Water leaking through hole, outlined in red, but where is it coming from?
Leak
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MacGregor 26M 2009 - Sky's the Limit - Suzuki DF50
Tue, 21/03/2017 - 10:26pm
#1
mike.floutier
Leak above rear berth
This is the liner for rear starboard quarter of m. Could drain to here from any build up in that quarter but I would have thought water that any water ingress from sides would have drained down carpet lined surface so I think ingress must be into rear floatation area. There is a bung into engine well that may be missing. Check inspection hatch is secure. Check integrity of seal along rubber buffer .consider ingress through hole for rudder downhaul.
My boat has has a lot of water ingress probe to rear starboard berth that I eventually traced to a breech I'd the upper and lower deck seal together with the sealant of the rubber buffer strip. It took me 2 years of mopping out my boat and I eventually solved it by applying a liquid sealant for sealing fine cracks and seeing it disappear down a hole till it eventually stopped. If it has recurred I have popped a bit more on. It beats pulling the hole strip off to reseal.
I've also had a window drip that I have sealed with the same stuff applied to the screws. There is one product called creepy cracking cure that is white but I had better luck with another product ...called hydro something.
Toilet area also. Maybe more do to additional damp but check not flush water leakage.
Remember if whole boat is damp it will reconvene anywhere. Also rear bed drains though a hole into battery compartment!and then into central floor area so causing mystery wet floor.
Happy hunting.
Roly
Thanks Roly, it really helps to be able to chat these things through.
I agree that any ingress through the deck/hull joint will always run down the carpeted inside of the hull to the carpeted runnels at the edges of the lower hull liner.
Most other leaks in the deck (including the engine well area etc) will naturally drip onto the one of the three interlocked pieces of the deck liner.
One point to bear in mind when tracing leaks is that they will always flow in the direction of least resistance which generally means downwards. Hence it's always important to consider the relative heights of different areas and also the (sometimes varying) slopes involved.
I would also mention that the the centre deck liner allows water to run straight out onto the carpeted hull side WHEREAS the rear deck liner has a quite a reasonable lip which effectively channels any ingress to the lowest level of the liner.
At this point my understanding has yet to catch up with my experience since the water level in the liner, at the point of my (red circled) leak in the picture is about an inch above the bottom of the liner. Why doesn't it simply drain down to the next lower level of the liner and eventually overflow the liner into the bilge at the back of the boat.
I guess I'll stop there and think it through a little more.
MacGregor 26M 2009 - Sky's the Limit - Suzuki DF50
Another place towards the rear I had water ingress was via the hole for the bolt that secures the internal ca let fixing point. It goes through the deck and liner and I kept finding there was play and hence leakage causing a drip onto rear bedding and well. That could conceivably such offor sideway to gather behind liner. Check for a drip off the internal nut. I had to apply a wodge of sealant to deck and fit an extra locking nut to get that seal tight.
Roly
Thanks Roly, not sure what you were referring to as it's been corrupted to "ca let". Did you mean the big Philips headed domed bolts in the engine well. I'll have look but they are below my leak's level and so could not be a culprit.
Another possibility I thought of is the fittings in the fuel tank spaces that retain the tank retaining straps. These are screwed through the deck material. Also, because the boat has been stored on a side slope, when I karchered the deck this area was submerged and remained so for several days; something that couldn't happen normally as the water would just run out.
i have wondered about the rudder down haul holes. The starboard one was enlarged when I failed to raised it on the half tide mooring one day; only a small amount but enough to let more water in.
I'm planning to get a small tube to syphon out the remaining water in the liner cavity, having sealed up all the holes. Will be interesting to see how much there is.
MacGregor 26M 2009 - Sky's the Limit - Suzuki DF50
Hi, Mike.
Hope to get down to Flushing soon to visit the family. Fancy a beer and exchange of experiences?
I don't have any straps to retain the fuel tanks so perhaps this is a mod by a PO. I would certainly start here, if it were me.
I sometimes get ingress between the hatch cover but only in certain very windy wet weather. Solved this with a strip of polythene.
Have had no problem with rudder holes but when launching water gets in through the steering link hole but that is only when launching. I now get hoisted in and out (simply because I don't have a suitable vehicle and the yard insists on the hoist.) Somewhere on this website is a reference to a grommet or rubber washer or similar which seals the hole and stops that annoying squeaking
Roly, could you try and expand on hydro something or the other. I am just about to strip a window and re-seal and mount it. You could save me many hours of angst and bad language.
Mike has some magic tape which might do this and many other jobs. Can you remind me what it is and where to get it please.
Thanks
Simon
OK. Will look in the boat for the stuff this weekend.
Meanwhile for fuel tank restrains see my mods section on website. The bungee and netting works really well both to hold take and also all the other gear one cares to stash in the locker area. Can just pop charts or horns or drinks behind the net while under way.
Roly
Hi Simon, yes great idea for a beer, let me know when your coming and we'll fix it up; could come out for a spin in the Mac if you fancy it.
I agree about leaky launching. I've only launched the once, being on a mooring, and wondered where the water in the aft bilges had suddenly appeared from.
Am aiming for a gentle launch this year using a rope and the tow hitch as low as possible in an attempt to keep the vulnerable areas of the stern above the water.
As well as the steering link hole I understand that the lower rudder rope holes are also vulnerable, being effectively stand pipes open both to the bottom of the hull and the inside of the aft bilge area. Basically if the water level outside the boat is high enough it will overtop said standpipes INSIDE the boat. Another good reason for a gentle horizontal launch.
On the subject of sealing tape, I've found butyl tape excellent, it seals well and remains soft so no drying/cracking.
MacGregor 26M 2009 - Sky's the Limit - Suzuki DF50
Regards the sealant liquid .it is called hydrosol creepy crackseal .made by burgess Marine. Based in Rotherham. I bought it in force 4 I think.
Roly
Mike - just to let you know I've moved your post into a forum topic instead of a photo gallery. The forum is better for anything intended to become a discussion (even though you can post comments on other page types). Photo galleries are good for posting a collection of photos, rather than just one.
You can attach a photo to any forum post or reply - see the Attachments section at the bottom when editing the page.
Thanks
Rick Jones (Treasurer), former 26X & 19 owner, Isle of Wight
Thanks Rick, didn't realise that.
MacGregor 26M 2009 - Sky's the Limit - Suzuki DF50