Leaks: Cabin sole wet

[Scornell]

Hi,

New to the Forum and to Catalina 34! I got my 1989 C34, Hull 872 if I read it correctly, just last week and trying to bring it back to shape. This Forum is immensely helpful, as I will try to chase down a few leaks. The small leaks from the chainplates don't worry me much. But when it rains, a pool of water forms on the cabin sole to port of the keel-stepped mast and aft of it. I can scoop up half a cup of water or more. The bolts near the mast in the ceiling  are wet, and the opening hatch appears dry.  But I wonder, if it comes from the mast, why would it not run down the bilge, how would it get over the lip around the bilge? The picture below shows what it looks like after a night's rain.

Less visible is that there's a little bit of water at the base of the cabin table. So, water on both sides of the bilge - and yes, the PO replaced the floor boards right over the bilge so this may have been going on for a while. But weirdly, those narrow middle boards are pretty dry.

Before I chase it down, I thought to check if anyone has had this problem. All ideas are welcome. Thanks for a great community.

[Noah]

My guess/possibilities are:
1. Mast boot on deck and/or the mast collar bolts on deck
2. The opening hatch's frame to deck seal, assuming, as you say, the hatch lens gasket is OK

Water will normally come down mast through halyard openings aloft and go into bilge. But, depending how well you have sealed the mast track and boot on deck, if it does come down the track/groove it may hit the mast turnbuckle (deck stiffener) pad eye on the mast in the cabin and deflect drips onto the table, instead tracking into the bilge. But that is a lot of water in your photo so I would suspect the mast boot or hatch.

[Paulus]

Also following Noah's ideas, you might check to see were the hatch gasket is joined to form a complete seal.  The two ends are usually glued together and this over time can cause a leak. If the glued ends on the gasket are facing the port side.  I had my joint in the gasket leak this summer(faced forward) and it leaked on the table.  Dried it good and resealed it. 
PS:  I would put the chain plates at the top of my to do list.
Paul

[Phil Spicer]

   Also check the o-ring in the latch of your hatch. O-ring cracked in our 88 and we had a leak like you have. My hatch is a Bomar. O-rings are metric.
   

[Scornell]

Thanks. Very useful ideas. Will check it out. And yes, I will definitely take care of the chainplates before the boat goes back in the water. It is on the top of my list, along with little details like putting double clamps on all thru-hulls!

[scgunner]

       It looks like this has been a on going problem judging by the damage to the main floor board. The first thing I'd do is pull up that floor board until you fix the problem(it may already be to far gone), next I'd strip it and allow it to thoroughly dry out(days or weeks)before sanding and refinishing, hopefully it can be saved.
        Looking at the puddle it looks like that's where the water wound up(low spot) not where it came from. You might try dripping a cup of water to see if you can find the high spot which could give you a better indication as to where the water came from. My overhead hatch has leaked before but not from the opening seal, it leaked at the hatch base where it was mounted to the deck. I fixed the problem by putting a bead of sealant around the base.

[britinusa]

Any chance you can have someone spray water on the deck around the mast and hatch while you inspect from below for leaks?

[Scornell]

Any chance you can have someone spray water on the deck around the mast and hatch while you inspect from below for leaks?

Yes. That is the plan once I get someone to assist and weather cooperates. Thanks.