Details; taking on water

[Bobby Crouch]

Thanks for the several responses; here is more detail on my problem:The Hunter 23 cabin has port and starboard setees; under the cushions are two storage compartments (forward and aft). On my port side, aft compartment, there is a longitudinal (fore and aft) crack in the fiberglass near the centerline of the boat. Water comes in when the boat heels to port. The water is brown in color. The lake I sail on is very clear. Meanwhile the keelbolt area and compartments (under the floor boards) is dry. I keep a cover over the boat since I had some rain leakage problems in the past. However, it has not rained in Texas for many months. The boat sits in the water. I have had no response from Hunter. Additionally, the cockpit storage area is dry as well. Any ideas?Thanks,BB.

 

[Dave Condon]

water leak

Bobby;From your description, it may sound like the leak is coming in at the hull to deck joint unless there is truely a new crack in the hull itself. I am assuming the hull to deck joint.Remove the rub rail. You probably have the one with the insert which needs to be removed. The actual rub rail attachment to the boat is screwed into the seam area of the hull to deck but generally in that area. Remove and inspect. I would suspect that the caulking simply needs to be replaced unless there is structural damage to the glass and in that case let the expert repair the glass first. I believe loose screws and caulking are shot.When removimg the insert to the rub railmake sure to mark it with a pencil so it will go back into the rail in the exact location

 

[Wanderer138]

OK, now try this...

Bobby:As I mentioned earlier, if the water you see inside the boat is brown and your lake is clear, then something must be staining the water. That means the water sits in the hull long enough to be stained. Rust is unlikely, which leaves only wood as a possible culprit.You mentioned that the crack is in the aft storage compartment, which places it not near the centerline, but actually close to, if not right up against, the port longitudinal stiffener in the hull grid (I think). Now it gets tricky, because I don't know if the stiffener is hollow or not. If it is hollow, it may be holding water inside, in which case the color may be coming from your laminate. What does this brown water smell like?More questions...how long does it take for the brown water to return after you mop it up? Dry the area with a sponge and bucket while the boat is under way and heeled to port, then see how long it takes for the same amount of water to reappear. How far does the boat heel before the water appears? Did you ever find any waterstains on the bulkhead where the chainplates are mounted? How about in the liner under the port window? We'll figure this one out yet!Peters/v Raven

 

[Chris]

water under the liner...

It sounds to me that the water may be sitting between the liner and the bottom and gets into the storage bin through the crack. You may infact have a leaking keel but the water may not come out all the way to the top. When you take off the floor boards, you don't see the bottom of the hull, only the liner. There can be water under the liner, and it can come from many different sources......Good luck,Chris