Water Under Aft Cockpit in 07 Venture

haakebecks · Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 4:03 am Post subject:

Thanks for the update Casey! The previous owner supposedly did a die test, but I'm planning on pulling the tank and testing anyway. I'll also definitely do the locker drain since that should be a relatively easy fix.

What is interesting is that from what I can tell, I am hull number 16 for the 26' Venture. My HIN is GXK26016L607. Yet, Blue Eage is number 31: GXK26031A708. That being said, it definitely has the cockpit stringer and the bow mounted water tank. I wonder when in 07 they made that change-over. What I also find weird is that my hull #16 was built in December if I am reading the HIN correctly and Blue Eagle was built a month later in January? How in the hell did they produce that many hulls so quickly and maintain any semblance of quality? I would have assumed even cure time in the mold would be at least a few days per hull...

Tim & Dave Kinghorn · Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 12:04 pm Post subject:

Haakebecks

Our 23' Venture has stayed dry, but we only fill the water tank 1/2 full.

When we bought our Venture, there was a 26" Venture the shop was finishing to sell under the court agreement. It might be the reason for the discrepancy.

Tim & Dave kinghorn

Casey · Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 1:46 pm Post subject:

One item I failed to mention....
When I did the watertank filler repair, it seemed to work (not
leak water), but even with that - now I fill the tank THEN drain-off
four gallons, which lowers the water level below the inlet point.
(The pump makes 2gal/minute so I simply drain it for two minutes.)

Best,
C&M

Sunbeam · Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 10:13 pm Post subject:

Sunbeam · Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 10:14 pm Post subject:

Morning Star · Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 4:43 am Post subject:

Interesting discussion about 26 Venture HIN numbers. My Venture is hull number one. The HIN is CDO26001A808. My understanding is that the prior boats were Cape Cruisers. Of course, my understanding could be wrong, but the HIN seems to support what I was told when I bought the boat. Perhaps the Cape Cruiser hulls that were finished by C-Dory after the lawsuit are referred to as Ventures.

Half Share · Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2013 8:57 pm Post subject:

haakebecks - What did you find on your CC 26? We took our boat out for the first time and noticed water in the cabin inspection port. Our boat is a 2007 Cape Cruiser. Curious if you found it was the water tank as well or something else?

neilc · Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 3:09 pm Post subject:

WOW! A lot of good and interesting information. Also, a lot of creative and talented people own C-Dories. This forum is a gold mine. My HIN is GXK26099L707. The first year I owned the boat I had a water problem with a substantial amount of water sloshing around under the cabin floor. It could be seen in the aft port storage area and under the Wallace stove. What interested me was that there didn't seem to be a path for the water to get back to the bilge pump location. I assumed the path had been blocked by construction debris. I bailed what I thought was most of the water by positioning the boat on the trailer so the water would collect in that port side closet. Then one time I was pulling a crab pot when the bilge pump came on and a large amount of very dirty water came out. I haven't noticed a big problem for the past 3 years but it sounds like the inspection ports would be a good thing. Very recently a surveyor checked the floors and found them dry except near the aft cabin bulkhead and near the fuel tanks. By the way, the original source of water was faulty plumbing.

Well, I'm rambling on but once again thank you,

Neil

jennykatz · Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 8:12 am Post subject: Hull numbers

Most boat builders will make a boat in July or August and call it the next years model Brunswick (searay ,bayliner etc) have been doing that for years the model usually changes in the middle of summer Like cars used to change model years in sept.
Cape cruiser and c-dory might have kept it the real model year when it was built ?

As far as water getting into our Cape cruiser/venture 23 boats I found when I put in the vee berth forward hatch that I had water condensation on the roof of the underside of the vee berth now I just open the big hatch and water condensation seems to have gone away . We keep our boat in the sw florida waters 12 months a yr pulling out once a year for maintenance

BTW cape cruiser 23 "s were called ventures before c-dory called them that and the 26 cape cruiser was called the marinaut (spelling?) In my album there is a original brochure from cape cruiser

NORO LIM · Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 11:57 am Post subject:

Seeing this thread revived reminds me I should follow up on my experiences with the inspection ports. As I noted a couple of years ago, I installed three ports and found a little water only under the cabin sole - none under the cockpit sole. The area under the cabin sole is not sealed and water can get there from virtually any source inside the cabin.

Three years ago during an extended, and very wet, cruise up the Inside Passage, we had enough water under the cabinets that I became a little concerned. Daily sponging was required. Without an inspection port in the cabin sole, I could not get at any water already accumulated under the sole, and it would slosh out as the boat moved and changed attitude.

I was skeptical that that much water was the result of just condensation, but it was. Testing eliminated the chain locker and the water tank as sources. A really tiny amount may have dribbled in around the stove exhaust port (since resealed), but just plain old condensation was the culprit.

So, Long Story Short: All I do now in wet weather is remove the inspection port cover in the cabin when I'm not using the boat, and set a small fan over the opening. It's been bone dry under there ever since. (And when we head north this year, our new Wallas 1300 Heater should reduce the condensation, too! Very Happy

)

Half Share · Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2014 6:11 pm Post subject:

Does anyone know how the bilge pump is attached on a Venture 26 (actually, it is a 2007 Cape Cruiser Marinaut). We are getting some water under our aft cockpit and this seems like a possible source. We have inspection ports both in the cabin and the cockpit. Cabin is dry, but we seem to be getting water under the cockpit....most notable after a wash down...but, we noticed some dampness before we started the wash down and the only water source was in the bilge.

Any hints on accessing to check this out is much appreciated.

TimButterfield · Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2014 10:35 pm Post subject:

I'm glad this thread was revived. It's timely, too, as I'm about to take a look at a 26 Venture. If there were no inspection ports added, is there any way to visually detect these leak possibilities? What clues might there be? Like, Half Share, I also wonder how to access the bilge pumps.

Thanks.

Tim

Half Share · Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 10:10 am Post subject:

Tim,

I am new at all of this so would not be a good source of advice. If you can I would recommend you see if one of the experienced cbrats would go along to check it out. They have been a very helpful and great resource for me.

If you remove the bilge pump top you can see how it is attached, if screwed down you probably have some water getting in.

Mitch

TimButterfield · Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 10:41 am Post subject:

Thanks, Mitch. Since my last post, I have decided to pass on that one. Thanks, though.

Tim

williwaw · Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 10:52 am Post subject:

We have a 2007 Cape Cruiser 23 which is probably constructed in a way similar to the 26 you're looking at. We have inspection ports in the cabin floor forward and aft by the door and have seen small amounts of water. This is normal and the result of condensation (a normal person exhales 12-16 oz of water a day!).

We do not have an inspection port to see under the cockpit sole and without one there is no way to see whats underneath. However our boat, and likely the boat you're looking at, has flotation foam under the cockpit sole so it's unlikely there's much accumulation of water in that area.

Personally, I wouldn't let this be an issue if all other aspects of the boat are satisfactory. Once you own it you could always install an inspection port aft between the fuel tanks as some others have done.