HELP! Mystery leak is flooding my boat!

[Kiltmadoc]

I posted this in the C&C section as well, but if anyone has ideas over here, please let me know.

Posting with pictures:

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/c-c/77...tml#post762848

[erps]

Wonder if you could pressurize the interior of the boat (by closing it up and sticking the exhaust side of a shop vac into the cabin using lots of towels/rags to seal around the hose) and then look for the source of the leak on the outside with soapy water.

[emoney]

I think part of the problem is that you're focusing on where the drips are. Odds are, that's just where the water exits. I'd suspect it's coming in through handrails, or something else that's installed where a screw goes through the cabin top. Water looks for the path of least resistance, so never assume where the drip exits is indicative of where it's entered.

[TQA]

Originally Posted by erps

Wonder if you could pressurize the interior of the boat (by closing it up and sticking the exhaust side of a shop vac into the cabin using lots of towels/rags to seal around the hose) and then look for the source of the leak on the outside with soapy water.

Be very carefull if you do this not to let the pressure inside the boat build up. The forces created by even 1lb of overpressure are enough to do structural damage.

[hellosailor]

What erps said.

TQA, you simply CAN"T CAUSE STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO A BOAT with a shopvac or leaf blower. Please, don't repeat nonsense as fact.

I've done this multiple times on multiple boats and unless you've borrowed the jet turbine engine from a ski area's snow-blowing system, you can't hurt a thing on the boat.

Doc, if you pressurize the boat and throw soapy water on deck, you'll see biubbles blowing from the place where the water gets in. Which may be yards from where it is running out below.

Just be careful, a soapy deck can be incredibly slick. Don't ask me why I know that.

[albe1066]

Hi

We had a similar problem with our C&C 32. We found the leak(s) to be the companion way cover. Removed and re bedded the cover. The cover is where the companion way top slides under. We discovered it was leaking by using a hose around the grooves that drain water. Good luck..


cheers
-allen

[Kiltmadoc]

Originally Posted by albe1066

Hi

We had a similar problem with our C&C 32. We found the leak(s) to be the companion way cover. Removed and re bedded the cover. The cover is where the companion way top slides under. We discovered it was leaking by using a hose around the grooves that drain water. Good luck..


cheers
-allen

That's my suspicion as well. Thanks for the advice. Did you use butyl tape or caulking to seal the screw holes?

[albe1066]

I think we used 101 on our C&C. That was our sealant of choice back then. However, thanks to Mainesail's advice on this forum we will use Butyl Tape for any leaks on our current boat. We purchased 4 rolls of the tape from Mainesail..

Before we discovered the companion way cover we looked at rails, mast ... It wasn't that much work to reseal the cover once you removed all of those screws. I hope you solve the leak.

cheers
-allen

[BigNige]

Originally Posted by erps

pressurize the interior of the boat... and then look for the source of the leak on the outside with soapy water.

What a good idea.