Moisture Under V-Berth

P

Peter & Judy

New member
I am working on adding hatches under the v-berth of my 22' Cruiser. We cut out the hatches yesterday which went very well. On removing the cutouts we found the that space was filled with about 90% expanding foam, which takes a bit of work to remove, but a drywall saw works very well. When removing the cutouts and the foam I am noticing a small amount of moisture mostly between the foam and the fibreglass. There is no significant amount of water here, but it is not bone dry. The wood cored fibreglass on the deck of the v-berth looks to be in excellent condition. My question is. Should I be concerned about this moisture or is it normal? If so, what should I look for as far as leakage and how would I best repair this?

I am amazed at the storage space that I will be adding to the boat as it will help solve one of the biggest problems on a small boat and that is 'Clutter Management'. All of that rarely used, but need to have stuff can go under there. It will also make it easier to extend our trips with extra provisions. It will also be easier to dry this area now, as I can remove the mattress and covers while the boat is in storage.
 
I keep putting this project off, I wanted to do it on our first 22 but never did, and really need to do it on our current one with even less storage with the reversible dinette seat. Hopefully this winter Ill finally get around to it.

Check your anchor locker drain, that is a common spot where the drain tube and bottom of the locker was not properly glassed in. The other culprit is the rub rail rivet holes.

Its not "normal" but has been common enough that the fix is well documented on here.
 
Even though the area is "water tight"--there may be some condensation in this area. I would suggest that you remove the foam, clean the hull insides, and then observe to see if any water is present.

My 25 had the foam either removed, or had none to begin with. But there was abut 8 oz of water in the "sump" under where the floor platform is between the arms of the V Berth. (Place where the portipotty lives in the 22. I dried all of this, throughly cleaned with chlorox and ant mildew agents. I put "Dri Deck" on the bottom and sides of all compartments. There has been no water, but it does seem to be higher humidity than much of the rest of the boat. Next I will install "vents so there will be more free flow of air. I have put spare anchor lines, spare anchors. the Li Fe PO4 battery, and some medical gear I probably would not need but should have along, "just in case" under the V Bunk--also a hatchet and shove. Most items are in boxes with lids--but not water proof. So far all is well. I had hoped to store my Torqeedo 1003 way up forward, but not able to get in because the opening is too small...II got the handle and battery up there,wrapped and secured in towels.
 
Thank you for the info. I am almost finished removing the foam, all ten garbage bags of it. The next step is to clean it up really well, dry it up and inspect. On my next trip on the water I plan to have another really good look to see if there is any leakage or is it condensation. I doubt if I gathered up all the water that I would even have a cup of water in total. So hopefully no major leakage, just 13 years of condensation. My wife is somewhat concerned that now that the foam is out, the boat might sink, but that is just her.
 
As you may have found in other post, another source of water/moisture are the screws holding the stem guard to the hull. Look for protruding/exposed screw tips inside and look for seepage when it's in the water.
 
Thanks for all the advice. We finished the V-Berth hatch upgrade and we are looking forward to all of the additional storage space. We had the boat in the water today with no visible leakage or moisture in the bow area. There was no leakage after we pulled the anchor, so there seems to be no leakage from the rode locker. So my best guess is that the moisture I encountered after I cut open the v-berth was from condensation over the years. Much to my wifes relief the boat still floats even without all the foam under the v-berth removed.
 
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