Water in the front portion of the hulls on my Tomcat 255

[pwsuser]

Hi,

I have a 2006 Tomcat, bought is 3 years ago, and I always get a small amount of water, seems mostly fresh, but could have some salt water mixed in, in the front portion of my hulls. This has been happening for three years and I have no idea how is gets in. Have you ever experienced this on your Tomcat?

Thanks for the help.

Dave

[Discovery]

I get a small bit of water in the starboard sponson forward. That's where the connections are for the fresh water pump and the water strainer. Also the tank selector, as I am one of the few to have two water tanks. 2 X 20 gallons. There are some drips from the various hose connections in this area, and I can't seem to get them all tight. After 12 years I've learned to live with it.

If you have water in both sponsons, I'd suspect the stainless rail thru bolts may not be sealed properly, but that may show water on the bunk, not in the sponsons.

[thataway]

Bow eye, anchor locker--mine were not properly sealed. Even rub rail, if not sealed properly. There could be some from the forward mounts of the bow rail--the front two stanchions go into the hull before the bunk. But all of this should be sealed off--my guess is that it is not.

Try a putting a little food dye in some water in the anchor locker and see if it gets into the hulls.

Brent--one trick I leaned a few years back with water fittings I could not get tight enough is to use Permatex Formagasket, #2 (non hardening). It is really tenacious stuff, wear gloves!. I had a water system designed by a prior owner who could not matriculate at Cal Tech. Coat the threads with the #2, and then assemble--let dry a day. It is possible that there were some mis-matched threads in the plumbing. Most were in the shower--but it would not surprise me if it happened elsewhere.

[rbfconstruction]

Hi, not to take away from your question by others, but I can tell you... I think there is a faulty design in the c dory boat period. I base this on all the many issues that I read about water in the hull. I have a 19 foot c dory angler (2005) and love it, but when I got it 6 months ago from Idaho, originally from Florida, It had water in the hull. I sealed off the front rail, anchor locker, exterior drain for anchor locker, and the rub rail from the bow to the cockpit. I thought I had it fixed. NOPE. Still getting water in. (forgot to mention I sealed the entire floor aaaaand new bottom paint. So trying to be respectful of you all, I am sorry to ask...WTF ? I love my boat and have decided that as stated above, This is something I will just live with.

But for real, It is killing me as curiosity did to the cat. " "
Richard

[thataway]

There is not a fault in the design. There are individual problems, which all boats can have--regardless of manufacture. We are perhaps more likely to see them, because of the simplicity of the design.

The problem is of bedding some specific component. There was a miss match of British and American pipe thread fittings in the Showers of a certain vintage boat. Some didn't have the screws into the brass strip properly applied and sealed. Others had problems with the anchor lockers.

In my boats I have found the cut out for forward hatch too large, and not properly bedded in 3 of the boats. The anchor locker not properly sealed and drained in 3 of the boats. No sealing of the core of the aft bulkhead in the Tom Cat. Etc... The shower drain went right into the bilge of my Tom Cat, probably because the sump pump didn't work, because the electrical connection to the pump was not properly one....Lack of quality control.

These are workmanship issues. I am told that the current boats have the best workmanship of any. I saw 3 of the newest boats, and they appeared to be well built.

[journey on]

I agree with Bob, it's not faults in the design. Except for the C-25 flush cockpit hatches in the sole. Putting those in was just asking for trouble.

We fought leaks when we got Journey On in 2005. Finally, Ron on Meander told us where to look. The problem was that the guys with the sealant gun would quit every once in awhile and those places leaked. For example, in the anchor locker, there was a inch or so of seam that was un-caulked and that seam drained right into the hull. The factory know just what it was but didn't tell us until we found it. They kept building boats that way. Never saw/heard anything like it.

Fixed those problems and the boat has been great. And, there's been several new builders.

Boris

[pwsuser]

Hi All,

Thanks for the input. I added water to my anchor locker, but my hulls are still dry, and the water is still in the locker. They look well sealed. My rubrail is broken loose on both sides, if water can get to my hulls from there, I suspect that might be the issue, I will also check the bow eye.


Thanks again for the help.

Dave

[thataway]

Why is the rub rail broken loose? are any of the rivets compromised? Just putting a sealant under the rubber or over the top of the aluminum extrusion is not a guarantee that the rail will not leak form the rivets..

Good luck finding the source.