An introduction and a request for tips/advice/wisdom for an idiot in a 1985 40'

[Capt Robbie]

Do you plan to shrink wrap the boat?
A lot of live aboard people shrink wrap and it give a lot more living space, much like a solarium in the winter. You may be able to dry things out side under the wrap. My boat buddy works on his project boat all winter long and under the wrap it's not too bad even when it 20 degrees outside under the wrap about 65 - 75 degrees when the suns out, Just a thought. Maybe you can string a laundry line under the wrap with a fan to circulate the air and dry thing out during the day.

 

[Megaman]

I have that same problem, Leak from below the pedestal into the aft cabin. I caulked around the base of the pedestal, and it is still leaking. I tapped a plastic garbage bag to the ceiling in the aft cabin.
Im waiting for my boat to be shrink wrapped, and hoping to figure things out,this winter.

 

[limbodog]

Not sure if you have scuppers on your boat, these are the holes in the floor of the cockpit, used to drain the water out. It is possible that the hoses to drain the scuppers are cracked/broken, this would allow water to access the bilge. If you have an open transom then you likely don't have scuppers.

Cheers
dj

It just occurred to me last night that I might have to rethink this response. Sure, the hoses coming out of my ceiling in the aft cabin are dry, but that doesn't mean the seals on the deck where the scuppers drain are good. In fact, if the top is bad and the bottom is good, then the water would just be sloshing around inside the fiberglass ceiling I'd think.

My first thought was that my deck seal was leaking because I see water stains on both sides in the aft cabin right below where the transom boxes meet the deck. But now that I'm thinking about it more, I'm worried that my deck is full of water below the glass and the only outlet is when it sloshes over the side in the interior...

The weird round 15" opening in the ceiling directly below the pedestal has a layer of thick but flexible water-tight plastic sheeting over it. I'm wondering now if it's holding back gallons of water.

 

[limbodog]

Do you plan to shrink wrap the boat?
A lot of live aboard people shrink wrap and it give a lot more living space, much like a solarium in the winter. You may be able to dry things out side under the wrap. My boat buddy works on his project boat all winter long and under the wrap it's not too bad even when it 20 degrees outside under the wrap about 65 - 75 degrees when the suns out, Just a thought. Maybe you can string a laundry line under the wrap with a fan to circulate the air and dry thing out during the day.

Yes, I've got it scheduled for sometime in the next week or two. And yeah, that's probably what I'll do. I'm still not used to the idea that the top of my boat will be 'indoors'