Wet core?

[Jared1048]

Hello,

I recently had to replace my bow light wiring since it was corroded and not working. I ended up drilling a new hole for the wires to go into the vberth. The hole was drilled about 3 inches aft of the metal piece on the bow that the forstay attaches too and while drilling noticed it was wet.

I think the culpret might be my hatch that I replaced about 6 months ago. It has started to leak and Im not sure how its getting into the frame of the window. Last week i put a bead of 5200 around the hatch and it rained pretty hard last night and the leak was still there!

Where could this water be coming from? I fear my core is wet and needs to be fixed but how?

Thanks!
-Jared

 

[Nom De Guerre]

How far forward of the hatch is the hole you drilled? You might find that the wet core there is due to a leak from the stem fitting (metal piece) bolt holes rather than from your leaky hatch.

You could pull the stem fitting and check it out, bedding and sealing it properly if necessary.

 

[Steve Dion]

Jared:

First thing I would suggest is for you to get rid of 5200. A product like Life Caulk or even silicone is a better option.

There is a good chance that water could have come in from the stanchion, hand rails, anchor locker screws or most any area. The forward hatch is held down by several screws around the frame. You can lift it and rebed with something like butyl (check MaineSails site).

 

[Jared1048]

How far forward of the hatch is the hole you drilled? You might find that the wet core there is due to a leak from the stem fitting (metal piece) bolt holes rather than from your leaky hatch.

You could pull the stem fitting and check it out, bedding and sealing it properly if necessary.

The hole is right behind the metal "nose" fitting on the bow that has the forestay attached. so probably 7 feet forward of it.

I'll remove each one of the bolts individually and pump them full of silicone and retighten.

Thanks for the info!