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National One-design Cruiser/Racer

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Leaking Main Hatch

26th January 2009

mark_herrington

26th January 2009 at 8:44 AM

Hello,

Over the course of last season, water in the bilge and under the cushions was an issue which, whilst not signifcant to the stability of the boat, was not exactly pleasant, so on Saturday, as recommended by people posting here, we did the hosepipe operation on all of the deck fittings.

No leaks found except when we directed water at the main sliding hatch (whilst standing at the mast) where signficant water seems to come under the forward lip of the hatch and into the cabin. This then finds it’s way down, under the cushions and into the bilge. During the season, jonpanda is on a swinging mooring and clearly swings into the wind and consequently rain water/ spray could be driven in through this area.

Looking at the suppliers list on this website, I note that Seals Direct supply a vast range of seals and one of these might be the answer.

I was wondering whether anyone else has experienced this problem and, if so, what was their solution/ what type of seal did they fit?

Thanks for any help you can give.

Mark

jonpanda GBR 8088N

Tom Vallois

26th January 2009 at 7:02 PM

Hi Mark,

I have had exactly the same problem, I just rubbed a thin layer of vasaline around the rubber seal, it seems to be working. I’m only trusting it as a temporary. You leak may be worse but it could be worth a try.

Tom V

JSY

mark_herrington

26th January 2009 at 9:28 PM

Tom,

Thanks for this. Issue is that we don’t have any rubber seals on the main sliding hatch. Does everyone else and if so, any pictures/ description.

thanks

Mark

jonpanda

GBR8088N

Kaatje Flodder

27th January 2009 at 9:15 AM

Tom,

Thanks for this. Issue is that we don’t have any rubber seals on the main sliding hatch. Does everyone else and if so, any pictures/ description.

My boat doesn’t have rubber seals either, but i only experience leaks in heavy upwind stretches or when scrubbing the deck. I could do with a solution for this as well though.

Tim Owen

29th January 2009 at 10:28 PM

Hi,

I’v had several leaks over the years – one shroud plate leaked water behind the ply facing and onto the cabin seats, but was fairly easy to find – I now have neat cutouts and a bead of sealant in the ply around the shround plates so no nasty surprises!

Last season I had wet patches in the forecabin cushions and found water leaking out of the end of the glassed deck beam that runs in front of the forehatch. I’m pretty sure that this was coming in through the hull-deck joint as we had been beating into a lumpy sea and strong wind for hours off Land’s End, so I’ll try to dig it out and re-seal it.

We don’t have any seals on the main hatch and while I can see that a hose would push water into the cabin, I suspect you would see it happening if it really was THAT wild when sailing (hasn’t happened to me yet , thankfully). My guess is that its somewhere else, most likely the hull-deck joint (unless you hosed that upwards for a long time). Anybody have any good tips for re-doing the hull-deck joint?

Tim

George Jack

1st February 2009 at 9:16 AM

Hi Tim,

I have recently renewed my hull deck joint.

I removed all the old filler with a chisel and renewed it with a two part marine filler.

Not much to it really.

When applying the new filler it would be neater/easier if you run a strip of masking tape along the hull immediately below the level of the joint.

That way you could simply peel off any excess instead of having to sand it off as I did.

Regards,

George Jack

Tim Owen

2nd February 2009 at 4:34 PM

Thanks Jack – will do that this year.

I realised that the leaking Mark’s main hatch query was about rain ingress not sailing – I remembered I had a leaking window that didn’t show up when I hosed it, but did sometimes drip quite fast in the rain – I think it was on the bottom of the window – I put a bit of silicone sealant on it and meant to fix it properly, but haven’t as it has stopped leaking and I forgot about it. I do have a rain problem with my main hatch if it manages to open a bit while towing as the overhang is almost nothing – another job for the future was to put a deflector strip on th back of the hatch to take the drips well clear.

Tim

Filed Under: Archives, Forum Archive, IPB Archive

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