Leaks.. oh deep joy...

[captainslarty]

Hi gus n gals..
We have just had 5 days of continuous, and I mean CONTINUOUS rain here in LC.. not just showers... eek...

Anyways, what a godsend for us.. we have found (Hopefully) ALL our leaks.. that were occasional and baffling.. it also helped that we have stripped the interior out and rebuilt it, removing all under-deck panels etc.. this allowed us to spot the little beggars!!!..

The old trick of the hose pipe on deck didn't work for us.. it NEEDED a few days of rain to show them up.

Anyways.. a couple of deck fittings, BOTH Genoa tracks 1 chain plate and a rather strange leak appeared...

the strange one was the most confusing. it is hard to describe.. but is coming from a deck moulded in dorade vent.. THROUGH a join in the fibreglass underneath (Where the bottom and upright pipe of the vent was fitted.. that's a bit of a beggar to say the least.. plan is to cut the FG top off the vent and replace with teak (for access) and then sort it out.. also sort the balsa core out underneath it.. looks ok from below, but has obviously suffered some damage..

Without the continuous rain and the removal of all the headlining it would have been a nightmare.. just waiting now for some SUNSHINE.. then I can get the tools, Glass-fibre and epoxy kit out.. and get some new sikaflex..

the joys of boating...

/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[Bajansailor]

Ahhhh, those elusive leaks...... ours seem to survive the hose pipe test quite happily, even tropical rainfall, and then they make themselves apparent when beating to windward on the long passage back here from anywhere else further west.... and they are invariably over somebody's bunk..... umbrellas over bunks can help! Or an old sail rigged up as a tent...... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Troutbridge]

I thought you said it didn't rain in Galicia anymore?

 

[vyv_cox]

One leak that baffled me for a long time was in our windows. Sadlers are renowned for leaking windows, between the aluminium frame and glass. I had sealed all around the bottom halves and reckoned that would solve it. However, I had reckoned without surface tension!

After heavy rain I found the tell-tale drips on several windows. Hours of fruitless hosing later it rained again, and I realised that water was running down the upper part of the frames, up the insides and over the top of the glass. If someone tells you that water only runs downhill, tell them that I can prove otherwise.

 

[roly_voya]

Leaks are never fixed only temprarily stemmed...

 

[Talbot]

Whats special about 5 days of continuous rain - we had 40 days last year!

 

[Anonymous]

Why don't you move down to Almerimar? Far warmer, little rain, good social life that you can 'take or leave' and competitive pricing. Only a short hop to the Islands, Morocco, or wherever in the summer. You have go round that sticky-out bit first and I know that people are very nervous of doing that, but it is fine in good weather, honest. I've been up and down the Portuguese coast four times and never experienced the more horrible conditions some people talk about...we stayed in harbour!

 

[purplerobbie]

I bought a set of aluminum windows for an albin vega they cost me £450 ish and all i did was move a leak from over the port bunk to over the starboard one.

In the end i went round the window with gaffa tape and put it over the screw holes and anything i could think of. The last bit i came to i thought it cant be that..

It drove me mad for months i scraped all the sikaflex out of the windows and replaced it with new stuff, It made no difference. I took the windows out and resealed them still nothing.

The windows where made in to half's rather than top and bottom it was left and right and the join went right down the middle of the window. The join at the top leaked and it tracked round the window to the bottom where it would come out in the boat a 2 second fix when i finally found it.

When i fixed it it moved round to the other side??

Rob

Edit
There really is nothing worse than a boat which leak
I'm sick to death of trying to stop the leaks on my boat so much so that i have been offered a rival (without an engine) and I'm seriously considering selling mine for what ever i can get and buying the rival.

and ever who moaned about 40 days of rain be thankful it hasn't stopped raining here for about a year!!

 

[Bajansailor]

Rob, you might find that the engineless Rival has leaks as well.....
Where are the leaks on Evening Star - or are they all over, everywhere? If everywhere, that does make life on board a tad more difficult for sure. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Re windows, you could perhaps try just using lexan or similar (without a frame) bedded down on to a strong adhesive sealant - I saw a Rival 48 at the Boat Show with such a arrangement, and no screws or bolts at all, just the adhesive holding the window on.

 

[purplerobbie]

The leaks come from mainly the stanchion bases.
I dried the boat out and bodged them so i could do work on the decks. I have just removed the bodge and started to epoxy in the bolts while the sun was out and it p1ssed down that night and runied the last 6 weeks of work all the epoxy sealant has now gone white so i now have to rub it back down as the water has got under it and start again.

And all the cushions that i had dried out are now soaking wet again.


Rob

 

[Bajansailor]

Oooh dear, stanchion bases can be (ok, are) a right pain - water seems to have this amazing ability to make itself less viscous and penetrate gaps or cracks that even penetrating oil might think twice about.

And tell me about drying out cushions.... our cockpit cushions absorb water better than any sponge, and take forever to dry out afterwards.

Good luck re your rubbing down - I hope all goes well, and that you do get some sunshine to (re) do the job with.

 

[purplerobbie]

I was going to have my self a nice little BBQ but the whole is just to soggy and difficult to light.

Anyone wanna buy a cheap boat?

Rob

 

[Troutbridge]

Um, is it in good condition? Any leaks? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[purplerobbie]

[ QUOTE ]
Um, is it in good condition? Any leaks? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[/ QUOTE ] /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif