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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Standing water

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River Harley
Navigator

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132 Posts

Initially Posted - 10/26/2003 : 17:34:58

After a summer of exquisite sailing, two weeks ago we set forth on the task of preparing the boat for haul-out and dry storage. At that time we did the preliminary preps and checks, anticipating the actual haul-out scheduled for the following week. In the days to follow, Puget Sound experienced record breaking rainfall. Upon our return to the boat this past weekend, we found several inches of fresh water standing in the space just under the cabin floor where the keel bolts are located - an area that had heretofore been bone dry. I am wondering if this condition is normal following such storms. If so, I am just curious as to where the water finds its way in, and on to that area. Does this water damage the boat on its way to the bilge? My ignorance of boat construction leaves me with such questions.

River Harley

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Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 10/26/2003 : 20:25:48

Don't feel alone! Possibilities include window frames, stanchion bases, genoa tracks, cockpit drains, and anything else that pierces the external fiberglass. A popular method for narrowing down the possibilities is to go into the compartments below the quarterberth and settees, and also the sail locker (the "dumpster"), and draw lines with chalk across the inside of the hull in the areas where water may be migrating toward the bilge, perpendicular to the likely paths. (You probably have no access to the inside of the hull forward of the companionway on the starboard side.) After a serious rain, you may find some breaks in the chalk line, indicating a path where water has migrated to the bilge. The leak may be directly above that path, or it may be yards away, fore or aft, and migrating through the liners to a point where it can run down between the hull and its liner to the bilge.

The general solution on a boat at or above 10-15 years old is to rebed everything that goes through the cabintop or deck, and if the evidence suggests, re-seal the main salon windows by removing the exterior frames. The most important issue here is not water in the bilge--that's almost normal--it's water that may also be migrating into and through the deck and cabintop plywood cores, promoting rot inside. The cabintop and decks on the C-25 are plywoood cored--the hull is not.

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 10/26/2003 20:27:40

oldsalt
Admiral

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USA
578 Posts

Response Posted - 10/26/2003 : 22:33:43

It's likely that rain water ran down the exterior of your hatchboards, found its way under a corner of the hatchboards and ended up in your bilge. On the C 25, the hatchboards are angled rather than straight, as well as having ventilation slots both of which are great for allowing water to get down into the bilge after a very heavy rainfall. It's happened to me on occasion and I have absolutely no other leaks on my boat. A well placed bucket on the quarter berth under the corner of the hatchboards will sometimes fill with rainwater after very heavy rainfall. Some have installed a small piece of half round molding which is fitted on the top step tightly between the hatchboard slides, outside of the hatch boards in order to prevent this from happening, and have had good success but I find that to be a tripping hazard. I strongly doubt you have any other source for the several inches of water you have found in the bilge.

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matsche
Captain

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USA
280 Posts

Response Posted - 10/26/2003 : 23:24:18

I've had a lot of rain come in via hatchboards as well. As a solution, I used a cheap, $9 tarp from Home Depot to form a boom tent over my cabin top and tied it down to my life lines using quick release eye snap.

Keeps rain off my hatch boards and has the added benefit of keeping the UV rays off the teak. The tarp will only last about 6 months, but for the price, it's a bargin.

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 10/27/2003 : 10:25:04

We had a five inch rain a few weeks ago and it was the only time I have had water on my floor. It pooled in front of the galley but did not migrate to the bilge. I bought a used boom tent from a forum member, I am putting snaps on it to match the pattern of the pop-top tent. I ordered a snap kit from Defender that is a pair of vise grips with special jaws. I will fit the snaps one at a time and work my way around the cabin. It will protect my companionway and teak as well. I hope the boom tent holds up a while. I intend to use it as a boom tent as well. I can't afford a bimini.

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Raskal
Navigator

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USA
162 Posts

Response Posted - 10/27/2003 : 18:05:30

I also vote for looking at the hatchboards first. I was lucky enough to have inherited a Sunbrella hatchboard cover that snaps on top of the boards but still get rainwater through the front corners of the pop-top roof above them when a driving rain comes at an angle.

One other place I discovered recently was instrument cutout holes--my quarterberth light fixture kept filling with water and I had nightmares about a deep crack in the cockpit seats until I realized it was actually coming from the hole the depthfinder was screwed into!
recaulking solves that.

Rich Kokoska

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deastburn
Captain

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USA
334 Posts

Response Posted - 10/27/2003 : 19:05:57

As we move from summer into fall, and especially late fall, there is an additional source of moisture in the bilge that I have never seen touched on in this forum: condensation. The hull warms up in the daylight sun, and then cools off quickly at night, especially as the water moves from the 60's and 70's down through the 50's and 40's. Condensation on a boat the size of the C25 can contribute a half gallon a day. In a week that is three and a half gallons, seven in two weeks. So it may not just be the rain leeking in... I always leave two pails with plastic colanders filled with calcium chloride on the boat when I leave, and after a week I usually have gathered about a half gallon of precipitate. A dry bilge is rarer than an honest politician.

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.