Our Old Boat
THE WAR ON THE LEAKS CONTINUES - The most common
culprit in the leaky boat syndrome is the window area. We have seen grown men reduced to
over emotional, obsessed and possessed creatures trying to stop the windows from leaking.
We have seen boats with a swath of caulk around each window that was so large, that it
appeared to have a life of it's own. All jokes aside the effort to stop a window leak is a
time consuming, frustrating affair. To effectively stop a leak, one must identify exactly
where it is coming from, and this is the part of the process that is akin to rocket
science - is it leaking between the frame and the fiberglass, or between the glass and the
aluminum frame, and which window, fore or aft. The main reason windows, in the older model
Catalina 22's, leak is that the window frame and the construction of the hull in this area
are inadequate at best. The window frame many times does not contact the cabin securely,
allowing water seepage between the aluminum frame and the fiberglass, usually because the
weather stripping the window was originally set with has broken down. This water ends up
in the inner core of the boat, and manifest itself through various through holes in the
cabin, i.e. the light above the shelf. Another problem with maintaining a water tight seal
in this area is that the hull has no reinforcing here, simply the outer glass and then the
inner liner, thus any flex in this area breaks the seal. Careful caulking can eliminate
the problem temporarily, and remember recaulking any hardware on the boat is an ever
ongoing process. We have seen cases where removing the window and using new stripping and
caulk did not help the situation and sometimes can make it worse! |