Aft cabin access hatch leak

[sailorgreer]

Hi Everyone,

Sea Bird is a 1993 model. She has a full cockpit enclosure. Because of that there have been few leaks at the back of the boat in the eleven months we have owned her.

With the recent rain storms and driving wind here in BC we have developed a leak from the circular access hatch right over where are heads go in the aft cabin. Right above the access patch are two (of the five) bolts for the starboard Genoa winch. I've tightened those and don't think that's where the leak is coming from.

I don't know where that cavity goes. It is hard to reach or see very far. I've searched the forum for everything to do with leaks, but can't find anything that seems to apply.

Any suggestions?

Cheers,

David Greer

[sailorgreer]

Hmmm--My photo looks a little weird.

I'll try again with a reduced size version that I've made sure is in Portrait mode.

Sorry 'bout that.

David

[Jon W]

Have you checked the compartment in the cockpit coaming under the winch? On my boat it's an insert of some kind, and I had a leak there. I spread some sealant I had and the leaking stopped. Do you have any canvas snaps screwed into the outside surface of the coaming fwd of the winch?

[sailorgreer]

Yes, I've checked the cubby under the winch. It looks perfectly dry.

With a full enclosure and what appears to be multiple versions over the years, there are a *lot* of snaps on the outside of the cockpit coaming. When I look inside the access hatch, I can't see any of those screws. I'm wondering if that is the leak, how it gets from there to the access hatch.

Or maybe I just need to add sealant to every single one!

Thanks,

David

[Stu Jackson]

David, don't rule out the cockpit Beckson ports.  Jeff Tancock showed me a leak he had on his aft teak wall many years ago, and I helped him trace it down to the aft of the two Beckson ports under the starboard cockpit seat.  When I had an identical leak, I knew exactly where to look.  I wrote it up in a tech note a couple of years ago.

While your enclosure may block any water getting there, you did talk about our heavy rains.  What happened in our cases was just enough water getting in between the exterior wall of fiberglass and the interior liner, and running aft.  Once the water is inside, there's no telling where it could/can go.

Good luck.

[sailorgreer]

Thanks Stu.

I checked and the top of the ports appear to be below where the access hatch is. For now, I'll focus on other areas, noting that there could be some way that the water is wicking uphill.

Cheers,

David

[Noah]

It could also be any piece of deck mounted or toe rail mounted hardware or the hull deck joint leaking and water migrating under/along underside of the deck???

[glennd3]

avi is your boat out of the water?

[sailorgreer]

Noah pointed out ...

"... any piece of deck mounted or toe rail mounted hardware ..."

That leaves a lot of scope for one tiny, albeit steady drip. We went eleven months without a problem, so I also wonder what if anything changed (other than just Sea Bird getting older).

Glenn Davis asks if Sea Bird is out of the water. Sea Bird is in the water as here on the West Coast year-round wet moorage is standard.

Cheers,

David