Rain water leak

[Power747]

I have a 1977 Hunter 30. Last year I started finding large amounts of water in my bilge. To make matters worse my automatic bilge pump was not working. After checking all of my through hulls fittings, I tested the water and it was fresh. It was the end of the season so I did nothing. Just before covering the boat for winter storage we had some heavy rain. Agian the bilge filled up with water. Over the years I have regrouted my shroud bases and my lifeline bases. I cant imagine that much water coming from that. I now am suspecting that maybe my cockpit drains have come loose. I havent got down to the boat to check this yet. Does anyone out there have any other ideas where so much water could be coming in?
Your help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[John T1594]

Leaks

My previous boat was a 1980 H30 and had a few rain leaks on deck. The worst problem was the toe rail. I had to go around the boat - with someone on deck with a screw driver, and tighten all of the hull-deck bolts from below with a long socket on my wrench. You can reach almost all of them and that stopped a lot of rain from coming in. The mast base, shroud bases, port windows and other deck parts were all other sites of leaks but minor. You can try the method where you pressurize the inside of the boat with a leaf blower sealed to one of the ports and spray soapy water all over the deck to find the leaks (bubbles). For minor and annoying leaks I would suggest a product called "Captain Tolley's Creeping crack sealer" or something like that. It is a thin liquid sealant that finds its way into small cracks and will seal them with repeated applications. I apply a thin bead around all of my deck fittings on an annual basis and don't have any such leaks. The white liquid can turn black in the sun so wipe up any excess before it dries.

 

[jtm]

Did you check the efficacy of the anchor locker drain/hose/thru hull? If you have that much water, the locker is an area that could allow/collect that kind of intrusion. Also I found on my H28.5 that the lip of the cockpit locker at the traveller end is shallow and heavy downpour of water can cause the water "U" turning at the coaming/end of trav overflows the locker seat lip and dribbles into the locker ( and rots out the aft wall of the head on the 28.5) and below.

 

[Bill1565]

We get water in the mast from various openings and water in the engine room vents when the rain is horizontal

 

[Harley18471]

Had the same problem. A trip into the lazerette showed the deck scupper leading nowhere but into the bilge. The hose had pulled off. This may have been forced off by water freezing in the hose, which had a low spot in the lead to the transom overboard. All the water hitting the deck and running aft on the port side was being diverted.

 

[rhythmsurfer]

The boat that I just bought had oysters growing in the cockpit drains. This combined with a poor gasket on the engine cover (access in the cockpit) caused 8" of water in the boat. The automatic float switch failed.

 

[ggrizzard]

I had a similar problem on my H 30. Found that the coockpit drain fitting itself had cracked at the junction of the hose. Crack could have been caused by freezing. Replaced fitting and no more problem.