leaky boat

Posted by Emily on Sep 19, 2007

Just took my newly completed Chesapeake 17' on a three day trip to Lake Powell. It paddled great, and looks sharp, but at the end of the day I discovered about 2 litres of water in my stern compartment. Not good!

The same thing happened the next two days - there was quite a bit of water in the stern at the end of the day.

Even worse, dark spots have appeared in the wood along the hull (and not just at the stern) that indicate that water is getting through in quite a few spots. I've attached a link to some photos.

I was extremely careful during the sanding process to check and double check for any possible problem spots - filleting, epoxying, etc. The hull has three coats of Interlux paint and the rest has 5 coats of varnish.

A possible problem spot might be the underside of the deck as it was hard to get every spot under there covered with epoxy. But, still, I don't see how water could be entering from underneath the deck. There appears to be no staining of that section of wood.

I thought maybe water was coming in through a leaky hatch seal but even though we were in some rough water it still wouldn't account for all the water that ended up in the stern.

Has anyone else had this problem? What's the best approach to stop it from leaking?

Help!

Replies:

• Re: leaky boat by Russ on Sep 19, 2007
  • Re: leaky boat by Darryl on Sep 19, 2007
    • Re: leaky boat by Darryl on Sep 19, 2007
    • Re: leaky boat by Emily on Sep 20, 2007
• Re: leaky boat by Jim E on Sep 20, 2007
  • Re: leaky boat by Emily on Sep 20, 2007
• Re: leaky boat by Robert N Pruden on Sep 20, 2007
  • Re: leaky boat by Emily on Sep 20, 2007
• Re: leaky boat by John on Sep 20, 2007
  • Re: leaky boat by Chris J. on Sep 20, 2007
    • Re: leaky boat by craig on Sep 20, 2007
    • b) one coat of epoxy by LeeG on Sep 20, 2007
      • Re: b) one coat of epoxy by Chris J. on Sep 21, 2007
        • a repeating theme by LeeG on Sep 21, 2007
        • waterproof or vapor proof by LeeG on Sep 21, 2007
      • Re: b) one coat of epoxy by LouA on Oct 1, 2007
        • I wouldn't use Thompsons by Robert N Pruden on Oct 1, 2007
          • Re: I wouldn't use Thomps by LouA on Oct 2, 2007
        • Try using light by Robert N Pruden on Oct 4, 2007
• identify source of leak by LeeG on Sep 20, 2007
  • Re: identify source of le by Emily on Sep 20, 2007
    • Re: identify source of le by LeeG on Sep 20, 2007