which seemed intent on turning us round (which I fought to avoid) - should I have relaxed and just let the boat turn with each wave?
Couldn't go out today (Sunday), so I've missed you again, Jock!

[bastonjock]

NN,it would have been crazy to go out there today,65mph winds ,glad that you cleared the point,handling the mac offshore takes abit of getting used to,out of Wells that tide is running east from HW-2 onwards,then you have the wave motion,usually from the North,then the wind,i let het bob with the waves and point her when i want to go in a particular direction.

I will be down at wells next weekend,i need to check the tides first,but ill probably aim for friday night and stay untill sunday,ill PM you my mobile number.