water intrusion

[jmessier]

I have removed the side windows on my boat while it was under cover, however we got a huge rain storm that penetrated the tarp and let rain water into the window openings. The side of the cabin top has marine plywood core so I can't tell if it got wet, however I found rain water collecting in the headliner channel near the deck joint. I assume rain penetrated the cabin side and ran down into the side deck which in turn dripped into the headliner. Is this an accurate descripion of what might have happened? If so could I now have water in my side deck core? What can I do to help dry it out befor its too late?

Jeremy

 

[Ross]

Drill a few small holes along the lower edge to allow for any drainage.

 

[sailingdog]

Unless the rain was for many days and the water left sitting there for a long period of time, the chances that it "saturated" your deck core is pretty damn low. Water migration into a deck core takes a fair bit of time, even if it is plywood.

How long was the water sitting in the channel???

 

[jmessier]

It rained hard all last week I checked the boat today and cleaned up as much of the water as I could. I am concerned because of were the water was. In the headliner near the toe rail, there is a small lip or channel there which is directly under the deck to hull bond. The underside of the deck as far as I can tell felt dry, but I can't imagine how the water got were it did. with out a schematic of how the boat was assembled I won't know for sure how.

 

[higgs]

What kind of boat is it?

 

[jmessier]

The boat is a 1985 Oday 35

 

[PaulK]

You could try helping it dry out with a hair dryer for a good while. As slgdg suggests, a quick dip isn't likely to have really soaked in too much. Even if you're stopping the water intrusion by fixing the window though, you don't want to leave moisture inside the laminates if you don't have to. Get it as dry as you can before you seal it up.

 

[higgs]

Consider how many boats have window leaks that go on for years before any problems show up or never show up. I think the problem is when moisture continues to get in over a long time with no opportunity for the area to dry itself out.

 

[jmessier]

Thanks for the reassurance, I thought I was OK but wanted to get some feedback. Let me ask a dumb question, would pouring alcohol into the intrusion site help speed up drying or would this cause more harm than good?