Water Intrusion Mystery

[kss1220]

I am thoroughly puzzled and have thought long and hard about solving this mystery….  Being a recent owner in the Northwest of the C34 I am not completely knowledgeable to the little idiosyncrasies of the boat.  You more savvy owners with a lot more time under your belt may be able to help me.  
I am finding fresh water collecting in a cavity located in the hull aft of the area where the prop strut thru-bolts protrude. You probably know the area I am talking about.  It acts as a micro collecting pond.
 This little cavity that is located underneath the rear water tank simply seems to keep filling up with water.  I have no idea what the purpose of the cavity is for, is there a purpose? I have been sitting on the hard now for three months and have vacuumed out all the water in this pocket right after being placed on the hard so, I know it is not sea water.   I have also had the rear tank pumped out at the time of the haul-out and know that it is not coming from there.  The rear lazerette locker has been closed so no water can come from there.  What have I missed?  Rudder strut? We get a lot of rain but, rain coming from the emergency tiller protrusion could this be?   I am totally at a loss as to how the water gets in and collects.  The engine bilge area is bone dry.  The strut area is bone dry.  Has anyone found a similar problem?

[Ken Juul]

One of the hardest mysteries to solve.  Could be any of the top side through bolts leaking and seeping to this low spot.  Someone on the list previously suggested using a water soluable marker to draw a line around the hollow.  Any future leaks should leave a track through the marker.  Might give you an idea of which direction it's origin is.  Also try a search at the top for leaks.  Lots of good info.

[cholder]

You can trace the leak by scattering coloured chalk powder in key areas.  Chalk powder is available in hardware stores where it's sold for use in string lines.  But before doing that, look for runs in the dirt that accomulates on any surface or go there after a rainy day.

The depression is due to the flat surface molded into the hull for the prop strut mounting plate.  Don't be deceived by the shape of the hull around the strut it's filler shaped to match the "ridge" infront and behind.  The dip is due to the shape of the ridge behind the strut.

[dave davis-707-1988- san]

I agree, this is one hard leak to find. The way I did it was as follows. I crawld down in the lazerate, very tough at my age. Before doing so, I set up a lawn spinkle head on the top side and had my wife turn on the water. After about ten minutes of man made rain. I kept feeling all the throgh bolted areas and I found the pushpit( Stern Pulpit) and one of the hatches bolt leaking.This method helped alot but I still have some leaks that show up after very servere rain. Good Luck...Yes, my wife finally turned off the rain and allowed me to get out.

[Roc]

I have found on my boat, when I wash the cockpit and rinse the aft lazarette area, water does find it's way inside, eventhough the hatches are closed.  Water would then pool where the strut bolts are (just aft of the rudder post).  Try drying the area and hosing the aft lazarette hatches with lots of water and see if it finds it's way into the closed hatches.

Regards,
Roc-

[Alohman]

We also had water collecting there.  Found 2 causes after climbing into the aft laz.  1) there was a crack in one of the cockpit drains hoses.  Replaced both hoses.  Also, there was a crack in the hose from the aft water tank deck fitting to the tank.  Replaced hose.  No more water.

A great "mystery solver" .  Take a water soluable marker.  Draw a large circle around the depression.  Next time you check the boat, you will see what direction the water is coming from

good luck

[Stu Jackson]

Ron makes a good point about helping us all out by identifying your particular hull and features.

I had posted a well received (at least, well replied-to) message, about identifying your vessel's characteristics automatically in your sign in name, some time ago.

The quick link to that old, LOOOOOONG thread is:

http://c34.infopop.net/3/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=508296417&f=318296417&m=908298687

It may be time to re-up that message and I may  do that.

The referenced link does include instructions as to how to adjust your sign in name to include your hull number and other requested information.

In any event, to find out more information about the "stuff behind the name," just click on the "file folder" looking icon on each post which should include the basics of our membership's vital statistics (assuming y'all included that information when you oringially signed in).

The link to the old post (way at the bottom) has specific instrcutions as to how to update the information.  Thanks to Dan Harrington for the step-by-step!

[This message was edited by Stu Jackson #224 1986 "Aquavite" on January 15, 2003 at 09:11 PM.]

[John Gardner]

I have the same problem, but I haven't begun to do anything practical yet about finding it.  It did occur to me that a leak at the joint of the steering pedestal with the cockpit floor might find its way into that area.

[kss1220]

Sorry Ron.  You rare right I should have informed you that my C34 is a standard MK-I.  I hope that helps.  Regards-Kelly

[Gary Wilson]

We found an unusual leak in our '86 MK1 that sounds kind of like yours. It was coming through the rudder head fitting where the emergency tiller fits. Any rain water that hit the lazarette seat would flow down the drain channels and end up at the rudder head. Instead of spilling out into the cockpit, it went down the rudder shaft. We observed it from below and then confirmed the source by watching it from above. I would like to find a way to seal the fitting, but the temporary fix was to place some silicone "dams" where they would divert most of the water to the cockpit floor before it reached the rudder head.