Slight leakleak

[Kommy000]

Hi,
Was hoping someone had the same problem and fixed it. I had multiple leaks on my "new" 81 hunter and I fixed most of them by replacing ports and sealing some of port openings. There is one persistent leak in the corner next to the sink and I have no idea where the water coming from. It's a slow leak. There is no port openings above the area. The only way for me to see it is to cut out the interior fiberglass which I'd rather not do. You can see it's all the way in the corner in the little recessed area with wood slats. The water just sits there. Also, is it normal to have about 1 inch of water in the bilge? I cleaned it out and it takes about a week to get a inch of water in it.

 

[Dalliance]

I had a minor leak in that area for years. Turned out it was coming in under the wood trim piece at the starboard end of the cabintop traveler and older bolt holes there from previous hardware. I originally thought it was from the portlite above the galley just forward of that area. It could also be from the screws holding down the companionway sea hood, cabintop winches or other hardware in that area.

 

[SailormanDan]

Yes, I'm working on finding similar leaks also, what makes it hard is that the headliner and the cabin roof are two separate pieces of fiberglass with a 1-2" gap in between them (that's why you can't see the mounting plates for the winch and clutches, etc. from the underside in the cabin) That water could then be coming from anything mounted on the cabin roof on that side - blocks, wood trim, cam cleats, etc.
Two options are to do a site search on finding leaks with bubbles, chalk, etc. and see if you can pinpoint the specific one, or just go through and re-bed everything until the leak stops. I've done the stand up block and cam cleat for the mainsheet and one of those may have fixed it, keeping my fingers crossed. Read about bedding hardware and take your time and do it right.
The one I haven't found is under the galley sink, if you pull out the bottom drawer and stick you fingers down in, I have water that collects right there. The only place water can get into that space is the hull joint and port-side aft cleats, fuel fill, bimini brackets, etc. Good luck with it.

 

[kito]

Try tightening the toe rail.

 

[Alctel]

I also have leaks, main one is out of the port side light in the V berth. I have a lot less since I resealed the chainplates and redid all the portholes, but still have a few.

I thought about the deck/hull joint, but not sure how water would get to the light from there. I fear its the porthole :<

 

[SailormanDan]

"Re-tighten the toerail" is a general thing to do when you can't find the specific, obvious leak. Probably doesn't hurt to do on an older boat anyways, which generally need everything tightened. I fixed a couple of leaks by re-bedding the stanchions that were near the watermarks, but tightened the rail as best I could since I was already in the mode.
She's drier, but not completely.

 

[finefurn]

I just bought a 84 H27 After the last rain storm I notice at least a dozen places where drips were coming from the .bolts holding down the Toe Rail. In searching the forums it appears this is a common problem with boats having bolted on full length Aluminum Toe rails. I tightened down as many as I could reach, but some of the ones that are obviously leaking I can't get at, with the hull and/or headliner in place. I would like to re-bed the entire toe rail if possible, but it seams that this would only be possible if I cut away portions of the hull and headliner. My plan would be to cut the headliner about 1" up from where it turns down to form the valance and cut back the hull liner just enough to get a deep socket or wrench on the bolt. Does anybody have a better way of doing this. I read on this and other forums where people have removed the and re-bed the entire Toe Rail but no one said how they did it.

 

[frankies56]

I have never seen a boat that does'nt leak one place or another, I am always finding a little leak after a heavy rain. chainplates, portlights it never ends. after this hurricane when I checked on the boat for damage found the port light leaking above the vanity sink so it ran down the sink lucky! , the boat got a good washing looks like it was pressure washed. the pleasure of having a boat.it never ends