Found water in forward most section of cuddy

[Mark42]

The Cuddy version of the popular 1600's has no flotation foam in the forward bow area like the bow rider version does. When the v birth bed is lifted up, there are storage compartments underneath with no drainage. The one in the very front of the bow collected about 1-2 cups of water. From the water stain, I would say there were probably 3-5 cups total but some has evaporated. Soaked up the remaining water and wiped off the water marks with a rag. Just not sure how the water got in there. In this photo, its under the front triangle piece of the bed.

I checked the bow eye, no sign of leaking there. There are no other through hull fittings in that compartment. It could have leaked in over the winter with snow and ice built up on top of the cuddy. Maybe the hatch?

Lucky for me the factory glassed and gel coated the crap out of these compartments, so the water is not soaking into the plywood. Tje other two compartments are dry as a bone and show no water marks.

Other than doing a full on garden hose test, any one else ever experience this in a cuddy?

 

[Doggonitt]

Re: Found water in forward most section of cuddy

I had the same problem with our 1986 28.5 Contessa. Only the V berth got water, not the sides. Took a long time to figure. Ours was coming from multiple places though. The biggest area of concern for us, and I have found in our newer Bayliner is the deck to hull joint where the rub rail runs around. Over the years, the screws holding the aluminum rub rail loosen from either being bounced around or from small stress cracks. I was shocked at how many loose screws we had when we pulled off the rubber. The rubber was getting old and had some cracks itself from docking or pilings, so I was going to replace it 1" 3 ply rope. I used "Captain Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure" because it is flexible, and squirted some in every screw opening, then tightened all the screws. "Make sure that ALL is dry before doing that". I also ran the bottle around the whole aluminum rail where it meets the fiberglass. Then I used marine silicone to put the rope on instead of screws. I used a lot. That fixed most of the problem. The other place leaks were coming from was the stanchions. Our kids leaned against the rails all the time, and after years of abuse, tiny stress cracks showed. I wouldn't have thought that it was a problem until I soaked the heck out the two front ones. Sure enough, not even a trickle but enough to feel the wet.
So I used the Capt Tolley's on those also. I know it wasn't the correct way to repair it, but it helped until the right repairs could be made. The other place to check is any hatches. Any leaks there and the water just follows the flow down. Hope this helps.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Found water in forward most section of cuddy

Thanks for that info. I guess the best thing to do is have someone hose it down while I'm inside.

I'll check the joint behind the rub rail too.