R23 Water in Engine Pod

There is/was at least 10 gallons of water in my engine pod. I removed the drain plug and drained it while hauled out.

It is my understanding that the only water ingress points would be the large plastic access cap or where protective hoses connect to it and that there is no way to drain it, short of using a dinghy hand bailing pump, unless hauled out.

Thats a good amount of water/weight to be hauling around so I would prefer it remained dry.

Is it normal to get water in the pod or do I have a leak somewhere?

Mostly normal. Depends on how long you've exposed "heavy" water to the access/hoses (off plane cruising, following sea while off plane, etc.) They leak, period. Early model R23 like ours did not have a bilge pump in the pod from FM. We added a pump and changed the plastic access cap with an aluminum one. The new access cap helps but we still expect water. We believe the water comes from the hose connections but it is hard to test.