Holes in my cabin liner

[jjrunning]

I went over to the boat this afternoon and pounded around... nothing soft anywhere on the hull outside or the deck above. It all sounded good and felt firm. I'll shoot the hose at it when it gets warmer to try to find the water source.

When I find the source, what's the best material to rebed it in? Say it was a stanchion or the bow pulpit... What should I use to rebed it?

[mitiempo]

Usually when you get brown water leaking it means the core in the deck is rotten around the leak. If that's the case you have to remove the rotted core as far as it extends and replace it with new, using epoxy and fiberglass cloth or biaxial cloth to replace the upper skin. The bolt holes should be through solid epoxy to stop it happening again. For bedding the stanchion or whatever butyl tape is one of the best choices or 3M 4200 or Sikaflex 291.
The hull is solid glass without core and except for the hull/deck join there couldn't be a leak there. Most likely the stanchion as they suffer a bit as people pull on them with a lot of leverage.

[sailingdog]

One issue is that leaks can travel a long way before coming out someplace. You really need to find where the actual leak through the deck is, and it may not be anywhere near those holes. The brown color may be that it is passing through the cored section of the deck and the core, either marine plywood or balsa, has started to rot.

[Gladrags1]

Once you find the leak, I like to use Life Caulk to bed fittings in. It is easy to work with and can be seperated if you need to remove the fitting. Good luck with the hose. I think your most likely culprits are the stantion, pulpit or mast step.

Tod

[sailingdog]

Given that the leak is on the cabin wall, on the interior of the hull, and apparently below the hull deck join—which is probably just above the horizontal teak trim strip shown in the photo—it could well be the hull deck join.

The stanchions are also a common leak source. However, I doubt it is the mast step, as the mast step is probably further aft and would show a leak in the overhead material before making it all the way to the hull that far forward.

[eherlihy]

Originally Posted by jjrunning

I went over to the boat this afternoon and pounded around... nothing soft anywhere on the hull outside or the deck above. It all sounded good and felt firm. I'll shoot the hose at it when it gets warmer to try to find the water source.

When I find the source, what's the best material to rebed it in? Say it was a stanchion or the bow pulpit... What should I use to rebed it?

I would suggest a Polysulfide-based sealant, like LifeCaulk or 3M 101. This link should get you started on selecting the right sealant; http://www.anything-sailing.com/mari...light=nutshell

Here is another thread (on SailNet) that addresses the exact issue. http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-m...tml#post297948