More boat work drama...

The day starts off well, just like any other day on the hard.  The sun was shining and we're living the dream in Turkey.  I've got a list of boatwork to complete and I've actually got the supplies and tools to do the job.  It's going to be a good day.

Then I hear Janet call out; "Why is the bilge pump running?"

I don't think I need to tell you how unfortunate, and unlikely it is to have a bilge pump run while the boat is on dry land...

Good news - we're not sinking.  Bad news - we have a ton of water gathering in our starboard bilge.

Working together to frantically tear through bilge lockers and identify the source of the water we arrive at the hot water heater under our bunk.  Hmmm...looks good.  Wait - that spray of water shouldn't be there...where's it coming from?

A few moments of feeling like a blind man at a water park and I locate the leak.  It's the freshwater feed for the heater.  More good news - we were planning to disconnect this heater anyway since we really don't need two on a boat our size.  I disconnect the pipes and call it a success.  I'll remove the pipes later I tell Janet,

Fast forward six weeks.  We've been back in the water for nearly two weeks with no water in the bilge - which is a big plus for us since I did so much work on former and current thru-hulls.  I'm happily neck deep in some other boat task when I hear Janet call me.  "We have water in the bilge!"  

While Janet traces the source of the water I quickly taste it.  Fresh.  Thank god.  That means no major hole in the boat - we're just draining our water tank into the sea.  We pump the bilge out and then begin troubleshooting.

The culprit?  That damn hot water heater.  Since getting back in the water any time we've used the faucet in the starboard head, water has been pumping cold water out of the tank and through the decommissioned (but still connected) hot water hose into the bilge under our bunk.  It looked something like this:

Lesson learned.  Never leave a boat job half finished.