Persistant Leaks

[Ward H]

I have two intermittent leaks that show up when I least expect them and at odd locations.
1. Drip onto cushion from between starboard side salon ports. On the 25 these non opening ports have frames. I can find a wet spot on the underside horizontal area but not near the window frames. I got this leak about three times this year and once after a very wet sail on which the entire cabin top, deck and cockpit got soaked. Couldn't replicate with a hose.

2. Port side on settee where aft quarter berth cushion meets settee cushion. Cushion top is dry but under the cushion gets wet. Maybe it is leaking down the side to under the cushion? Again, happened a few times but can't replicate it.

I can live with both leaks but if the 1st leak around the port is going to do damage to the vertical core, I would like to stop it.

All deck hardware has been potted and bedded, including the tabernacle. Except for the life line stanchions. No signs of leaks from them on the inside bolts, though.

What would you tackle first?
Handrails? I could take them off now, pot the holes and refinish them over the winter and put back in the spring.
Starboard ports?
Stanchions just to be sure?

 

[cb32863]

Before I re-cored my deck at the mast, I had water traversing the deck from on side to the other. I have a similar leak in the port area on my 77 but, I have not put much work in to finding it. The only things I haven't rebidded are the handrails and the stations/pulpits. I am thinking it is working it's way through there. Some folks have used soapy water to find leaks, others have used a little food coloring. Not sure what works best.

Personally, if I have my boat still over the winter, I would do the handrails, then stations/pulpits, and save the ports for last as I hear that can be a wee bit o'work to deal with. It's not going to hurt anything re-bedding them and you may just fix something.

my 2cents. which is worth 1....

 

[Stu Jackson]

Did you also do your chainplates?

 

[svchickadee]

My Oday 25 had pad eyes with blocks on both port and starboard where the aft toe rail met the cockpit coaming. These leaked and could not be maintained without cutting into the cabin top to reach the nuts from underneath. I removed the pad eyes by drilling off the bolt heads, pounding the bolts down, filling the holes with epoxy and painting the deck. The port leak resulted in water where the quarter berth and aft main salon cushions met.

Leaking ports and handrails will not get into the side deck core. Leaking water runs under the side deck core on top of the cabin ceiling pan and comes out into the cabin where the cabin top pan meets the hull.

Last year I rebuilt my deck at the mast step and fixed my side decks in several places where the original construction left voids. I also rebuilt the transom with 3 layers of 1/4 marine plywood and epoxy. The transom rebuild was difficult and messy.

 

[Ward H]

Yep, chain plates were replaced and bedded. No sign of water where they meet the bulkhead. Also pot and bedded the single standup blocks for the jib sheets.

Other area of concern is where the wires come through the deck next to mast for mast light and antenna. Going to pull those wires, pot/repair as necessary this fall and figure new wiring solution next spring. I had leaks there but think I got them temporarily sealed.

 

[Indysailor]

I'd probably elect to do the handrails. It's a nice opportunity to refinish them, if you're into the varnished look. I had a leak in the hole where the wires passed through next to the mast and that water ran directly down the compression post.

I've had a similar leak, maybe three times, and I've assumed its either the handrails or the windows. My interest in taking apart the windows is less than zero; I'm sure they'd just fall apart in my hands.

Here's one that drove me crazy forever, the gutters in my port cockpit lazarette seat can become overwhelmed in a downpour, causing water to drip down into the bilge. I chased that one for a year until it occurred to me and was verified by bucket.

 

[Panta Rei]

I highly recommend captain tolley's creeping crack cure. Google it and watch the video. It is a thin water based penetrating crack sealer. I had it to seal up several leaks and now use it each year and have not had a leak since.
The problem sailboats have is that a leak can saturate the core doing damage with appearing below. Use it each year and forget about the leaks.
Cool product available fro westmarine .
Captain Tolley looks exactly like you would expect.

 

[ebsail]

I highly recommend captain tolley's creeping crack cure. Google it and watch the video. It is a thin water based penetrating crack sealer. I had it to seal up several leaks and now use it each year and have not had a leak since.
The problem sailboats have is that a leak can saturate the core doing damage with appearing below. Use it each year and forget about the leaks.
Cool product available fro westmarine .
Captain Tolley looks exactly like you would expect.

We will try Captain Tolley's. Here's what we've done so far. We have removed and rebedded, with butyl rubber (from Maine Sail) the mast step, 4 stantions, the jib sheet blocks in the deck, and all 4 mooring cleats. Three years ago we removed the fixed acrylic windows and also replaced and rebedded them with butyl. For the chainplates, we dig out the old silicone and re seal every other year. They don't leak a drop and we have the original bulkhead. At this point we can dry the bilge with one or two squeezes of a sponge, even after a rainstorm. We still have a slight leak on the port side aft which we believe is coming from the sail track on the cockpit coaming. If we get that done this winter, we may have a perfectly dry bilge. I find it somewhat ironic that the hull is completely water tight. All our leaks are rain leaks from the deck.

 

[ebsail]

We will try Captain Tolley's. Here's what we've done so far. We have removed and rebedded, with butyl rubber (from Maine Sail) the mast step, 4 stantions, the jib sheet blocks in the deck, and all 4 mooring cleats. Three years ago we removed the fixed acrylic windows and also replaced and rebedded them with butyl. For the chainplates, we dig out the old silicone and re seal every other year. They don't leak a drop and we have the original bulkhead. At this point we can dry the bilge with one or two squeezes of a sponge, even after a rainstorm. We still have a slight leak on the port side aft which we believe is coming from the sail track on the cockpit coaming. If we get that done this winter, we may have a perfectly dry bilge. I find it somewhat ironic that the hull is completely water tight. All our leaks are rain leaks from the deck.

12/15 and we just discovered another leak which wet the port side wall (hull) carpet. It appears that the sail track is leaking at the forward end. We tried to take off the port side sail track to re seal it. It's not possible. There are several bolts that were put in before the deck went on, and are currently unreachable. We would have to cut a 6" hole in the back rest of the port cockpit seat to reach those bolts. We are going to try the Captain Tolly's leak stopper.

 

[Ward H]

Here's my update.
After having the boat hauled out the 3rd week of Oct, I pulled the lighting and antennae wires out of the deck penetrations. I used the bent nail trick to cleaned some damp wood and filled with thickened epoxy.
The boat has been completely dry since then. Not sure if being on the hard it is more protected from driving rain or I fixed the problem. Put a tarp on it this past Sunday so no worries until spring.