Water infiltration but outer hull sound.

[Monheganlover]

I recently bought a '76 cat 22 as it was the only way to get a mooring in a marina I have long wanted a spot in. It is so popular moorings only come open when someone dies or if you buy a boat for sale on an existing mooring. I got a low price on it and the boat seems to be in decent enough shape. My goal is to sail her for 3 years or so then upgrade. The two major problems I observed so far are

- an area of spongy deck with some wood rot

- and water infiltration into the fiberglass near the volcano where the scuppers drain.

I am confident I can deal with the deck soft spot easily enough. The water infiltration I noticed today when drilling 2 holes on either side of the volcano for thru hulls I am installing to replace the faulty brass nipple for the sink and scupper drains. As soon as I drilled through the first layer of glass for the thru hull (from the inside) water came out...not much but I could push on the floor and see more coming out. I am going to keep the holes open for a while to air it out then install the thru hulls. I don't want to spend the money or time to fix the water infiltration as it would cost way more than what I paid for the boat itself.

The outside hull seems fine when I sound it and there are no blisters. Do you think I could sail her for a 2 years or so with an unknown amount of rot in the hull core? Again, the outer hull is rock solid. Has anyone sailed with a partially waterlogged cat 22 hull?

Thanks.

 

[Chris Patterson]

This is probably nothing much. Did you drill straight down thru the bottom of the hull right next to the volcano? If yes, (and it sounds like it), there is an upraised section there in the bilge where there is some plywood molded into the hull. It will stay wet just like on your deck, the difference is, there is nowhere for the water to go in that area. So it sits. And rots. No problem. It could probably sit harmless for ten years, although it's not doing it any favors staying wet, it's not critical.

You can eliminate a lot of the water by drilling some smaller holes all around this spot, probably not more than 1/4" deep. pour acetone in them and the water will bubble up out of the holes. Suck it out with a wet vac.

I have done this drying procedure many times, on many different things. Right about now someone is itching to start tearing into this "idea" about sucking up flammable liquids with an electric vac. Whatever. I can't help but imagine that a person could do this thousands of times, trying to replicate an "explosion scenario", and would fail every time. Vacuums are not spark gap transmitters.

And if this bothers you, take a long piece of hose, suck the acetone up through it into your mouth, sort of like you're siphoning gas, and spit it overboard.

Otherwise, that little bit of water is hurting nothing..

 

[Monheganlover]

Thanks

Hi and thanks for your good suggestions. Glad to know I can get a few more years of sailing in. I am familiar with the acetone idea as I am treating some deck rot with GitRot and acetone was suggested as a way to dry out some of the wood there as well. Since I don't think I would get much suction with the wetvac over a series of small holes, maybe the best thing is too just sacrifice a sponge. I am a little skittish about using my mouth to siphon anything But glad to know the bottom probably won't fall out of the boat. Thanks!

This is probably nothing much. Did you drill straight down thru the bottom of the hull right next to the volcano? If yes, (and it sounds like it), there is an upraised section there in the bilge where there is some plywood molded into the hull. It will stay wet just like on your deck, the difference is, there is nowhere for the water to go in that area. So it sits. And rots. No problem. It could probably sit harmless for ten years, although it's not doing it any favors staying wet, it's not critical.

You can eliminate a lot of the water by drilling some smaller holes all around this spot, probably not more than 1/4" deep. pour acetone in them and the water will bubble up out of the holes. Suck it out with a wet vac.

I have done this drying procedure many times, on many different things. Right about now someone is itching to start tearing into this "idea" about sucking up flammable liquids with an electric vac. Whatever. I can't help but imagine that a person could do this thousands of times, trying to replicate an "explosion scenario", and would fail every time. Vacuums are not spark gap transmitters.

And if this bothers you, take a long piece of hose, suck the acetone up through it into your mouth, sort of like you're siphoning gas, and spit it overboard.

Otherwise, that little bit of water is hurting nothing..

 

[Stu Jackson]

If you have slight leaking at the volcano and can live with the wet plywood underneath, either drill some small holes and dry them out, and/or slather the whole volcano with MarineTex or other epoxy.