Brown water dripping from head hatch

[Baysider]

I've seen a few older posts about brown water dripping in the head but no resolution as to what might have caused the issue, so I'm starting a new brown water post.

This spring we had a lot of rain and I found that dark brown water had dripped from the outside edges of my head's hatch.  The hatch itself is not leaking.  When I put up our dodger I noticed a significant reduction in the amount brown dripping (there seemed to be no let-up in the amount of rain and I'm told it often has hit with hard winds coming from the direction of the bow) but it still happened.  I ran water around the base of the hatch for about 20 minutes... no leak.  I did the same thing, one at a time, around the platforms the winch, the rope clutch and the traveler sit on. Nothing again.  I ran water directly on top of those and nothing.  Finally, I ran water in the track the companionway cover slides in.  Nothing.  There are no other openings higher than the hatch and am at a loss as to where the water is entering. I'm considering the idea that, with large amounts in the track for possibly hours during storms there could be a leak there. Does anyone have experience with this situation?

Thanks everyone.

[waughoo]

Brown water would lead me to look for an entry point somewhere "above" the hatch that is traveling through the plywood core and coming out at the hatch.

[Ron Hill]

Bay : Look at ALL of the thru the deck fittings and start rebedding (I'd recommend butyl rubber).

A thought

[Baysider]

So I had drenched all of the fittings above the hatch level and saw no resulting leakage.  Are there any others that I hadn't mentioned in my post?

[Jim Hardesty]

So I had drenched all of the fittings above the hatch level and saw no resulting leakage.  Are there any others that I hadn't mentioned in my post?

From your description, sounds like you have a leak into the core somewhere, could be anywhere above the leak.  The water gets in then takes some time to show below. The core is wet for a long time, very bad. 
I suggest you rebed all the deck fittings in the area, along with drying out the core as much as possible.  May take days to dry.
Jim

[ghebbns]

No solution but exact same problem.  I even notice some in the aft cabin. Like you, it pretty much disappears when the dodger is up.  I will keep you posted if I find anything.

[Noah]

 The small handrail above the head?

[rjabara]

Same problem on my 1990 1.5.  Seems these are all early 90's boats on this "brown water" thread.  Mine still comes in when the dodger is up.  I don't know where it is coming from but it shows up pooled in my shower drain. It appears to be coming in from behind the head (composting, so not coming from the head).