After a sail from SF Bay to Half Moon Bay, my wife noticed some water in the hanging locker on the starboard side, the one right behind the v-berth. I looked and saw a few drops. It was salt water. My thoughts are that it could have come from a hatch, from one of the stanchions for the safety line or from the attachment point for the shroud. Any other ideas or ways to tell?
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SF Bay
1998 C36
John, I've written many times over on co.com that "Smells, sounds and leaks are almost impossible to help with on the internet." [[COLOR="Red"]To that I'd add electrical systems: I no longer discuss anything electrical without a wiring diagram![/COLOR]] Your excellent work on the port shroud and chainplate should make you an expert on that issue. The ports are a "traditional" leaker and I don't know if you've had any prior experience with others of them on your boat. You've identified everything that's up there that I can think of, other than a missing or loose rub rail bolt. Take 'em one at a time. Your photos were great, only wish there was one of the 40 foot visibility - it just looked to darned clear in the harbor!:)
Stu Jackson, C34IA Secretary, C34 #224, 1986, SR/FK, M25 engine, Rocna 10 (22#)
John I had the same problem. On port tack. The water was coming in through the anchor locker. When on a heal water will work its way UP through the top of the locker. Look for spaces it might come in. It would then travel behind the anchor locker and wood panel at the foot of bunk. At that point it will pool and seep through. Look for damage to this wood piece. It then traveled below the bedding and seeps through the joint at the locker. THE FIX ,#1 Fill the anchor locker holes , #2 pull the board off and water prof it."at this point I drilled drain holes to the V-berth locker" #3 silicone the board back into place.
[QUOTE=stu jackson c34;2495]John, I've written many times over on co.com that "Smells, sounds and leaks are almost impossible to help with on the internet." Your excellent work on the port shroud and chainplate should make you an expert on that issue. The ports are a "traditional" leaker and I don't know if you've had any prior experience with others of them on your boat. You've identified everything that's up there that I can think of, other than a missing or loose rub rail bolt. Take 'em one at a time. Your photos were great, only wish there was one of the 40 foot visibility - it just looked to darned clear in the harbor!:)[/QUOTE]
Stu: I wish I'd taken a photo of the fog too, but it was my first time trying to enter a harbor in such extremely restricted visibility and all three of us were really concentrating on that, especially since there are rocks on either side entering there. The photos of the bay were taken the following day.
As to the leak - I think I'll just try to reseat everything around that area - stanchions, etc. since the boat is 10 years old and I doubt any of it has ever been reseated before (except the chain plate, which I did after we bought it). I don't know how you go about removing and reseating the port, but if I can't figure it out, you can be sure you'll hear from me. (By the way, my wife says she always finds a little dampness on the sink in the head - almost exactly opposite the hanging locker. I haven't given that the taste test yet.
SF Bay
1998 C36
John, you have Lewmars. I don't, but i have a friend with a Mark II C34 who is the "master" of fixing Lewmars. Before you do anything, wait until I post some links to his posts on our board about his ports.
Stu Jackson, C34IA Secretary, C34 #224, 1986, SR/FK, M25 engine, Rocna 10 (22#)
John, this is what I remembered, see the last post. If you need any more info, I can put you in touch with Ray by email.
[url]http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,2979.0.html[/url]
Stu Jackson, C34IA Secretary, C34 #224, 1986, SR/FK, M25 engine, Rocna 10 (22#)
Stu,
Thanks once more for your extreme helpfulness. One further question: If my ports are leaking, would I necessarily see water on the inside around the port, or could it just be traveling down inside the hull of the boat and out the hanging locker? My experience in carpentry would lead me to suspect that it could be the second - water once it enters something (like a roof, eg.) can run all kinds of crazy places and come out somewhere completely different.
SF Bay
1998 C36
Could show up many places. My previous boat had plywood core in the side decks and cabintop, but the cabin sides had nothing but air in between the exterior and the liner. When the windows leaked, water would pool against the plywood core in the deck, and run aft until it found an escape point, which usually happened to be the screw holes holding the llight fixture in the galley. Very difficult to trace but I figured it out eventually. Not sure where the water would run in a Catalina 36, but I imagine I will find out!
Jason V
Vancouver, BC, Canada
[QUOTE=John Reimann;2510] One further question: If my ports are leaking, would I necessarily see water on the inside around the port, or could it just be traveling down inside the hull of the boat and out the hanging locker? [/QUOTE]
John, always my pleasure. Nimue is right, could go all over the place. I'm just not that familiar with your ports, so can't give you much more detail than the references I can provide.
This following link has probably more information than you can possibly need or want, but does discuss Mark II voids and shows a picture of our cabintop void at a port forward Beckson portlight. [url]http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,3601.0.html[/url]
Good luck finding your gremlin!
Stu Jackson, C34IA Secretary, C34 #224, 1986, SR/FK, M25 engine, Rocna 10 (22#)
Thanks for the other links, Stu. I'll go out to the boat tomorrow and take a few photos of the ports and post them here, if it's not immediately obvious to me how to remove them.
SF Bay
1998 C36
John,
If it does turn out to be your ports, and your Catalina is pre-1998, see my post on Leaky Lewmars for instructions on how to replace the ports.
Dave
Dave
Ballena 1995 Mk II #1445
yes, you are right, Stu, they're Lewmars and it's pretty obvious how to remove them. There's a plastic trim piece on the inside that pulls off, and behind that are some screws. I suppose once I remove one of them I will be able to see if it's been leaking. One detail that's different from home/land construction: When sealing a window on a house, you don't seal the bottom so that if any water does get in, it can run out the bottom. But on a boat, since you can get water splashing UP, I assume you have to caulk the bottom also.
SF Bay
1998 C36