Water in Cabin Yet Again

[RichardM]

When I bought my 2007 boat it had sat outside on a trailer through at least two winters and many summer rains. I found water on the cabin floor by the door and it would come back after mopping it up, even in dry weather. I removed the plastic plug under the porta-potty and found the space between the hull and floor was full of water, and the foam was soaked.

Installing a 6 inch inspection port under the potty was step 1. Photos of this are on the "Pangur Ban" link. Then I could scoop out enough foam to create a void. It filled with water several times over. Fortunately a big-box store 6-inch "vent booster fan" fit exactly in the inspection port and I left it running for weeks, drying out the foam. Water kept appearing under the cabin door too (inside), and it continued for weeks.

Where had all the water come from? Sitting inside during a rain I found regular dripping leaks under the forward deck cleat, 3 of the 4 bow rail mounting points, the VHF antenna mount, one of the midship deck cleats, the anchor windlass (I see you don't have one of those), and both portholes (badly installed by the previous owner). Apparently rainwater had been coming in, flowing downhill until it found ways to get under the cabin floor, and accumulating for a long time. There was another inch or more in the bottom of the anchor well that hadn't drained through the factory's drain because it was too high. Fixing the leaking fittings required removing wet core from the deck in several places. (Not as hard as I was afraid it would be.)

Even now, months later, I'm not sure all the moisture is out. Many quarts, I suspect, and maybe gallons.

Your case may be different, but this may help you if rain has really been leaking in.

[Jazzmanic]

Ding ding! Sounds like a winner to me Richard.

[homerjack]

I like it too Richard. Never seen a plug in potty area on this older model. But the rest makes sense.
The good news: Went out again today. Hour out and hour back. Only got about less than 1/2 cup this time so maybe it's on way to dry. Next good rain pour should tell if leaks are continuing and likely from culprits you mentioned.

[homerjack]

Checked on boat in harbor for first time in a while. Had to bail out 4.5 gallons water from floor of cabin. Water is fresh and has a slight pinkish tint. All cushions were dry including berth.
To recap, last Spring:
1. Sealed all thru-hull screws, fittings w 4200
2. Resealed hatch over berth.
3. Anchor locker has never been used.
4. Cleaned out all window rails, "spouts".
5. Rub rail rivets are not damaged and not leaking.
6. Cockpit to cabin aft bulkhead floor seam was resealed with glass and drain hole sealed.
7. Cockpit has custom cover in place when docked.

How in God's name is nearly 5 gallons of water getting into the cabin. This is now 5th year dealing with this issue.

[colbysmith]

Maybe a silly question but does the water appear to be RV antifreeze with that pinkish tint?

[homerjack]

It'a a tad more brownish then that and faint.
Why antifreeze?

[TyBoo]

I looked back through this thread and didn't see this one mentioned...

My boat (1996 CD25) had a mysterious leak when I got it and would accumulate gallons of water inside the cabin from rainfall. I finally found out that it was the topsides to hull seam leaking from a spot that was not sealed up from the factory. The joint is covered by the rubrail, and the water would run off the foredeck, over the side and onto the rubrail where some of it would get into the void in the aluminum channel that holds the rubber. The leak was about a foot aft of the helm on the starboard side. The water would run through the hull and into the trough formed by the chine about half way down the wall, which in my boat was concealed by the icebox under the helm seat. The water would then run downhill to the area under the galley where it would disperse onto the floor.

I went through the same stuff as you looking for the source of the fresh water. When I finally figured it out, I removed the rubber insert from the rubrail, drilled a hole in the aluminum channel about a foot forward of the leak and another a foot aft of the leak. I filled those holes and the area between the hull and the aluminum with silicone. A day later, I drilled another pair of holes just inside the two previous holes. Then I took a caulk gun and pumped silicone into the forward hole until it oozed out of the aft hole. I wiped off the excess that had seeped out from behind the aluminum channel and put the rubber back in. There has not been another leak for the past 14 years.

I would suggest that you take some dry paper towels and roll them up in small tubes and place them in the trough formed by the topmost chine in several spots. Then the next time you get water inside the boat, check to see if any of the paper is wet. If so, then your leak is likely just up hill from the wet one.

[hardee]

#1. The "pink rv antifreeze" is what many of us use in the late fall, putting it into the water tank and run it through the water pump to keep water in those lines and pump from freezing. If ypu are using that it could be that there is a leak in that system.
#2. Your boat has blue accents (shear and cabin top stripe), so am I correct in thinking ypur custom cover is not red? Pink water maybe from puddling on the cover, absorbing some color and dripping through.
#3. Are you a fisherman? Could the browner pinkish color be coming from fish blood that was not thoroughly washed out from long ago?
#4. Any chance the pinkish could be coming from an old spill of the pink Stabil? Or from some sort of fuel leak?
#5. It is fresh not salt water so it has to be either rain or washdown water. You might need a buddy with a good hose on ghe outside and you inside under that cover. 5 gallons is probably more than you could get with just condensation.

These aren't necessarily the best ideas but it might get you started and hopefully someone will come up with the problem already done. CBRATS are good that way.

PS: See, Mike already did the fix, and he types faster than me too.

Harvey
SleepyC

[homerjack]

Thanks Mike. I'll give the paper towel trick a try.

[homerjack]

Harvey, thanks for suggestions. I took water tank out when I bought boat. I don't use the galley. The cover is blue. No fish blood in cabin. No Stabil.

[TyBoo]

Here is a long thread from 2005 about a boat with mysterious leaks. The boat was actually replaced by the factory under warranty. Somewhere in the thread is the mention of my leak as explained in my last message.

Caty Mae, the lady who owned the boat, is no longer with us and I hope her husband Steve has found peace. She was a wonderful person and she very much loved to fish! Cancer took her in August of 2008.

The original leaky CatyMae CD22 was renamed FaCDory Guys and is the boat used for the famous Columbia River bar photo shoot.

[thataway]

I had significant water on the floor of my 22 a couple of years ago. After extensive investigation, I found it was coming from the roof railing in the form of drips over time, and the grab rail handles on aft cabin bulkhead, working its way down inside of the core in the aft bulkhead, in in the boat by the way of the aft window (Stb. side), onto the galley counter and then into the bilge. I had been fooled by seeing the stains of the water on the galley counter, and thought it was the window. These were cured, by routing out some core, injecting thin epoxy thru the dried core, downward in the aft bulkhead, and just around the leaking roof area. Then receding the rails.

Several of us are saying that the leak can come from a long distance in a boat--and the reason can be obscure. Using food coloring at times can help. But it often takes perseverance to find the leak.

[homerjack]

UPDATE on this saga.

This Spring I ran a bead of 4200 along the entire upper edge of the starboard rub rail. Since then have had very little to no water through rain falls.Will do port rail next time boat is out of harbor. Apparently whatever cause of water intrusion lies under rub rail. Very very skeptical that it's rivets. Have never seen any wetness there and they look to be intact and sealed in cabin.
A friend with a CDory solved same issue but of salt water intrusion by sealing bottom edge of rub rail.

[digger]

Screws holding the brass strip on the keel often leak water into the boat between the hull and the inner berth. I would notice water dripping when parked on the trailer. The holes can be filled with thickened epoxy and then refastened. I actually drilled the lower ones out some and applied low air pressure to “drain” the area. If I would have cut access holes and removed the foam and applied more epoxy on the inside, I am sure it would have been better fix.

[ssobol]