Water under salon deck.

F

Flint

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Dec 24, 2013
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C Dory Year
2009
C Dory Model
26 Venture
Vessel Name
Grace Full
I have a 26 Ventura and I keep getting water between the hull and the salon deck. I'm in salt water but the water between the decks is fresh water. I've checked the water system and can't find any leaks. The bilge is dry so what ever water that is between the decks doesn't drain into the bilge. If anyone has any idea as to what causes this problem I would like to hear it. I Pump out about three gallons every two weeks. Thanks for any information.
 
Hi there. If your water system is ok (no pump cycling) and you're in salt water, then you're getting water from rain or washing. Some boats had anchor locker drain sealant issues also. Wash water/rain draining back inside? Check fittings along the port side for sealant issues. Hull and deck joint ok also. That's a lot of water. Other 23-26 Ventures had water under floor issues. Check Rose Budd and Pacific Wander albums for their solutions. Best of luck. George
 
Flint,
I assume that you mean in the main cabin under the floor. I assume that the bilge, is where the pump sump is. (Technically any of the area under floors either cockpit, fore berth, or cabin sole, is the bilge).

Your boat had water under the cabin sole, when I looked at it in Mobile, long before you bought the boat.
Agree that it is either washing, rain, or from the fresh water system. I would favor from the fresh water system with that much leakage. It can be just a bad hose clamp. In some instances with fresh water system, I have had to put the soft "Form-a-gasket" #2 Sealant by Permatrix coating on the inside of the hose, before putting the hose clamp in place. Double clamping all hose connections also helps. There are more hose clamps than you may imagine in that boat--consider the shower, head, commode, and galley, as well as the water tank, water pump and hot water heater!

If it comes from washing--or rain, then it is possible to get in by the rub rail.

Putting food color dye in the water tank can often give the answer. But since you are living aboard, Orange or blue water might be an issue. Look very carefully first.
 
Here in Marathon we haven't had any rain for a couple of weeks. It seem to me that the way the boat was built the space between the salon floor and the deck doesn't drain into the bilge. The sink area is sealed from the bilge as is the water pump. The water pump doesn't cycle at all. I've taken a piece of wire and tried to measure from the inspection port to the side. The center of the salon floor seems to be sealed by itself and doesn't drain into the bilge because the bilge is dry. When I took the shower apart there was a space between the outer hull and the inside hull. That area does drain into the bilge. I'm going to try the food coloring trick next.. I would love to see the blue prints on how this boat was built. Stay tune for more information. I still love the boat.
 
Given no rain or pump issues, I'd have to conclude it's a shower issue. Either enclosure or drain leaks. I'd shower ashore for a week and see if it stays dry.
 
We have never used our shower, we always use the marinas. I have taken the shower out and checked all the hoses and clamps. That's how I found that there is a space between the out side hull and the inside hull. This space drains into the bilge. It seem to me that there should be a drain from the compartment under the salon deck into the bilge. Next step is going to be food coloring in the water tank. I'll be drinking blue water.
 
Have you checked the water tank fill neck itself? Casey on Dessert 1st had a similar mystery and finally found the flange filling the water tank had a fracture. Fill the tank to full or overflow and see if it comes out the top. My 22 had a similar fracture. The weld had broken on the pipe inlet. The flange makes a good handhold to torque the tank in on install. Best of luck.
 
Flint,
I would say maybe some of it is from condensation. Some have found water coming in from rain via rub rail especially up at the bow as it has a sharp bend and leaves a large gap in between the rub rail and the fiberglass. The water fill also sometimes is not bedded very well and can leak along with the bow rails not being bedded properly. We have cut three six inch inspection holes with thread on covers in our floor. One off center on the cockpit because a spar runs down the center. The second is just inside the cabin near the back door. The Third is in under the berth area under the middle cushion. We pull the covers when the boat sits and keep a heater going in the boat to let it dry out. See album for the pictures of inspection covers. Pacific Wander's album also shows the inspection ports.
D.D.
 
Some Ventures have had water intrusion into the core problems, seems the factory did not encapsulate the cores very well.. The alaska bulkhead and the hull core meeting area seems to be a problem . Find the source and stop it. And the inspection access ports ( drying ports ) are a must. Try PM message to Rose Budd, he spent a lot of money to fix the construction errors.
 
We have not had much rain down here in the Keys, but could it be possible that the water intrusion is from a fresh water wash down? I had water intrusion last summer, all coming through a bad seam seal behind my starboard rub rail.
 
No sure how a Venture is put together, but my '08 CD22 had water intrusion to the cabin according to the PO. The was from the joint between the flat cockpit floor and the aft cabin bulkhead. Depending on how the boat sits on the trailer or at the dock, rain water can run forward to the cabin wall instead of aft to the sump.

Filling the seam between these two with 5200 fixed the problem.
 
On my hull number 03 for Cape Cruiser(06) The water seems to come from condensation and rain water
1-Re-seal front anchor locker
2-Re-seal cockpit to cabin with 4200 or similar
3-put in inspection 4in plates and when necessary pump out
4-Re-seal floor between cabin and v-berth area with 4200 or similar.
5-inspection plates one between gas tanks in cockpit area then one in cabin there should be one in v-berth area under port-o potty.

The water seems to come in when there is a very heavy rain like a monsoon (florida ) Also on hull number 3 the water goes from underneath cockpit all the way up to v-berth area they are all connected .
 
Thanks for all the replies. I dried the area between the salon floor and the deck than took the hose and sprayed one side at a time to see if any water came in. I waited between each side and no water came in. I even rocked the boat to see if water had was up forward. No water. I Tom a ruler and went through the inspection plate and measured all around. It seems I hit bulkhead where I think bulkheads should be. Since we use our air conditioner a lot here I think it might be causing condensation. Bob on That A Way gave me that idea.

If I had to reseal the bulkheads how would one go about that without rebuilding the boat? I can't get to the bulkheads without cutting the floors up.

Since this boat has a liner their is a space between the outside hull and the living area. I Know this to be true because of how I tour this boat apart and their is no water in the true bilge.

This is really a mystery to me but the boat is sound and performs great. I will continue my search but I don't think it's harmful to the boat. I want to contact a dealer and see if they know how this boat is put together.

I'm open for any other ideas. Does any one know how to get in touch with Ross Bud. I've tried the list but can't seem to turn up his info.
 
If your AC is built in ( not a roof top ) then find the coil that air blows thru.
There should be a catch pan under it to catch the humidity from the air.
Look for a drain connection and see where it goes and that all the joints are tight.

Bill Kelleher
 
Just as a follow up, I found a leak in our water supply. What I don't understand is why no blue water showed up. I went through this boat and opened every thing I could to find the leak. There is a ledge just inside the door between the cockpit and the salon. It appears that there was a leak there before because of the splice in the line. The hose clamps were lose. I also found out that they not only caulked the piece of fiberglass in, they also glued it on the metal frame. Not an easy job to remove this piece. Also, I removed the cover over the water intake and vent. They also glued and caulked that piece into place. Now I'm going to do the hose test from the out side to see if any water comes through.
 
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