It looks as though you have the front of the panel covered to block sun but not the top edge where the box actually attaches to the cockpit. I removed it and re-bedded with butyl. My bed is transverse while yours seems to be stern to bow. That being the case I believe there is an access panel in the ceiling on the port side, at least that is where mine is. Behind that panel they put the autopilot ram. There is a boot that seals the ram to the hull which you would access by pulling up the floor section behind the binnacle. That floor section is not really sealed as it is designed to wash aft and down the transom. This could be another location to check. I have a 41 but I think the 44 is pretty similar.
Use Butyl for the screw holes. There are only six holes I believe on my 41 but either way the butyl works like a charm. Roll a little ball of it in your fingers and put it over the screw hole, when the floor goes down it will squish it and seal the hole.
Exactly. I put a little ball of it over each hole, in the hull under the decking, BEFORE putting the deck back in place and squishing it. You could also put it on the bottom of the hole through the deck before installing. You won't be able to eye ball the hole under the deck any more as you will just see butyl, but it's easy to feel your way with the screw tip. By the way I always remove screws with a cordless impact gun or drill but always reinstall by hand.
On our 2004 41ac, the bellows on the linear drive failed and could be the leak source. On the 41 you have 6 screws that hold the cockpit floor in place. The floor covers up the linkage from the binnacle to the rudder post and the linear drive bellows.
I'm not sure what the bellow is SUPPOSED to look like. If I'm thinking of the correct part it's a thin black neoprene (?) kind of bellows through which a rod goes fore and aft? What constitutes failure? Ripped? Fell off?
Both examples you have mentioned are examples of a failed bellows. Any kind of crack or small cut or flaking is also a failure.
