Kinda makes you shake your head, huh?:eek: I have to say that my PO was an absolute saint. Being a metalurgist and scientist, he was really on top of the maintenance and I have worked hard to do the same. He moved on to a 42 and I'm just waiting for him to sell it. LOL, not really.

Unfortunately, I never found the source of the leak around the outside of my mast step which soaked my teak a few times. I drilled a small hole through to the bilge in the little reservoir around the mast step to keep it drained. I hope someday the next owner doesn't come here and ask why I did that. :D

Mike

Nick
I had the same leak problem on Caprice and fixed it the same way you did. I also had a leaky hose connection on my rear shower at the swim platform which I fixed the same way.

I guess as our boats get older, like us old guys, we develope plumbing problems and in most cases they are repairable.

Hmmmm, I am scratching my head as to why he drilled the hole in the first place. Was there water present?

Mike and Mike,
I think there is supposed to be a hole near the base of the mast to drain water from the small catch basin into the bilge. On several C36's I've been on, they've all had that hole, and I'm pretty sure the owner didn't drill it. Possibly it was overlooked on your boats at the factory???

Mine has a pair of small holes at the forward end of the step area, to drain water. Spiders like to plug them. I get a lot of mud in the water coming from the mast step weep holes, which I assume is from the mud dauber wasps, which build nests all over the boat, inside and out. I use a paper clip to poke through the mud from time to time to ensure water is getting out of the mast step. I had the mast pulled a year ago and the end was in great shape.

As to annoying things: this wasn't the PO (bought the boat new), but the dealer. They installed VHF and TV antennas at the top of the mast prior to delivery. When I had the mast pulled, I needed to disconnect all of the wiring including the coax connectors for those antennas. When it came time to put them back together, I needed to replace the male connector for the TV antenna. Well, the installer had placed the connectors in the bilge. The coax cable was corroded for several inches, despite being tied well above any water. Ever try to solder corroded wire? Here's a hint, don't bother. I wound up having to cut back within a few inches of the mast before I could get clean wire and solder on the new connector. I had visions of having to pull the mast again and run new coax, which would NOT have made me happy. I also redid the VHF connector, so that both are now right by the mast, safely away from any moisture.

A minor annoyance, but you'd think professionals would do a better job, especially since it's a well known marina with a large, full time staff.

Nick,

Thanks for the picture of the hole, I have been wondering where to drill mine.

Two years ago I replumbed the head for fresh water, I installed a barbed tee in the cold water supply to the sink and routed it to the head with a check valve. The issue I had was that the sink supply line was a 3/8" line and what goes to the head was 1/2". I was unable to find a reducer or tee with the correct combination. I have fought this since installation, I initially put fusion tape around the 3/8" tee for the lav side and double clamped the hose. This was nice and dry but, if the water pressure was left on in the summer the hose would occasionaly blow off and my fresh water system would empty itself into the bilge, the fusion tape rounded the edge of the barbs to much for a secure fit. I reduced the amount of fusion tape and used heavier clamps and this prevented the blowouts but, I know have a slow drip in that area. This requires sponging dry the pocket in the bottom of the cabinet where your P.O. placed his hole.

Yes a perminent plumbing fix it the best course, but having any place on the boat that can trap water is not a great design as it creates a place for mold and worse may start a process of osmosis in the structure. Though you may look at this as a Rube Goldberg repair having a drain for any area that can trap water I see as a good disign.

[QUOTE=TomSoko;10926]Mike and Mike,
I think there is supposed to be a hole near the base of the mast to drain water from the small catch basin into the bilge. On several C36's I've been on, they've all had that hole, and I'm pretty sure the owner didn't drill it. Possibly it was overlooked on your boats at the factory???[/QUOTE]

There might be one around where I can't see, but it sure wasn't working. When I drilled mine, I "lined" it with a section of a soda straw from Subway (perfect fit), so now I have a friction-free flow into the bilge.

Mike

P-PO must have hit a reef at some point, which cracked the hull (I found a shoddy repair) and may have hastened 'the problem'.

(Sometimes the website seems to juggle the photos)

Photo 1: The clue, missed by the so called Surveyor. :confused: No wonder we had to have the rig tightened...
Photo 2: Investigations begin... Also some keel bolts to be replaced owing to corrosion.
Photo 3: The hidden problem inside the block under the mast step :eek: Also the hull was sagging away from the 'floors'. Interesting that the floors (ribs) were not only scarce, but the forward two were truncated and did not go full width.
Photo 4: The 'fix'. Had to be good because we were heading 1000 Nm to Tonga
Photo 5: All the bits going back in. They did a great job, it's hard to see the scars :)

Looks a million dollars now!

[QUOTE=Channel Islander;10945]Wow, Rob, that must have been horrible to have your boat torn up like that. Did insurance cover the repairs, or the surveyor?[/QUOTE]

"Horrible"? You got that right :( ...
No insurance help - because it wasn't us that ran aground and the rot would have happened slowly.
The surveyor didn't reply to my many phone calls, faxes, e-mails. Evidently he was on holiday in Australia at the time we found the problems and did not see my faxes, did not receive my e-mails and did not hear the voice mail messages I left on both his cell phone and landline! What a way to run a business... Any way, he denied it was something he should have found 18 months earlier and got away with it.

No we had to SKI on this one. ;)

[QUOTE=Channel Islander;10958]Is this a Kiwi NSFW acronym?

My surveyor was a waste of money too.

- nick[/QUOTE]

:) Sorry, SKI: Spend Kids' Inheritance.

NSFW?