lewmar opening ports

[Ed Crowell]

I purchased a 1996 Catalina 36mkii in may ,It is my third Catalina and I am very happy with the boat. However as we are just now getting into the rainy season a problem with the opening ports leaking has reared its ugly head. The all seem to drip but only when they are on the windward side. Is there a solution to this problem short of buying better ports? I have inspected all the seals and can find no apparent defects

 

[LaDonna Bubak - Catalina Owners]

Where is the leak

Where exactly is the water dripping from? Inner rim or outer rim? If the inner lip of the port is dry & the outer rim is wet, you'll have to rebed the ports to fix the problem. If it's vice versa, put in new seals. You might try replacing the seals first cuz that would probably be the easiest solution & certainly won't hurt anything. If that doesn't work, rebed the ports with nothing more adhesive than 3M 4200 or Sikaflex. There have been numerous discussions about this that you'll find in the archives.LaDonna