That blasted leak is back, damn! When we bought the trawler in December of 2004 it had a terrible leak in the guest cabin. We didn't notice it right away because the previous owner had covered the damage with wall paper. After we had the boat home for a few weeks, the wall paper began to sag and water stains began to soak through. Peeling the paper away from the teak wall revealed a hideous sight – the blackened wood that water damage left unchecked leaves behind.

Sweetie traced the leak to a wooden eyebrow on the flying bridge and did a temporary repair of clear plastic held in place with clear duct tape until the weather turned better in the spring of '05. He then removed the tape and plastic, stripped out the dry caulking, replaced it with some fancy marine caulk, sanded, painted and we forgot about the problem to live happily ever after.

 

Is there such a thing as happily ever after with a boat? After the first rain of this year I checked wall in the guest cabin, just for the heck of it. Wet spongy wood leered back at me. Sweetie refuses to believe that his repair of 3 years ago would fail and is busy searching for another entry point for the water. Last weekend, while the sun was shining and the birds were singing, he went around all of the exterior trim with a paint brush, hoping to, if not identify, at least to put a temporary patch on the problem. It has not rained since. I am keeping my fingers crossed for a drought.

 

Leaks on boats are bad. Water is supposed to stay on the outside. However, every winter, right after the first rain, the blue tarps come out of storage and our marina looks once again like a tent city. We try to keep our boat dry, but I think some marina residents don't know how to proceed with the daunting task of identifying a leak, let alone how to repair one. The things to keep in mind are where leaks usually occur, how to identify if this is the leak, and finally, how to repair the leak once found.

 

Leaks usually occur around fittings or hatches, but not always. Deck fittings that have been tightened repeatedly over a period of years, or chain plates that work while underway, can compress the sealer that was used to keep water out. Marine sealers also dry out over time and pull away from the parts they once protected. Patching leaky deck fittings is only a temporary fix. The only way to truly repair a deck fitting is to remove it from the deck, peel away the old sealant, sand the area, apply a fresh application of sealer and reseat the fitting. We had a leaky chain plate on the sail boat that got an annual treatment of fresh sealer.

 

Tiny cracks in the gelcoat on fiberglass boats can be a way for water to find its way into the interior. These spider-like fractures don't look like they would be damaging, but water is insidious and will follow the smallest course. Think how the Grand Canyon got its start. Sand and paint any hairline fractures you come across on deck.

 

One way to tell if the leak in question is the leak is to build a dam around the area with putty, then fill the dam with colored water. Eventually, the colored water will find its way inside. If you see color, you know you have identified the culprit. Once the source of the leak has been identified, the repair is easy.

 

I refuse to live under the canopy of a blue plastic tarp, however dry it may keep me. Think of me in weeks to come, searching for that damned leak, and wish me luck!