Water/Moisture Damage under V-birth in H23.5

[bysiklest]

Hello,

I am both new to this forum and somewhat new to sailing and owning sailboats this size. I am very comfortable sailing small daysailers like JY16s and I mostly sail on lakes. I have just purchased a 1994 Hunter 23.5 and have not actually launched or sailed it yet. I have helped crew on larger boats though and looking at how this boat is rigged I believe this is a good logical step up from the smaller boats. I will not be keeping it in a slip, but on the trailer when not in use.

Everything looks good on the boat from what I can tell except for one area. There are two compartment areas under the v-birth cushions. These are separated by what looks to be fiberglass coated wood. The front most compartment lid is made of plywood and held in place with 4 screws. The other one is a simple lift off lid. There is some moisture damage to the front most lid and to the coated wood divider. Inside the front most compartment appears to be a large hunk of spray foam and this area has obviously had moisture in it. I would like input on how to repair and how serious of a concern this is. I did not pay much for the boat and really just want to get it in good sailing shape for the day or short weekend trips on lakes in the area. I have provided a couple photos of the area of concern.

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

send me an email to me at davecondon@mindspring.com with phone and good time in the evening to call. I assume your are central time. I do not share your information with anyone to include my wife and throw it away.


I am a retired boat dealer heavily involved with this boat and sold nearly 1/4 of the production line.

crazy dave condon

 

[bysiklest]

Thank you. I have sent you an email and look forward to having a conversation.

 

[Forrest15112]

That board is very thin and not really coated with fiberglass, but laminated with whatever is on some of the other interior wood, like the folding table leaf near the sink. I was told that was made that way just in case you pierced the bow in a collision and that it would keep any flooding in the most forward area. I don't believe it is structural. If you think you have water on the foam side, check the anchor locker drain tube, located behind the wooden panel in the bow of the V berth. You can see if the bow pulpit is leaking from there too. It's probably water sitting in the bilge that caused it. Mine did the same thing, just not as bad. Good Luck and let us know what Crazy Dave tells you.

 

[Steve Dion]

I believe that you are dealing with "melamine plywood". It is a very thin coating that does not do well with moisture. Hunter used it in the head area and eventually it cracked and peeled.

 

[bysiklest]

I went back over to my boat tonight and removed the front panel from the v-birth area. I found another piece of foam, removed it and found the drain tube for the anchor locker and the front u-bolt used to winch it onto the trailer. Both of these areas seemed dry but I still need to run some water through the drain tube and spray around the front area to see if water is intruding from any of these areas. The boat is currently at a storage lot and I don't have power or water there.

It also occurred to me that while I have the bow of the boat up fairly high allowing most water that reaches the bilge to run aft, if the trailer was positioned differently with the bow low, then likely water would run toward the front keeping this area wet. So really depending on how the boat was stored prior (which is unkown to me) the water could be getting in almost anywhere...

I will not be in town to work on it this weekend, but next weekend I plan on bringing it back to my house to clean up, spray off, and hopefully track down any leaks. Until then, unless it starts raining and I can run over there to investigate, I will be just letting it air out.

Thanks for all the input so far. I will let you all know what I find.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

I have his phone number and looked at the pictures. It can be from several things but the first will be to check if the water is coming from topsides. Of course the first thing is to check the anchor locker drain hose. Like I said, there can be many things so it will be a series of things to check and it will be methodical. I use to be an investigator many moons ago which is one reason why I look at trying to determine what the issue is being caused from. I will keep you all posted.

 

[Rick Webb]

Anchor Locker Latch

The hole that the latch slides into gives water a wide open entry into that area. A dollop of epoxy is a simple fix. I'd bet it is not from one source but a culmination of many to include condensation.

 

[Forrest15112]

I went back over to my boat tonight and removed the front panel from the v-birth area. I found another piece of foam, removed it and found the drain tube for the anchor locker and the front u-bolt used to winch it onto the trailer. Both of these areas seemed dry but I still need to run some water through the drain tube and spray around the front area to see if water is intruding from any of these areas. The boat is currently at a storage lot and I don't have power or water there.

It also occurred to me that while I have the bow of the boat up fairly high allowing most water that reaches the bilge to run aft, if the trailer was positioned differently with the bow low, then likely water would run toward the front keeping this area wet. So really depending on how the boat was stored prior (which is unkown to me) the water could be getting in almost anywhere...

I will not be in town to work on it this weekend, but next weekend I plan on bringing it back to my house to clean up, spray off, and hopefully track down any leaks. Until then, unless it starts raining and I can run over there to investigate, I will be just letting it air out.

Thanks for all the input so far. I will let you all know what I find.

Looking at your photos, the moisture, at least to me, seems most likely from the bilge area and not the inside of the bow compartment. The foam in there would be covered with mildew if were that wet. Another thing came to mind when you mentioned angle of storage. On my boat, I found that if I tilted the trailer high in the front to allow quick draining of the cockpit and companionway slide channels, the forward hatch didn't drain well, and in my case, the gasket on the aft side of that hatch wasn't as snug fitting as the rest of it and allowed water to drip in. If I tilted the front low, Some water would find its way over the front edge of the companionway. I found a place between the two with the front slightly raised. It's also important to keep the channels on each side of the companionway clear. We have lots of cypress trees and the seed pods would wash in there and clog things up. I rarely used the hinged lid and it not draining well could have added to the water intrusion there. It wasn't much water really. A bigger problem is condensation, especially if left in the water. I used to keep a fan running to circulate air, but cycling some fresh air in might help too.

I almost bought a set of those stern rail seats back when they first came out. I think they were around $400. There's a company called railmakers that makes them for Catalina boats, They may be able to make them for you. It wouldn't hurt to contact them.

 

[Hugh Straub]

My $.02 is on condensation. I know if i leave the V berth or side cushions down for a week or so, the undersides can be dripping wet. The boat doesn't leak and the bilge is dry. Now when I leave the boat I prop the cushions up on their sides and thus eliminated the condensation issue.

Kind regards

Hugh

 

[bysiklest]

I'm thinking it may be condensation and that those areas have been sealed for a while. It rained pretty hard on the boat this week and a quick check of those areas were dry. I did find that some water, a couple ounces, came in through the companionway area.

My main concern now is how to repair that divider area.

Thanks for all the input from everyone.

 

[sesmith]

There seems to be what looks like a water line at the top of the damaged area, so I'm not convinced it was condensation. This could be old damage where a previous owner let standing water get in somehow. Common areas for leaks on my 23.5 were the hatch lexan....water would run around the aft edge and drip down on the table. This would be worse if you left the boat on trailer with the bow down. This is easily fixed by routing a drip edge on the back of the lexan so the water drips off into the cockpit instead. Also, I had a slight leak at the starboard forward most stanchion allowing water into the forward bilge area...easily rebedded.

As far as locating leaks, you can try something that is very effective on cars. With cars, you just turn on the blower to high and soap the outside of the vehicle, and the soap bubbles where the air escapes. I have seen the same thing used on boats where they seal off the hatch area with plastic. put a large shopvac with the hose connected to the outlet and sealed into the plastic, so it pressurizes the inside of the boat. You have to remember to seal off anything that goes outside, like sink drain, etc. Then soap the suspect areas. I personally never tried this on my boat, but it worked great on cars.

 

[bysiklest]

I see the line you are talking about in the photo I posted. That is actually a shadow from the front edge of the hatch opening with the flash on my phone on. I have another photo of the same area without the line.

I have heard of the pressurization method and have used it in many car parts (radiators, tires, etc) in the past. Nothing as big as a whole boat though. It's a good idea and I may do that if I still see water and can't find the leak with just a hose. My concern would be creating a leak point with the pressure. It may not be enough pressure to matter, I'm not sure.

 

[BrianW]

I've seen in previous comments where Crazy Dave describes this cabin pressurization method using a leaf blower. BrianW

 

[waterman30]

I know this is old thread but was repair necessary?