Water in Cabin of Four Winns Vista 25

[mort5029]

Recently we had a torrential downpour for about 2 hrs. I mean unreal amount of rain. I routinely get some water in my boat as my camper enclosure is not perfect. No big. But I went into the cabin of my Vista and found the cabin floor wet, the second step damp, and when I opened the cupboard under the sink, there was water in there too, not tons, but damp. So I checked my forward bilge and it was almost empty, the rear as well. Based on the direction of the rain that night, it appears all the damp area, step and cupboard are on the port side where the rain would have been mostly hitting. Now my cabin is usually dry, never after a day on the lake, and I can recall one other bad storm where this happened. I am thinking the rain is coming in the port side windows some how and dripping behind the walls because there are no water stains on the material covering the walls and ceiling. Also in the past there has been some dampness below the windows after heavy rains. I assume due to poor seals.

Can anyone share any similar experiences and where they determined the leak was from? How it can be fixed.

I have attached a couple pics. I want to try and resolve this before putting new flooring next year.

 

[Scott Danforth]

start at your windows with a tube of sealant

 

[mort5029]

May sound dumb, but on the outside or inside.....

 

[garbageguy]

I had a similar thing, turns out it was the rubrail was compromised thereby compromising the cap/hull seal in that particular location. 1998 Wellcraft 240 SE

 

[shrew]

This is pretty common. Rail stanchions, cleats, rub rail,portlightss, and hatches are the most common culprits. Basically anywhere a hole has been drilled in the hull or deck. Many times the sealant used isn't UV resistant, or it dries and the bond is broken over time. Old sealant on a flexing surface is bound to fail eventually.

The leak needs to be tracked down. The item needs to be removed, cleaned and rebedded. As a hint, look for anything that tends to develop a little rust stain around it. This is indicative that water is making its way in. The lack of oxygen is causing the ss bolt to rust and the rusty water weeps out and evaporates, leaving a little rust colored stain behind.

 

[Scott Danforth]

my buddy who lived on his boat for about 22 years would have to re-seal about once every 10 years, even with the UV stable stuff.

 

[Grub54891]

I have to agree with removing the part in question, Be it a rubrail, portlite, or grabrail. Then seal it properly. If all you do is attempt to lay a glob of sealer around suspected leak, it not only looks sloppy, it just won't work. 3 rules: remove, clean up, rebed.
On a side note, the leak may look like it's directly above the wet spot, often times it's not. Water travels in mysterious ways.

 

[Mischief Managed]

If you do opt to bed the rub rail screws in sealant, bear in mind that if your boat has a stainless steel rub rail insert, there will be more screws under that insert. If you decide to bed those hidden screws (and you'd be a fool not to...), I recommend that you do not remove entire sections of the stainless steel insert, take out 2/3 of the screws from one end of each section and bed the hidden screws, re-attache the insert with the end 1/3 of screws, then remove the last 1/3 of screws on the other end so that the insert is always left partially in place and the screw holes will line up. The downside to this technique on a 25 foot boat, assuming the boat is on a trailer, is that one end of the stainless insert will always be left hanging in space at eye level while you are working, so be sure to cap it with something to prevent a horrible injury.