Sabre 28 water incursion

[Sabre Dan]

I purchased a Sabre 28(1980 hull #470, Mark II) about a year ago, I kept it on a mooring las summer and it was dry all summer. I Hauled it out in the fall. Only one snowfall landed on it. I discovered she had taken on quite a bit of water(over the floorboards. I pumped it out and found her taking on water after rainfall. Are the deadlights(4 of them) the culprits. I know that saber puts out a window detail on the 28 and Bomon of Canada has templates for new windows. Any thoughts? help?
Dan

[mm2187]

I would spray the topsides down with a hose and go looking for the leak.

[Tempest]

Agree with mm, you're going to have to spray one area at a time to determine where the water is coming from.

I believe the 28 is deck stepped, I get some water through the mast on my keel stepped. Not much I can do about that.

I had a few other leaks that I went hunting for when I purchased my 34. The two culprits that I found and remedied were the Cabin top rails. I removed them, drilled a larger hole ( no larger than the base of the rail circumference dug out any wet balsa, repotted the holes with epoxy and and remounted the rails.

The other source was the chainplate penetrations. Which I now rebed at least every two seasons. I removed all the chainplates one season, dug everything out and re-bedded.
Now I just lift the deck plates about every other season and rebed from the deck, using 101.

At 1st I thought it was the ports, or the track for the genoa sheet fair leads. In Hindsight, I should have looked at the top rails and chainplates first.
The thing was that the leaks from the rails appeared around the ports and under the tracks. The water travels until it finds an outlet. Might not be your source, but I might start there.

[Sabre Dan]

Thank you, Tempest and mm! It's going to be a nice weekend without rain. Lokks like I'm gonna have to get a hose to the boat and spray her down. I've decided to remove the grab rails anyway, since it's niot that tough of a job. would you recommend 3M 4200 as a bedding compound?
Dan

[riphonda]

Sabre Dan,

I bought a 28 a few years back (im in Ma too...) and rebuilt the boat. I found that I was getting water intrusion all along the hull/deck joint due to the bedding compound having squashed out of the joint long ago. I also happened to get alot of water in through the anchor locker as the bottom isn't solid glass, it is glass over plywood. The bonding between the two was allowing rain water in through the bow and down into the bilge. I would focus on these areas as all these boats were built the same.

To remedy this issue I refiberglassed the anchor locker with new ply and lots of glass/ epoxy and I also removed all bungs from the toe rail and retightened the hull deck joint.

Good luck.

Brendan.

[Sabre Dan]

Thanks, Brendan!! Where are you in MA? I am interested in getting a group of Sabre owners together.
Dan

[Tempest]

Originally Posted by Sabre Dan

Thank you, Tempest and mm! It's going to be a nice weekend without rain. Lokks like I'm gonna have to get a hose to the boat and spray her down. I've decided to remove the grab rails anyway, since it's niot that tough of a job. would you recommend 3M 4200 as a bedding compound?
Dan

Dan

I'll defer any advice on bedding compounds to the experts. I used 3m 101 on my hand rails. Whether or not it was the best choice, I honestly don't know.
I had a tube of it on hand it seems to work well on my chainplate covers, keeping leaks out.

A quick look at the characteristics of 4200, appear to make it suitable for the application, but I would check with the pros. There are a few here.

[Sabre Dan]

Tempest;
Thanks once again for good advice. I am very impressed witrh this site. Lots of genuine help and information. I am not a novice boater, but no one has every answer nor has anyone encountered every problem.
Dan