small leak in starboard forward cabin

Dan White · Post by **Dan White** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 8:02 pm

Went down to the marina over the weekend to check on things. Noticed a small amount of water in the starboard bilge. The thru-hulls appear dry, but the outboard wall of the forward cabin was very wet above the "ledge" (the one where you put coins and stuff) as was the ledge itself. There is a porthole immediately above the wall so my inital thoughts are it is the culprit, but it doesn't appear to be leaking.

Called the factory today and am awaiting their thoughts. In the meantime anyone else have a similar problem?

Thanks.
Dan White
Double Eagle II
Hull # 36096

Allezcat · Post by **Allezcat** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 9:45 pm

Dan,

I had some minor water intrusion through the stanchion fasteners. I also had major water intrusion from the starboard lazarette due to rainwater from the lazarette hatch accumulating at the bottom of the lazarette and seeping forward. Lastly I've had a pressure water leak which accumulated in the starboard bilge. These all assume the bilgewater is fresh, not salt.

Water accumulation in the starboard bilge seems to be a common problem on these boats. Please let us know what you find.

Chet
Allezcat 36010

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 4:43 pm

Read water under bed thread

Cat Tales · Post by **Cat Tales** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 8:41 pm

Dan,

Any luck with the minor water intrusion source?

Chris

Dan White · Post by **Dan White** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 7:28 pm

I have not been able to get to the boat yet. With the suggestions you guys made, and some from James Powers, I will get to work on it just as soon as I can and report back. (It may be a while.)

James also suggested the toe rail and the stanchions. He suggested putting paper towels wherever I could when it was raining. Makes sense.

It can't be the fresh water system, as it is drained for the winter.

Chet's suggestion about the lazarette really caught my attention -- I wonder if the factory has sealed that off better in the 86 boats it launched after his? Certainly hope so, as that sounds like a devil of a problem. I wonder how I would fix that?

Thanks to all who responded.

Dan White · Post by **Dan White** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 4:34 pm

I was FINALLY able to isolate the leak. Got lucky in that we didn't have any rain for most of March and the bilge stayed dry. Thus, that ruled out any leak from the submerged areas and items.
Then I went down during a strong rainstorm and was able to see the water running down the bulkhead that forms the doorway into the forward cabin. The leak was on the forward cabin side of the bulkhead, so I disassembled the wood work and lining and saw water following the cables coming from the starboard running light. Not sure if someone bumped it or what.
Now just have to take that off and re-seal it.
Hope that's the only one.
Thanks for all your suggestions.

Dan White · Post by **Dan White** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 9:43 am

Thought you would like to know all I had to do was TIGHTEN the starboard running light fixture and the leak stopped.

Thanks again for your help.

Now I have another one coming through the fixed glass on the coachroof -- starboard side. Probably need to re-seal.

Dan White · Post by **Dan White** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 6:42 am

In my last post I mentioned I had another leak -- this one coming from the fixed glass windows. Fortunately I was able to stop it with a bead of windshield silicone that I bought from an auto parts store for about $3.00. I ran the bead along the top of the glass, where the thick sealant meets the fiberglass.

Apparently this kind of sealant has a "penetrating" quality wherein it flows to and seals the leak. So far it seems to have solved the problem.

next exit · Post by **next exit** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 1:40 pm

What brand, pray tell.

Dan White · Post by **Dan White** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 10:32 pm

Hi Don
The stuff I used was "Flowable Silicone", product # 75009, made by Versachem.

Passage Back · Post by **Passage Back** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 3:54 pm

We also have water in the starboard bilge. I suspect the transducer thru hull but have not been able to verify. Will post if we discover anything definitive.

Dan White · Post by **Dan White** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 9:36 pm

Good luck!
The lucky break I had was that we had an extended period of no rain AND I had drained the fresh water system. Thus, since no water then entered the bilge, I was able to rule out water getting through the hulls. Therefore it HAD to be rainwater. Once I figured that out, it was a matter of going down to the boat during a torrential downpour and following the wet surfaces. Took a while but I finally got it. Kinda fun, in a perverse sense, now that it's over.

Passage Back · Post by **Passage Back** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 7:30 am

Thanks for the tip on the running light! (Also to Dick on Catch-22). When we checked the lights, port side screws were not completely tight but starboard side were so loose it was surprising that the light had not fallen out. So far no water since we tightened up the screws but our only test has been washing the boat. Fingers crossed.