Water Under Berth

[LesR]

We've had our 25 for two blissful years, and today I cutout holes for hatches in the berth.

Good news: there's no foam to dig out.
Bad news: there was a good gallon of water sloshing around in there

Based on what I've read previously, the anchor locker is my first guess for the culprit, and I should be able to easily verify if it's the cause.

Alternatively, I assume it could be the brass keel guard.

Any other possibilities or things I should be checking?

Thanks for all the wonderful help and information here!

- Les

[localboy]

Oh, boy. We have an '07 too, so I'll be watching this.

I did remove the brass keel guard after Karl posted his issue w/ it popping out & leaking. I cleaned the holes & plugged them w/ thickened West Marine epoxy and installed a Keel Guard.

[Captains Cat]

Other possible places, rub rail fastenings, bow pulpit fastenings, any hull penetrations above the waterline forward of the helm station. If it were below the waterline, you'd have had a lot more than a gallon!!

Charlie

[LesR]

After a little more troubleshooting this afternoon, the anchor locker is at least part of the issue. After drying our the hull forward of the bulkhead, I poured about a cup of water into the locker via the hause pipe (don't have a windlass).

As I've heard previously, the drain for the anchor locker is about a half inch higher than the bottom of the locker. Feeling against the aft section of the locker, the joint feels ragged, as if it's not well sealed.

Sure enough, the water began to collect against the bulkhead below the berth.

We normally have a cover over the boat, but have certainly spent enough time out in the rain for that much water to collect.

[tpbrady]

I had a leak in my water pump under the rear dinette seat and the water would collect under the v-berth. I found it when I couldn't figure out where the water was coming from on the floor while we were under way. The water tank on the 2005 is under the v-berth so I figured the water tank was leaking. I cut a hole so I could see the water tank in the center bulkhead and then cut a hole in the floor where I installed a hatch (left over from hatch replacements on my old 22). When I cut the hole in the floor in the v-berth it became apparent that it wasn't the water tank, but was coming from somewhere toward the stern. I backtracked and found a small leak on the outlet of the pump that could only be felt and not seen. The water flowed down toward the center of the boat under the custom floor and collected at the low spot under the v berth. The low spot when the boat is on the trailer is under the v-berth. When underway the water flowed from the v-berth back toward the stern and came up through the floor because the bow was higher.

Tightening a hose clamp solved the problem.

[JamesTXSD]

Hi Les,

Looks to me like you have the likely suspects. Our boat was the first of the 2007 models, and it, too, had the leak under the v-berth. Our cause was the bad drain in the anchor locker. We also have foam under our v-berth... so, it's hard to know exactly how much water soaked up in that foam.

We also had a leak from the port rubrail that made its way behind the head compartment and onto the cabin floor. I removed the rubrail, resealed it, and that took care of that problem.

Good luck with the projects... once you get 'em done, the boat stays pretty water-tight... well, except for those hatches on aft cockpit floor.

Best wishes,
Jim B.

[Les Lampman]

[Aurelia]

Was it the aluminum brace added to the underside Les?

[JamesTXSD]

Hi Les,

Yes, I did see those photos and visited with Hank before he sold Sea Skipper. He gave me some good tips when we ordered our boat. I haven't done anything with our cockpit hatches... yet.

Best wishes,
Jim

[rogerbum]

Here's the relevant photo and Hank's text explaining it.

[Les Lampman]

That's the information I was referring to! Thanks for finding and posting that.

Hank told me it worked out very well for him and I was quite concerned with it since we had mounted the batteries below the deck.

Les