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Where's this water coming from?

Ernest Ashley

Ernest Ashley

Member
We have a 383 and some water is getting in and on the forward part of quarter berth behind the nav station. We cannot figure out how or where it is getting in. When the boat was on the hard, and winds could come from behind, I could imagine some water ingress through the companionway doors that would run towards the quarter berth but now she is on the mooring and the dodger is up and we still get some water on the quarter berth after a heavy rain. We have pulled down the ceiling and checked the plumbing from the scupper to the torpedo tube - no leaks there. There are no penetrations of the seat above. Anyone have a similar experience or thoughts?
 
Water can travel a long way. I had a leak from the grab rail outside port side of the boat. Water dripped unto the teak trim that holds the headliner. Ran along that totally hidden to the galley, behind a corner trim, where it dripped a bit on the lid of the icebox, but most of it kept going under the trim above the companionway steps, to the area you are seeing on the quarterberth. Took me a couple years to find that. It would be surprising if yours was the same leak, but don't constrain you looking just to what seems it could be. The window about the chart table. The deck fills for the waste and water tank on the starboard side are possibilities. Any of the portlights on the starboard side. (leaks can be hidden behind teak and trim). The companionway hatch is prone to leaking, and that could be behind the interior trim as well.
 
Ernest

You might want to check out the deck drain at the break on the starboard side. Drop the quarter berth headliner and inspect the deck fitting and the elbow to hose connection. The same on the port side except on that side a leak would go direct to the bilge. The original deck drain was a plastic grill that was hard to seal around the edges. We had Stainless steel grills made to replace the plastic.

Jim
 
I had a very similar problem. It was leaking thru a screw holding the waste deck pump-out. The screw was supposed to be thru solid glass, but during construction just nicked the deck core. The water ran through the core until it found an exit just aft of the nav station. I chased the leak unsuccessfully for a few years. I finally found the problem after a surveyor found a square foot of rotten core. So... check your deck fills/pumpouts on the starboard side.
 
John: Such a leak has developed in my companionway. How is the teak attached? Can I take the teak off and rebed after I drill out the bungs? Thanks.
 
Thanks John. I must of forgotten or missed your previous post. Or I dismissed it because I have no leaks when the dodger is up. I can see how you cut (although I doubt my ability to cut without creating a bigger problem), but how did you extract the wood? I can't see how one would remove the strip of wood you cut. Isn't it bedded to the fiberglass? Don't you need to get a putty knife or another saw under it?
 
Once cut, the teak chips out. The tool is quite easy to manage on a straight line. The teak wasn't sealed with 5200 or something evil. It's a 45-degree cut to the gel coat which creates a sizeable void for the sealant. I filled with brown acrylic caulk from Home Depot. It made it through the wettest winter in recent California history. You could use a sharp chisel and do the same thing.
 
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