taking on water below deck -- how much is normal?

cowswillbecows

New Member
My 14.2 is on a mooring this season. I bought it last year and this is the first year in the water for it. It seems it is taking on some water whilst on the mooring, enough now that I'm going to have to take the boat out of the water to open the drain and dry it out. The fact that there is a drain plug suggests that some amount of water leeching in might be normal, but I wonder about other people's experiences with this. My boat is now wallowing too much to sail and has to be drained. Its been on the mooring for about five to six weeks. Is this nromal?

And, to drain it, I'm going to fetch my trailer and haul it out then put it back. Are there any other procedures that might not require the trailer?

Thanks,

Tim
 
I had a problem with water that came in through the deck or floor when it rained or when sailing hard and spray came into the boat. I silicone sealed every possible fitting and place where water might have gone through the floor and that solved the problem right away and it never happened again. Perhaps not your problem, but something you shouldn't overlook because the fix was easy.
 
My 14.2 is on a mooring this season. I bought it last year and this is the first year in the water for it. It seems it is taking on some water whilst on the mooring, enough now that I'm going to have to take the boat out of the water to open the drain and dry it out. The fact that there is a drain plug suggests that some amount of water leeching in might be normal, but I wonder about other people's experiences with this. My boat is now wallowing too much to sail and has to be drained. Its been on the mooring for about five to six weeks. Is this nromal?

And, to drain it, I'm going to fetch my trailer and haul it out then put it back. Are there any other procedures that might not require the trailer?

Thanks,

Tim
use a small sump pump or bilge pump to pump water from the bilge at the front of the boat. The area of the bilge immediately inside the cuddy access is the lowest point of the bilge.
 
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The water accumulating in the hull of my 14.2 has turned out to be more than just leeching seams. The boat would probably sink left on the mooring for 7 weeks. At 4 weeks it sits deep and is radically unstable. So I hauled it out and drained it again last weekend and now need to deal with the leak. Looking at the hull whilst the boat is trailered it appeared to me that there is a slow pulsing drip coming from the centerboard well. I'll do further inspection soon but in the meantime I was wondering what one does about a leak in the centerboard well. Would it be possible to repair a crack in that recessed area?
Haven't been able to find any technical information on this type of repair or the construction of the 14.2 in that area of the boat.

All thoughts welcome!

Thanks,

Tim
 
I have the some problem with water in the hull and drips from the centerboard well on the trailer. Any suggestions how to fix this?
Thank you
 
I don't know if its fixed yet but I've used aquamend on two possible points on the hull where water might have been coming and a srew hole in the centerboard well. I haven't been able to launch yet to find out if these fixes worked. Fingers crossed.
 
I had a leak last season and discovered that it was due to some of the screws that hold the centerboard gasket in place were missing or loose. I made sure all the screws were in place and used silicone to ensure a watertight seal. No problems since.
 
The first step is to determine where the water is getting into the boat; through the top or bottom? If it is through the top it is probably due to loose screws or poor bedding in the deck hardware. If it is through the bottom you can put around five gallons of water into the bilge and then see where it is leaking out. If it can leak in then it can leak out unless it only leaks under the stress of sailing in high wind. Most likely you will find loose screws below the water line or perhaps a small seemingly insignificant stress crack that opens up a little when the boat is under way. The solution is likely to reseal the screws as mentioned above or do a typical fiberglass repair. I find that a stress crack is best sealed from the inside rather than the outside. By installing a patch inside the hull you will not affect the gelcoat.

If the leak small and hard to determine just where the water is leaking out then you can use a little talcum powder to trace the leak (small drip) back to its origin. I often see small cracks where the transom meets the bottom. It seems that from time to time boats accidentally slide off of the trailer when unloading allowing them to hit the ground and creating small cracks that seep water.

Good luck - let us know what you find.
 
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this is the reason. there a 2" crack at the rear end of the trunk . Any idea how to fix it?

Thank you
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this is the reason. there a 2" crack at the rear end of the trunk . Any idea how to fix it?

Thank you
View attachment 17862 View attachment 17863
I would contact the Tech Support group at West Systems. I've done a lot of fiberglass work over the years, but their job is to "play" with epoxy all the time. They will help you, step by step. From what it looks like, you will need to grind down the hull a little (or at least sand it to rough up some), lay up the glass with a layer or two, then feather it out to make it nice and smooth and strong.
 

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