Leak in my cabin.... Help

[Gmanoffshore]

I just noticed water in the cabin on my 01 Islander and can't find the leak. The boat is trailer stored and the water appears to be rain related. After a good rain I find the carpet wet in the storage area to the left as you enter the cabin, it is where the stove would normally be. It does not appear to be the window but the only other thing I can think of would be a cleat or bow rail mount.
Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[gradyfish22]

You could try having someone spray water on that side of the hull and have someone inside the cabin to see where it might be entering. It most likely is leaking from a fitting, cleat or the window. Easiest way to fix this is find the culprit and caulk it up or use a marine sealent. It could be coming from a location higher up and draining inside the boat along the headliner and accumulating at that point. Could be the windshield mount.

 

[Gmanoffshore]

Well after pulling half of the cabin apart just to be able to barely feel the bow rail mounts it appears to be one of these. I was spraying water on the outside about the same time the post was going up to try that.
The question I have is why in the $@#& would Grady put thru bolted hardware on the bow rail when it is next to impossible to get to them.
I have no doubt it is stronger than just screws but how are you supposed to tighten them when they are loose and turn freely from the top with a screwdriver. As I stated before I have pulled most of the Star Board from the Port side of the cabin and unless my arm grows 6 inches I will not be able to reach the nuts to tighten them let alone take them off to reseal the whole thing.

 

[megabytes]

Good news bad news deal.

Through bolted may be hard to get to but they hold way better and can take vibration, pressure from grabbing the rail, etc.

 

[gradyfish22]

The thru bolts are the way to go, only problem is, they should not be coming loose. They should have been fastened tight enough, along with a sealent to keep them from rattling loose. Out of curiosity, did they use a single or double nut on the rail? Kind of sad to see that be the reason, Grady may be using the right technique, just not finishing the job properly, or some worker is slacking off. That rail should be designed to never be removed. If it had to be for some odd reason, whip out the sawzall and cut the bolts off. Otherwise, it should be designed to never come loose.

 

[Gmanoffshore]

They are single nylock nuts. I was able to rig a long handle nut driver 3/8 and have someone tighten the screws from up top, the unfortunate part is I sprayed H2O after this and it seems to still be leaking a little.
I really need to take it apart and reseal but I have no idea how I will start the new nuts when it is almost impossible to reach with my hand.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes.

 

[Gmanoffshore]

You should have loosened them up first, lifted the rail, cleaned the silicone than applied silicone than tightened everything up and wiped the excess silicone clean with some acetone.

Pete

It sounds easy when you say it. You need to remember I spent most of the day trying to find the leak,and as I said before on this particular boat it will be next to impossible to do what you describe.
I will be looking for a trained Octopus that can handle a nut driver to make it easy on me.

 

[megabytes]

Be aware the front windows were notorious for leaking.

 

[Gmanoffshore]

Be aware the front windows were notorious for leaking.

I have been lucky with the front so far but will keep my eye on them.

 

[gw204]

Maybe try sticking the nut/washer to a dowed rod using a dab of 5 minute epoxy? That would effectively increase your reach so you could get the nut started. Then you could get a ratchet on it while someone held the screw stationary from the top.

In this case, I would also bed the hardware in 5200.

 

[gradyfish22]

I agree, if you are going through all this work, use 5200 so it does not come loose again. If Grady fastened them right, their would have been two nuts, one reg and then one nylon over it with some 5200 or something similar used to fasten it on for good. I doubt using a few more fasteners would hurt Grady's finances....

 

[Legend]

I had a similar problem on a Gulfstream when it was under warranty. The culprit was the posts supporting the hardtop. I know the dealer had to remove the interior liner and re-calk the posts. Not sure if there was a change to the fastening the system - Good Luck

 

[Anonymous]

Yes.

 

[Gmanoffshore]

Update on leak for anyone that has this in the future. Well after spending way too much time thinking it was the bow rail mounts I flooded each mount one at a time and got more frustrated as I noticed water slowly dripping down the side but no water on the underside on the bolts. I finally realized the water was coming in around the cap area where the rub rail is (this was a time elapsed event,it took several min. of flooding to get the water to start).
I heated the rub rail and pulled out a portion of the center section near the leak and found I could put app. 1 1/2 to 2 turns on some of the screws. The screws were not loose but had backed out just enough to let some water get between the rub rail and the hull and run in on the screws.
The other thing to mention is that this is the only area I found this situation and I noticed that it is right beside the spring cleat which would be an area that rubs up on a dock the most during docking/mooring.
I tightened the screws and flooded the area and so far so good.

 

[gradyfish22]

Thanks for the update. I will have to keep an eye on that area on my boat. It is a shame you tore half the boat apart to find the culprit was there. Now that everything seems to be fine now, go enjoy her!!!

 

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

Nice job , gman.I have one question though.Why does your boat sits low at the stern? Is it the picture/angle maybe or that's the way she supposed to be sitting?

 

[BobP]

If I'm not mistaken, the gunnel tops of this model all along the boat are backed by glassed in plywood, you have to protect the plywood from waterpenetration and subsequent rot, once a screw turns you have broken the seal, remove it and reseal the hole from the top side, hold the screw while turning the nut. Use new nylon lock nuts, discard old ones. There's an assortment of flexible extensions and the like you can rig up. It's a two man job in those areas.

Same goes for rod holders,cleats, hinges, on just about all horixontal surfaces. Legs of hardtop frame too.

 

[Gmanoffshore]

Nice job , gman.I have one question though.Why does your boat sits low at the stern? Is it the picture/angle maybe or that's the way she supposed to be sitting?

That pic. was taken last summer at Ocracoke. The boat had 200 gallons of fuel + most of my fishing gear on board minus ice. The scuppers are app. 1 1/2 to 2 inches above the water line so I guess this is normal, don't forget this is the 8.5 beam so it might be a little lower than the wider models.
I have never had any H2O even get into the stern splash well so it does not seem to be a problem.

 

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

I understand now, i never knew islander was 8 1/2 foot beam.
She is a beautty.