I've noticed that after a period of heavy rain there is a collection of water up to around 1/2" that pools just aft of the mast step for around 5' or so aft. As far as I know there is no water getting down there from a portlight or from a through-hull or the head since for the present I have no running water in the head basin. In summer/dry months there is never any water down there. I was told today that this water is somehow getting down the inside of the mast even though my halyards are all on blocks attached to the mast, not led in and out through sheaves. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Happy holidays to all.
Mark
hi
had the same problem, mine was water leaking down the chain plate/deck seal behind the cupboard in the heads
also when i looked the one behind the wardrobe was damp as well
Ok, I'll check these spots. Thanks. I just had the cabinet panels off last week, but didn't see any water. But it's been raining a lot since then. I'll look in the locker in the v-berth. Look in them all for that matter.
M
Hey....I have the same mystery water in and around the base of the mast. But I also have a mystery leak that is dripping through the hole made for the electrical wires that hooks to the light above my nav table. It has to be seeping through the core on the deck somehow.....anyone else every solve this mystery? Billy
It's coming down the inside of the mast. Mast is open at the top and water gets in there when its a hard rain or a blow
Randy, I guess I need to get up the mast sometime soon and take a look, as here in the SF bay area we are getting a lot of heavy rain. Any suggestions about how to prevent the water entry? I read in a cruising book of mine that using a big glob of modeling clay, the kind kids play with, is a great way to plug the anchor chain pipe to prevent water getting into the chain locker.
If you have water coming in anywhere besides down the mast, it is time to start re-bedding your deck components. Water dripping from the dome light in the nav station could be leaks at the screws that secure the mainsheet deck blocks. You must remember that with each tack, those fasteners load in the opposite direction, so if there is any movement it will get worse with every tack. It could be your sea hood fasteners. Any water getting in would drop down on to the inner liner and find its way to the lowest spot, perhaps the nav station dome light wire hole.
When I bought the boat the lenses on both sides of the boat in the nav and galley locations were full of water. Since then everything on deck has been removed and re-bedded and as a result no more leaks. If your ports are leaking and the water lays in the inner liner, its is going to find some source of release.
The top of the mast is not open, the masthead closes the top of the extrusion. That being said, if the masthead assembly is not sealed to the top of the spar extrusion, rain water can follow the masthead cap under the lip and down the inside of the mast. It would have to be a real driving, wind whipped rain, to enter the halyard sheave openings but the water could roll under and drop down the extrusion as well. Water streaming down the outside of the spar could also be entering your steaming light wiring hole.
I would also inspect your mast to deck flange boot. Water maybe discouraged from entering around the flat part of the extrusion by the boot and the seal around the upper edge, but the luff groove is a natural rain gutter. If water was entering via the luff groove, you might have a very difficult time detecting water flowing inside the groove and into the bilge.
I learned long ago the best way to determine where water was entering a small sailboat like a Sunfish, Laser or Force 5, was to slightly pressurize the hull using the drain plug and a canaster vacuum cleaner in the blow mode. A little dish soap and water and a paint brush, and you are able to see bubbles in places you never thought existed let alone would ever leak. Perhaps a heavy duty box fan on steroids in the companionway opening, stuffed with rags, plugged into 220 vac power outlet would make it happen on a P365.
Good Sailing
Dale Tanski
Dale, you may have found it for me. My starboard v-berth and my head portlights have been leaking. I just realized that there is an empty space between the outer hull and the inside, molded liner. I think this must be where the water was getting in. While I wait for new gaskets and then re-bedding of the inner portlight frame, I have both of them securely covered with heavy plastic. There's more rain on the way, so I'll dry out the water that's below now and see what happens now that now water cannot leak in through the portlights. I'll post again when I know.
Best,
Mark