When it rains, it pours!

When we purchased Harmony, we knew that there had been fresh water (i.e. rain) leakage over a significant amount of time.  We could smell the rotting plywood and we could see the damage to the galley sole.  What we didn't realize was how extensive the damage was.

Of course, once one pulls something apart, all sorts of information floods the senses.  The good thing is that the damaged areas could be either repaired or replaced.  The not so good thing was that we could not pinpoint all of the areas where leakage was occurring.

Now we did have some obvious hints!  Being on the boat after a rainstorm, I could clearly see the water running down the deck fill hoses.  I could watch the water drip off the deck drain connections.  Since the engine had been removed, it was easy to see that the cockpit floor through which the engine had been removed, was not sealed, as it leaked like a sieve in the rain.

Oh, the port lights, all 21 of the opening ports seemed to have a challenge with their gaskets.  This was particularly evident with the large opening ports on the port and starboard sides of the galley/dinette area.

I put a temporary seal on the leaking deck fills and sealed up the deck drain areas.  I also tightened the bolts holding the cockpit sole down.  That left the port light gaskets, but I seemed to have made a huge dent in the flooding.

I contacted a Westsail legend, Bud Talpin, from Worldcruiser Yacht Co.  Bud earned some of his legendary status during his management of the production of the iconic Westsail 32.  Anyway, Bud supports the owners of Westsails through his company and as a result of his deep knowledge of the boats.  Bud had inventory of the various sizes of gaskets I needed for the bronze ports on Harmony.  He shipped them quickly, and I was in business.

I focused on the opening ports in the Galley and Dinette since they were leaking so bad.  The new gaskets worked liked a charm.

However, I soon learned that I had not dealt with all of the sources of the leaks.  One day I went to the boat during a rainy period.  Once onboard, I noticed a steady dripping down the now exposed sides of the inside hull.  WTH!  So, I peered up into the bulwark spaces and to my horror, I witnessed almost every screw used to hold down the cap rail dripping water.

The inside of the bulwark and the leaky screws

SOB! (that son of a buccaneer, by the way!)  Hmmm, none of the bungs on cap rail were missing or loose.  the sealant between the deck and hull joint seemed not only secure, but in good shape.  So, I stared out the starboard galley ports as the rain poured down.  Why, why, why????

For an instant I focused on the rounded over edge of the caprail, and something caught my eye.  So I peered more closely, and there it was!  As the rain rolled off the caprail and around its rounded edge it kept going into what seemed to be a space between the caprail and the hull/deck flange.  Then it hit me, the caulking between the caprail and the hull/deck flange was not longer doing its job or missing entirely.

Such nice caprails! 

OK, how hard can it be to caulk that space, huh"  Let's see, inboard and outboard down both sides or roughly 180 plus feet, a good caulking gun, and some sealant.  Bingo, Easy!  I should be able to do this in no time,  Like everything involved in a boat restoration, we'll see.

Fair Winds and Following Seas!