Everyone gets them, but I'm wondering if this is specific to old Morgan 34s, so let me post my issue and present my hypothesis...
Over the years, when we visit our boat, sometimes after a several week absence during the boating season, we'll find water in what I call the upper bilge where the stuffing box for the centerboard is located. It's fresh water, so no the stuffing box isn't leaking. Sometimes it's dry as a bone. Adding to the mystery, just this last season I spotted another pool of water on several occasions along the port salon bookshelf, turning some of our stored literature to sponges.
Owners of the M34 are likely aware of the curious system Charlie built into the deck/hull joint, designed I assume to catch water that might make its way through the joint. It's essentially a gutter system that funnels water back into the main bilge through a series of troughs and tubes. It is as I say, a curious system.
After a heavy storm, sometimes I find water, sometimes not. What's going on? Here's my theory. I think that the two dorades flanking the mast, which are there to offer airflow into the head and main cabin, can be overcome in a hard driving rain by the amount of water entering the dorades, which are naturally facing into the wind while the boat points on her mooring. There are drain holes for evacuating that water, and raised tubes that I presume are there to handle the buildup while the tiny holes do their job, but what if a windy rainstorm overwhelms them? The water level might, it seems to me, rise up, overflow those tubes and take the easiest path into the boat via the gap between the hull and headliner. If so, one might see water make its way into the "upper bilge" and possibly overrun that port side "gutter". The boat could also experience a hard rain with no wind, and as a result have no water collect at all. I realize there are other means for water ingress, but those I've contemplated just don't fit the symptoms. For instance, I always turn our bow dorade aft before leaving the boat, since that orifice is an unobstructed straight shot down into the anchor locker and beyond. I don't know how else I'd be getting these on again/off again results after lots of rain.
Thoughts?
Over the years, when we visit our boat, sometimes after a several week absence during the boating season, we'll find water in what I call the upper bilge where the stuffing box for the centerboard is located. It's fresh water, so no the stuffing box isn't leaking. Sometimes it's dry as a bone. Adding to the mystery, just this last season I spotted another pool of water on several occasions along the port salon bookshelf, turning some of our stored literature to sponges.
Owners of the M34 are likely aware of the curious system Charlie built into the deck/hull joint, designed I assume to catch water that might make its way through the joint. It's essentially a gutter system that funnels water back into the main bilge through a series of troughs and tubes. It is as I say, a curious system.
After a heavy storm, sometimes I find water, sometimes not. What's going on? Here's my theory. I think that the two dorades flanking the mast, which are there to offer airflow into the head and main cabin, can be overcome in a hard driving rain by the amount of water entering the dorades, which are naturally facing into the wind while the boat points on her mooring. There are drain holes for evacuating that water, and raised tubes that I presume are there to handle the buildup while the tiny holes do their job, but what if a windy rainstorm overwhelms them? The water level might, it seems to me, rise up, overflow those tubes and take the easiest path into the boat via the gap between the hull and headliner. If so, one might see water make its way into the "upper bilge" and possibly overrun that port side "gutter". The boat could also experience a hard rain with no wind, and as a result have no water collect at all. I realize there are other means for water ingress, but those I've contemplated just don't fit the symptoms. For instance, I always turn our bow dorade aft before leaving the boat, since that orifice is an unobstructed straight shot down into the anchor locker and beyond. I don't know how else I'd be getting these on again/off again results after lots of rain.
Thoughts?
