Thanks to everyone who responded to my questions and gave suggestions.
We did try the garden hose over the boat, that's how we found the
leak in the lazarette. And similarly that's how we know the
centerboard pendant tube (what a mouthful!) is not the culprit, even
though there was a small amount of water leaking down over the
electric panel, which we tried to fix by caulking the handrails, etc.
around the outside of the cabin.
I didn't realize that I had, in fact, taken off the port covers after
we arrived here and all of our water woes started. I have put them
back on, and lo and behold, no water in through the front ports! I
sort of mentally kicked myself for that one.
The interesting thing we found concerned the hole in the cockpit
floor in which the table leg fits. Upon arriving here, the cap for
that was found to be falling apart, so I pitched it. Again, that's
in the time frame where all our water woes started. One day, for no
good reason other than I was tired of emptying the hole of water
every time it rained, I covered the hole up with a bucket to keep the
rain water out. Have not had ANY water in the bilge or lazarette
since then!!
We have removed the hardware in preparation for re-caulking it and
the plywood just underneath the cockpit floor is wet. We are drying
it out before re-caulking. General Boats no longer makes covers for
the hole, so I'm not sure how we're going to cover it, maybe keep the
bucket there when not sailing? So we're hoping this is our culprit!
We will probably replace the hoses in the lazarette just on general
principles.
Debbie Reichert
24 Feb 1999
