[Gladrags1]

JJ, you got a lot of good suggestions! Catalina uses hull liners so you don't have a problem with the hull. That's good. It looks like it is at the bow under the deck. You mentioned a stantion which is likely the cause. Another possibility is that the bow pulpit (if you have one) is needing rebedding. The brown color is likely from wood backing or wood coring (Catalina used plywood coring, I believe, in their smaller, older boats). Check for softness right around the base of the stantion and the pulpit. You can also test (when it gets warmer) for water leakage by spraying a hose at the suspect fitting while isolating it from other fittings. Use a lot of force and a lot of water. Have someone below decks to see if you get a drip. Start at the fitting closest and downhill from other fittings. Then work your way uphill until you see a leak. If you don't get anything, spray water upwards at the bottom of the rubrail. That's the hull-deck joint. The rubrail is installed on top of the joint which is like a shoebox top with bolts going through the rubrail, deck and hull holding everything together. It is not likely that this is the cause but... If it is, you definately need to rebed that puppy! If you get leaks at stantions, etc, it would be good to rebed them all isnce they are all the same age. Another possible area is the mast-step. I don't know how likeli tyhis is because it may be uphill from where the area is but it is a place to test. In general, this is a likely cause of problems since there are many holes for screws and wires inside and there is a lot of downward pressure from the mast at this point. Look carefully to see if the deck is perfectly flat here. Any depression means that there is a leak and you should have it fixed with new wood backing / support. This is not an area to treat flippantly as there are a lot of pressures here.

Good luck, get it done and go sailing!

Tod