H30 Rain Leak

[malyea]

.....really tired of fighting leaks from above the waterline.....

'Bout Time's forward most compartment under the V-berth fills with about a gallon of water after a 3/4" to 1" rainfall over 8 to 10+ hours while sitting in her slip.

I can't duplicate the leak with buckets of water poured in/around the bow/anchor locker/pulpit area (will try with hose when marina turns water back on this spring).

The leak only occurs with rain and does not come from transducer thru hulls (in same compartment) - the leak clearly comes from above (literally not spiritually) and the only way I can imagine that the volume of 1 gallon accumulating from 1" of rain is that the anchor locker is acting like a funnel....but many buckets dumped into the locker produces zero leak !?!?

I can't believe that a toe rail or deck hardware leak would allow a gallon to leak in during a 1" rainfall.....!?!?

Thoughts?

 

[kito]

I feel your pain. My 79 H30 has these mystery leaks too. I am getting water in my starboard v-berth compartment but only after a hard driving rain. My boat is on the hard with the chainplates removed and holes plugged with butyl tape so not coming from there. I thought about the anchor locker but can't duplicate a leak, same as you did. My hatches and portlights do need new seals but only notice a little dampness around them. I am thinking the toe rail is the culprit. I noticed some of the bolts and nuts are loose holding the the deck, hull and toe rail together. I am going to tightened the 120 some odd nuts this weekend. I may apply a thin bead of 5200 at the deck/toerail joint to see if that does the trick. I would suggest checking your toerail bolts and nuts too....I bet there are some loose ones.

 

[malyea]

kito - agree with all but I just find it hard to understand how a 'relatively small' point of entry like deck hardware/toe rail bolt can account for a gallon of water after only a 1" rain fall....but just in case, I did check tightness and found none significantly loose....
Good luck with yours - I did solve many other leaks in the last couple years with replacing all 9 portlights and replacing the gaskets on the 2 Bowmar hatches.

 

[kito]

1" of rain is actually quite a bit considering the deck is sloped towards the toe rails and acts almost like a gutter. I had 8" of snow on my deck and had no leaks during the melting. Thats what makes me think rain is being driven under the toe rail. I would think that even with the toe rail bolts tight and the original butyl tape seal is old, water can seep in. That's why I am thinking of using 5200 or 795 on the rail/deck seam. If it works then a toe rail removal and rebedding with butyl tape will be on my "to do" list down the road.

 

[ggrizzard]

I've had two persistent leaks, both due to port light problems, which I'm fixing this week. But now I've found two more from unknown sources, and the water drips into the setee locker, starboard side. That one must come from the toe rail, as I re-beded the chainplates six months ago and no sailing since. So I'll tighten as many nuts as I can reach.

There was a discussion here a few years ago about using soapy water on the deck/cabin top and blowing air into the cabin with a leaf blower or reverse shop vac. Has anyone tried this?

 

[Allan Frey]

>blowing air into the cabin with a leaf blower

I tried it once; it did not show the leak.

 

[H30Gary]

Tough nut to crack.

Up forward, if not shroud penetrations, toe rails probably. Other culprits 'might' be port lights (water leaking into deck core, then finding way to port V-berth compartment) or maybe penetrations for water fill or waste pump out.

I had leaks at shrouds, solved with butyl tape. Also had big leak back aft, in port quarterberth. Turned out hose between cockpit drain and outboard discharge was cracked. New hose solved that problem.

Boat is pretty dry now. Of course, we don't get much rain here so its hard to tell

 

[malyea]

Great weather today - I'm headed out to the marina to tighten every piece of hardware I can access and assess....really not a bad way to spend a few hours....;-)

 

[kito]

If your going to tighten up the toe rails, you will need to bring a friend since one needs to hold the nut while the other is on deck with a Philips screwdriver........and there is about 120 of them

 

[DianaOfBurlington]

Toerail-?

Go down the toerail and inspect all the bolts. Be particularly skeptical of anything that was added later, such as boarding-ladder brackets, flag-halyard and fender cleats, and anchor rollers. If any slight misalignment is evident along the underside of the heads, bang those ones out and replace them. I changed out Diana's toerail bolts any time they posed a hassle, such as coinciding with stanchion-base bolts, using hex-head cap screws (easier to do by yourself-- just lay a box-end wrench over it and tighten from below) and Delrin or nylon washers (to guard against bimetallic corrosion-- and the boats should have had these originally), set in 5200. Maybe someday I'll have changed them all; but really after 40 years they're in good shape.

Next, mask off the toerail and deck and lay in a narrow (3/16") bead of black 3M 4000 UV. Wait about two months (longer if you have done any sailing in rugged weather) and then do the same along the hull, outside.

If these two fixes don't stop your leaks, they're worth doing anyway on any boat that has this type of toerail track.

 

[ggrizzard]

JC, check out Hunter Marine facebook page. They highlighted your Dad's 37 in pics!

 

[DianaOfBurlington]

Grizz--

Cool!

 

[malyea]

Next, mask off the toerail and deck and lay in a narrow (3/16") bead of black 3M 4000 UV. Wait about two months (longer if you have done any sailing in rugged weather) and then do the same along the hull, outside.

Thanks - curious...why wait two months to do the 'outside' edge? Maybe to allow moisture to evaporate after sealing the inner edge?