Water trap

[Jwoods]

When I removed the water tank (under the rear cockpit) on my Falmouth pilot) I found a puddle of water. No major problem here as I know there is a small deck leak and the limber hole was blocked. So a half hour with the pressure washer and all OK. Well nearly, as when things dried out a little I could see that where the frames meet the deadwood there were level areas that allowed water to drain downwards in to the main bilge. Closer inspection showed that this level area was made up of something like rubberised fudge which filled the narrow gap betwen the planking and the deadwood. The filler under the tank had shrunk and so I removed this to allow some drying out. As far as I can see no rot has been caused here so far.

I imagine that the filler could have been put in when new, as it looks quite old. However it now means that water can run down and fill up the ledge left, until there is enough to drain away. But there will always be a small amount left to cause rot in the future.

Any ideas as to how to stop water laying here? Yes, I'll fix the deck leak too!

 

[Peterduck]

I have a similar situation in my old ketch. When the transom stern was extended into a short counter in 1952 the builder put a pool of pitch aft of a floor where water would have otherwise collected. Why limber holes were not provided I cannot say.
Peter.