A strange leak over the galley area.

T

thataway

Active member
We have had some small accumulation of water from rain over the last 2 years. Even when we were aboard, during rain, there was a small amount of water, but we could not find the source of the leak. There were some stains on the galley counter, and along the teak piece I have (2" x 3/8" teak, starting about 2 1/2 inches from the cabin side at the forward part of the counter, and ending about 4" out from the aft end. This allows suntan location cups, various condiments etc a secure place to live.

This winter I had left a half roll of paper towels inboard of the Wallas stove, and it was saturated. There was about a pint of water on the cabin floor--but lines showed that there had been more. There was none in the cockpit and the hull drain is open--the bow high to allow any water to drain out--and a full Sunbrella cover over the boat, including cockpit.

Initially we thought it might be around some seal in the windows, or the bedding of the window frames. I pulled the interior frames off the two windows--and there was good solid bedding compound all around the outer lip of the window frame. It would not budge. We hit the windows with high pressure hose--and no leaks.

Next the cabin top rails. I had added hand grips of rope inside, so that seemed a little loose. We pulled the screws, and rewedded the rails--the cabin is solid fiberglass laminate where these are bolted--and although it seemed a little damp--probably not the source of the leak. Finally, the aft cabin bulkhead boarding hand rail. The starboard one seemed a little loose. I know that the aft cabin bulkhead is cored--so we pulled it. Bingo--both of the screws were slightly loose. The balsa core was saturated in this area, and there was a of moisture in those holes. I used picks and dremel tool to remove over 1/4" wet core all around the machingscrews holding them in place. We will dry this area for a few days, and then fill with epoxy--re-drill the holes and re-bed. Hopefully this will get rid of the small leak.
 
I was going to still blame the windows. We had a leak on the 25 and it turned out to be the little tiny drains on the window frames were plugged with dirt/debris. The frame would slowly fill with water, also filling the inside of the frame going under the glass, and dripping out the lowest edge on the inside of the boat but on the non-galley side. It was hard to catch but when we finally did, it solved a long running mystery for us. I then used a small flat screwdriver to occaisionally poke out the debris from the outside and keep them draining outside the boat.

Good catch Bob,

Greg
 
Greg,

Thanks for that thought.

The drain was the first thing we checked when we first noted the problem. They were entirely clear (we have a plan of cleaning the slot, and spraying the "fur" channel with silicone at least once a year. )

Also with time the rubber seal holding the fixed glass in the windows can become brittle and leak--but again--no signs of this.

That was what made the whole thing such a mystery. I was sure I was going to find some void when I pulled the backing plate off the window frames Nope not only solid, but very well stuck--and no sign of leakage.

What amazed both of us, was the amount of moisture in the core, especially with the Sunbrella cover on--which had been cleaned in Oct, and sprayed with 303 for fabric.

Some water can get under the cover where our radar strut and loud hailer are located, but one would think that would run off to the side under the cover rather than aft.

Tomorrow we will pull the other side handle, even though there are no signs of leakage there.
 
Finished the project up today. After thinking about how water could get into this area, I felt that there was one other possibility. The way that the aft bulkhead is made, is that the entire cabin side structure is molded as part of the deck, up side down in the mold (having to do with the symmetry of the mold and release). There is a gradual taper in from the width of the full beam at the hull to deck joint to the top of the cabin, before the lid is glassed on.

The gel coats are first laid in the mold, then a layer of mat, next either various cloths or roving mat in alternate layers to form the outside skin of the aft bulkhead--not as thick as the side walls, which are about 1/4" in depth. At some point the balsa core is laid in and probably at the same time the core of the deck (side and forward) are laid in. then a few more layers of mat, and perhaps mat or cloth are laid in. (I don't know the precise laminate schedule). However this may leave a void where the core is not fully encapsulated both at what eventually is the top of the aft bulkhead, and the outboard edges of the cabin side/aft cabin bulkhead interphase. (Some may remember when I first received my new Tom Cat there was no sealant or filler in this area--and eventually the factory sent me a dozen tubes of the sealant, which should have been applied at the time of manufacture!). This boat is properly sealed, but that potential void is still there between the "lid" (cabin top, which is molded separately, and tabbed in on the inside top only). In my boat there are several screws put in thru the vinyl awning railing, where these screw holes--or the drilled hole for the screw, may have allowed water to run in under the vinyl awning rail. So I pulled both the awning rail, and the top 3 snaps for the camper canvas on the sides. I cleaned the underside of the awning rail, did some repair to the glass under the railing, cleaned with acetone, after ruffing up the bottom of the awning rail, and re-bedded this entire strip with 5200. Judging from the amount of dirt under the awning railing I suspect that this may have also been a source--or even the primary source of water intrusion into the core of the aft bulkhead.

This could be a potential issue for any of the boats, which have the awning railing--I have do idea who put the awning railing on, or how they attempted to seal it.

Technically one has to visualize and understand how this aft bulkhead is built. The "lid" may not be cored in this particular area, so just filling this with epoxy is not possible or practical. I didn't figure this all out, until I had the epoxy filler done on the boarding handle holes. If I had thought about it earlier, I would have used an air compressor to pressurize one of the holes holding the awning rail--and then apply soapy water to see if bubbles formed (which I suspect they might)

Just a heads up for others who might find this issue. I haven't checked the other hand rail yet, --and it is possible that the other side may have had the balsa sealed in the process. Only the person who "put the lid" on the boat would really know if this was sealed, or if there was a void down the sides, as well as right under the cap of the cabin top.

If folks have trouble visualizing this, I can do some sketches and then down load them.
 
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