Sealine S34 leak in aft cabin

[Mike W]

We’ve had our lovely Sealine S34 for just one year and have discovered , what appears to be, a substantial leak into the aft cabin. The carpet covering the “lower” floor area between the two bunks became very wet towards the starboard side. When I pulled up the carpet and the wooden boards under it I found everything was horribly black with mould and soaking wet. The water appears to be coming from under the rear bed and over spilling into the bilge. I scooped out about 20 litres. I’ve now done this about 3 times. It is fresh water. The water pump does occasionally activate when we’ve not used any taps which lead me to think it must be leak In the fresh pipe system somewhere, possibly from the tank itself as is sits at the same level as the floor area in the cabin.
I did read that the catwalk drains when blocked can flow into this area (which does seem very strange) but these seem to be free flowing when I checked them.
Has anyone had any experience of this? Does anyone know which pipes are in this area. The constitution under the bunks looks like a “tub” with two individual bunks screwed down on top of the tub. A schematic diagram of the area with the associated pipe work would be really helpful.
Any help of advice would be much appreciated. Many thanks

 

[Switch]

Try checking the windscreen seal right back where it meets the radar arch. I had the same kind of leak on my S42. A bit of sealant solved the problem.

 

[Greg2]

We just sold our S34 so I am familiar with the layout. It sounds as though you are fairly clear that it is in the bilge but for what it is worth we found that not doing the portholes nice and uptight led to rainwater ingress on the port side of the aft cabin.

As you are probably aware, the deck drain pipes run back to the transom under the bathing platform and with the space in the engine bay not too difficult to trace and eliminate.

To the best of my knowledge most of the plumbing runs along the port side and the only tap on the starboard side is the transom shower. As an aside, ours leaked a little and the tap standing proud of the transom was frequently accidentally knocked and turned on, causing the water pump to cycle periodically.

The water tank is, as I understand it, behind the saloon steps and it is completely inaccessible without undertaking some major surgery on the boat. Knowing how water can track, before doing anything like that I would remove the boxes from the under deck stowag in the saloon and from the under seat lockers in the saloon to inspect the bikers underneath to see if there is any water there. Next step would be a borescope and maybe a drill to see what can be found before really starting to pull things apart.

if you aren’t already it is worth signing up on the Sealine Forum to tap into the wealth of experience on there.

Good luck in resolving the issue.

 

[DavidJ]

Had a similar (ish) problem with my S37. It was the seals on the side deck windows. The water ran down behind the kitchen units and ended up soaking the kitchen floor and then the aft cabin well. To be honest your problem does sound different but it may contribute to your brainstorming activity.

 

[Mike W]

Switch, Greg 2 and David J,
Many thanks to you all. There’s some good information in your replies. I’ll certainly be exploring the other avenues mentioned before getting out the cutting tools. Just the thought makes me wince !!

 

[oldgit]

Was there not problem with the shower tray leaking .
Before you start getting out the grinder, do a Google search on this one. ? Several similar posts on MoBo Forum and think problem was solved.

Dec 2009.
Sealine S42/S41/S43


"Any owners out there had a leak in your rear cabins? been down to boat today and the floor carpet in the far right corner (including the carpet inside the cupboard is soaking).
I can't make out where the water is coming in, the portholes are all dry, I have previously hosed down the inside of the cockpit and cocpit lockers to see if this caused the leak but it didn't. The leak must therefore be coming in from the outside, perhaps the windscreen leaks and its draining back and finding its way into the rear cabin??? "


Sealine F43 & 410 damp carpet

 

[Bbroomlea]

had our s34 apart looking for a leak into main cabin near radio on starboard side which sometimes ran down bulkhead behind seating. Turned out to be the front window seals letting in water. It then ran below blue cowling of the dash and somehow made it into the cabin. Worth checking as it’s all in that area. Mine was hard to detect as the water almost instantly disappeared behind the dashboard

at the same time I found another slight one leaking from radar arch join which was dripping onto the access panel in the rear cabin, although that showed with water dripping onto the bedding

all watertight now after new seals and digging out of the sealant around the arch to upper structure and replacing. Cockpit is bone dry too so declaring some victory for now