There's water in my bilge — how do I find where it's coming from?

A dry bilge is a diagnostic tool. Sponge it out, dry it with a rag and come back to it — a slow ingress that is invisible in a slopping bilge becomes obvious as a single wet trail once everything else is dry.

Work down the likely list: stern gland drip rate, skin fittings and their hose clips, the raw-water system, the rudder stock, the log or depth transducer, and anything that passes through the deck above. Freshwater in the bilge after rain is usually a window, hatch seal or chainplate rather than a hull problem.

If the water returns faster than you can account for, or the source is below the waterline and you cannot reach it, treat it as urgent and get the boat looked at ashore.