Trying to Find Leaks

[Ldybg]

I have a leak(s) somewhere in the topsides, after heavy rains water finds its way into the boat.

Yesterday I tried to "pressurize" and scout out the leaks. I covered the anchor hole, dorade, engine vents and covered/taped the companionway. I placed a shop vac exhaust into one of the engine vents and let it run. On the dorade I placed a plastic bag & taped the bottom. If I was forcing air into the boat, this should blow up like a balloon, which it did.

I brushed soapy water around stanchions, hardware, everything. I expected to see bubbles growing in the soapy solution. I didn't!

Could I have not allowed the inside to completely pressurize? (I don't know how long I had the vac running, but it takes some time to go around all the hardware with a small brush)

I tried a second mix of soap & water with less mixing to reduce the bubbling of the solution, and still no luck.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Dennis

[Oswego John]

Add food coloring to water and apply liberally to suspected areas. You can use different coloring for different areas.

Good luck,
O J

[Joe Myerson]

Ldybg,

I have been finding some water in the bilge after certain kinds of rain storms. I traced much of the infiltration to the cockpit lockers.

If this is your problem, you supposedly can install gaskets around the locker hatches. In my case, I've just been living with the problem.

Good luck,

--Joe

[Ldybg]

Thanks for the tip Joe. Lockers may be a source, but unfortunately not the only one.

Dennis

[Steve Laume]

What a great idea! I never would have thought of a pressure test for the boat.

I had someone do a blower door test on my house years ago. It was an insert that fit into the door opening with an exhaust fan in it. This created a vacuum in the house. You then went around the house with a stick of incense and looked for air flow into the living space. I had never considered this for a boat but it might be a good way to find those leaks.

Raven always gains a slight amount of water in a hard rain. It was interesting to note that she did not take on water during Irene. The one thing I did that might account for this is that I taped up the anchor rode cover. I had eel grass all over the boat so she was taking water well over the cabin top and stayed dry. There might have been some minor drips around the weather boards but no significant accumulation in the bilge. All vents were also plugged but I suspect they are not a major problem under normal conditions.

I might have to hook up the shop vac this fall to tighten her up for the winter season, Steve.

[Joe Myerson]

Dennis,

Another possible source is the track for your genoa jib.

Rebedding the tracks could be a real PITA. I'd suggest trying OJ's colored-water test and pour some along the tracks.

Let's hope that is NOT the source of your leaks.

--Joe

[johnny of STORK]

ldybg -- If you didn't tape up the cockpit lockers, you wouldn't have built up much, if any, pressure inside the boat. As they are large sources of water ingress, they are also huge vents for air escape, if you are trying to keep it in.

Johnny

[camroll]

I found water leaking into my bilge several years ago. After much searching I finally discovered it was the clam shell vents. The rain would splash up into the clam shell dorades on the rear deck. I made 1" thick teak blocks and raised the shells up. Since then there has been no water in the bilge. Also I found that rain would splash in through the anchor hawse hole in the bowsprit. I made a teak cover for the hole which has since stopped that leak. Good luck

Russ

[Ldybg]

As Steve noted, I too had little water enter during Irene, in contrast to a few weeks prior we had a torrential rain & a good amount of water entered. My Irene prep included turning all vent openings aft (away from wind driven rain). I guess as Russ noted these vents are a prime entry way for water into the bilge.

Dennis

[Cathy Monaghan]

We had leaks at the base of each of the teak rails (I don't know what else to call them) that surround the opening at the top of the two cockpit lazarette's of our CD32. They are about 4 or 5 inches high and are completely covered by the lids when they are closed. This was fixed by applying liberal amounts of caulk both around the outside, which is REALLY difficult, and from the inside of the lazarettes as well.

Rain finds its way in via the two cowl vents on the stern which provide ventilation for the engine compartment. We don't do anything about that. It's not enough to sink the boat. Realization never has more than a couple inches of water in the bilge after a heavy rain.

We also had some leaking at the stern which was not from the cowl vents. Water was finding its way in beneath the caprail.

We got rid of ALL leaks from the toerails by using Capt. Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure. Make sure your boat is clean, clean, clean before you use this stuff. Anyway, it works great.

Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay