posted April 20, 2005 11:39 AM               

Anyway, I'm back to an old question for the assembled wisdom. When I got her last year, there was significant water in the cabin. I attributed it largely to being uncovered at least throughout the prior winter, if not longer. Well, we bailed & sponged through the summer/fall – water collected in the lockers in various amounts all season -- and she was kept well covered all winter. Dagnammit! There was still some water -- albeit quite limited -- in the port lockers. I had left ventilation open under the cover, so I would have thought she'd have been dry as a bone.

Here's what I'm wondering. For starters there are significant hairline cracks in the cockpit sole in the areas where the sidewalls meet it. I'm thinking water gets into the flotation chamber through these cracks & floods the chamber. (The foam would be closed cell, correct? So after it dries it should be OK?) The water then weeps into both the aft lazerette & the lockers.

The weirdest thing was when I picked her up for the first time, the cabin was basically dry. After I had jostled her on the drive home, the cabin was absolutely flooded! I'm guessing 10+ gallons on the cabin floor & in the lockers. I have no idea where it released from. Maybe in the forward flotation chamber???

I don't think the fittings are leaking because when I look from inside the cabin, I don't see rust on the fasteners, though I plan to reseat everything eventually. The ports may not be completely watertight & I'm definitely redoing those seals. Also, because I'm cheap, I'm going to tint them from the inside with car window tint film. I know, I know... cheesy!

Anyway, I'm really thinking my cockpit sole needs some attention because my gut tells me the cracks are leaking. I guess I really oughta get some pics & post them for your opinions... I probably should also open an inspection port into the flotation chamber from the lazarette, I guess.

I've hit a bunch of topics here. Feel free to comment/share suggestions on any of them!

Thanks, in advance, for your input.

posted April 20, 2005 08:32 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by whited:
Reminds me of a little Nordica 16 I was interested in a few years ago... I ran...not walked away.

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posted April 21, 2005 06:44 AM            

I could have a dry cabin with dry lockers. Then after a sail: voila! water. It was coming into the cabin from the area under the cockpit. It flowed between the hull and the liner. The plywood bulkhead between the cockpit bilge and the cabin was just the height of the cabin lockers. However, the gap between the hull and the liner extended up to the hull-deck joint. You should be able to detect this gap by reaching up and aft from the quarter lockers.

First, I cut an access port into the bilge from the starboard quarter berth. I found that the bilge was flooded and the floatation foam (blocks of styrofoam) were water-logged. I would routinely sponge the water out of the bilge through the access port.

Then 2 seasons ago, the cockpit floor collapsed. So last year I took the time to cut open the cockpit sole, glass the hull-liner gap to perfectly isolate the bilge, constructed a new floor, and installed a hinged access port (I will post a photo when I get home from Chicago). I intend to relocate the battery to this new storage area closer to the keel.

posted April 21, 2005 09:36 AM               

On the trailer it's a different story. If you're not level, water can pool in the cockpit. The worst area though is around the drains at the stern on either side of the lazarette. The water will be deeper than the lip of the lazarette. Sealing the lid helps but you can still get a lot of water leaking in. I usually forget this flaw and lift up the lid before sponging the water out. Then all the water floods into the lazarette compartment. If your boat goes through one thunder storm, you could easily have litres of water in with your battery and gas.

Ken prudently installed a guzzler bilge pump in the stern so you can easily pump out the lazarette with a pump handle in the cockpit.

posted April 21, 2005 11:33 AM               

I think we may have something along the lines of what Superpiper describes. I look forward to the pics. I guess one of my questions is how is the water getting between the hull & liner? About the liner, is there one between the lockers & hull? I would have thought it's just the hull in there. Maybe I’m not understanding something…

I also still can't figure out the flood onto the cabin floor occurred during the first drive home. To get on the cabin floor, it had to come from forward because there no way it could have gotten from the lockers to the floor, at least not as much as was there. Maybe there was water in the head & it came out, though it was clean water. However, since the first incident, there hasn't been water on the floor, just the lockers. It’s not likely water would get to the lockers from the bow is it? It would follow the path of least resistance & flow to the cabin floor from the head area. (However, since I’ve disconnected the pumpout & could move the head, I’ve see a small amount of water collect there occasionally. I’m hoping it’s just condensation!)

I've checked the cockpit drains & they are in good shape. But I'm thinking they were probably plugged for god knows how long with the PO & the initial water got in through the lazarette as D'Arcy describes. It weeped around the bulkhead collected in the cockpit bilge & has weeped out fore & aft (depending on trailer angle) over time. One big question is how much damage may have happened during winter freeze(s?).

The water this spring was really quite minimal, so hopefully we're near the end of the "old" water. The issue, obviously, will be keeping new water out. Even though it has been pretty manageable after the initial flood, it’s just such a pain because we need the storage area! As a preventative, I guess we’ll have to make liberal use of garbage bags, tied end up. I had some old vinyl covered wire closet shelving that I put down there to lift items off the very bottom, but that’s just a band-aid.

I also will share that I've seen the water weeping into the lazarette from the edges of the plywood bulkhead. Ditto for the aft cabin lockers. So, again, I'm pretty sure the water is collecting below the cockpit. I really need to post some pics of the cracks in the sole, just for someone's opinion, though you're probably right about the glass thickness making them an UNlikely culprit, Eric.

posted April 21, 2005 06:49 PM               

I do not have the original head.The space is free for a putty.

There is water coming fron the hole wich was used by the drain tube that goes on the deck.

I flooded the anchor locker because it thought that it came from there. No luck perfectly dry.

I was wandering if water under the cockpit could run under the cabin and arrived at this front opening.

It is still not clear to me even though this is the possibility (water wunning from back to front underneath the floor) where it would come from. I have sometime water in the lazarette but if a hole was present there, I would see no water in this place. It would run directly somewhere else.

I am going to smoke the boat with a flare and see where the orange smoke comes out!!!!well just a dream...

Together will find it.

Thanks guys.

posted April 21, 2005 11:03 PM            

Depending on what your ports are made of and how you use them, I saw a great idea that allows light in but not visibility on plexiglass ports. Using a palm sander and 120- 180 grit paper, sand the inside. This will make it look like a flourescent light inside, very bright. In fact the first time I saw this, I thought it was a light. Privacy is maintained however, as no one can see in due to the frosted look of the plex. You can even go with a higher grit to get smoothness. If you do want to retain some ability to look out, leave a spot unsanded, so that you have a loonie sized keyhole to the outside world. If you sand very thouroughly, there will be no visible 'scratches' and it will look very professional.