water, water everywhere

[jim johnson]

Recent forum discussion mentions the mast post and hatchway leakage. My Hunter 31, 1987 vintage, seems to leak a lot of water through the hatchway. The insulation under the folding step is frequently saturated and the engine sump full.Does anyone know of a "fix" for this situation? Advise,Thanks and best regards,Jim Johnson

 

[Steve Dion]

Couple of things.

Jim:There are couple of things that you can do. The first thing that works the best is to get a companionway cover. This will keep most of the water off the hatch.You also want to make sure that the slides are alway kept clean so that dirt and leaves to not plug up the drains on the aft end.There is also a problem with the slides. They are just channels that are open on both ends. If you boat is pointed down in the bow, then water runs forward and drains into the ceiling and then out into the companionway area. If you have the time and nerve, you could remove the seahood and plug the forward ends of the track. This is a lot of work if the cover would do the job.We do not have this problem any long. We have a dodger and the companionway cover. It keep the boat clean and dry.

 

[Michael O']

Surgery or Dodger

Hunter screwed up the design of the drain for the companionway hatch. We wound up taking the entire fiberglass hood off, exposing the problem. There isn't an adequate drainage channel for the water, so it just winds up leaking into the cabin. We drilled some holes in the side of the hood, and provided a way for the water to drain away from the hatch, not into it. Then we got a dodger/bimini and the problem went far far away.It's cheaper to get the dodger!