Trojan Boat Forum

It's the rainy season and I've made it my mission this year to stop the leaks. Or at least the worst of them

I have a few obvious places to begin - properly fitting the flybridge panels in, re-caulking all the window trim, re-finishing the teak and caulking around the hatches, replacing the j-trim around the bottom edge of the fly-bridge.

I'm looking for some insight on the "not so obvious" places I should check while I'm at it?

The biggest problem areas I have are the starboard wall in the salon (pictured below with streaky teak), and the port corner above the galley (pictured below with colourful bowls to catch the water).

Looks like it is coming from the windows. make sure the track/u channel is clean and not full of dirt. Could also be coming around the frame

prowlersfish wrote: ↑Fri Apr 23, 2021 4:32 pm Looks like it is coming from the windows. make sure the track/u channel is clean and not full of dirt. Could also be coming around the frame

Agreed. Making sure tracks are clean eliminates any kind of 'overflow' issues. Also check / redo caulking around the window frame. Do it all around... water could be getting in somewhere forward and just running between frame and fibreglass until it finds a screw that is not properly bedded, and that's where it shows up inside. Also... if possible, see if you can rebed the screws attaching the window frame!

Rule #1 with water: where it shows up may have nothing to do with where it came in! I have had issues in the past aft on the port side, but found that when I installed my windshield cover (covering the front and part way back on the forward side windows), I had much less issues.

I had a bad leak coming in to the port side of the interior wall in the v-berth area. I thought it was from the side window in the main cabin, but it was coming in from the ss hand rail that runs over both sides of the cabin top. No caulk under those fittings. Backed out the machine screws just enough to NOT lose the nut under the screw (and into the cabin ceiling material). Applied silicone caulk and have no leaks for the past 20+ years. Found out the hard way that a lot of the hardware on the deck was mounted with ZERO caulk. So, a few soft spots had to be repaired. Hope that helps.

Appreciate the tips!

I've cleaned all the tracks (which were far more disgusting than I originally anticipated ) and peeled back and re-applied the caulking along the entire frame.

It's storming like mad here today so it'll be a good test

Boppy - I wondered about that! There is a small leak in the vberth on the port side. Currently my anchor is mounted directly above it, which I thought might be the issue. The deck is soft around there as well. That's another project once I am more confident in it remaining drier.

I'll be moving the anchor over the pulpit, and sealing those mounts up. I will add a dab of silicone to the rails screws as well.

Thank you

Update:

The starboard wall fared much better this week after re-caulking and cleaning the window frame and channel.

The port side above the galley is still an issue, albeit a slower one. So my search continues here.

Hoping the weather clears next week so I can get the deck work started.