SHETLAND OWNERS ASSOCIATION

Hi all,

My Shetland 536, is double skinned, foam filled, however when ever it rains water seems to build up under the deck, I cant work out where it is getting in.?????

The boat as you can see from the photos is parked up on the drive and has been since October, the cock pit is covered with a tarp which helps prevent the rain water getting in, the inspection hole by the cabin door has been cut in to the floor, which I think must have been used for a bilge pump at some point in its life.
Now when the weather is dry there's no water in the hole, but when it rains the hole begins to fill, I have looked everywhere but cant work out where it gets in, I have made sure the hole is dry(a few days with no rain), then sealing the cover plate over with silicone to ensure no surface water could run in from the deck {even though the cock pit cover generally keeps the deck area dry}
Days later after a down pour or two I cut the silicone seal and removed the cover plate, thinking this time there's no way it could be full of water, but it was,
I have checked widow seals, filled any small holes In the cabin roof, made sure the drain plug is undone, but nothing sees to prevent it.

Any one else had this problem, any solutions ????????????????

Hi CharlieJo

Shetlands seem prone to water leaking in and finding its way down into the space underneath the floors. Here are a list of places that we have found leaks in our Family Four, which you could check:

1. Window seals, particularly if these are the ones that screw onto the side of the cabin GRP rather than sit flush with it.
2. Houdini hatch.
3. Gaps between topsides and hull – this is supposed to be bonded, but we found small holes where it hadn’t been bonded properly.
4. From the anchor locker through the bulkhead and into the cabin.
5. Through a broken hinge of the anchor locker cover, over the top of the bulkhead and down into the cabin.
6. Through a small crack in the front perspex window.
7. Over the engine well and into the cockpit and from there into the cabin during an easterly storm (rather extreme this one, and before we had the bilge pump!).

We have gradually eliminated these one by one (have a look at http://shetlandf4.wordpress.com/refurbishment/ for details), and apart from the window crack which I am in the process of fixing at the moment, I think that we just about got most of them now (touch wood!).

Good luck!
Robin.

Hi All.

I’m in a similar position as Charliejo my Family Four is letting in rain water despite the fact its half covered in a tarpaulin and sitting on a trailer in the back garden. I have located water in the battery and petrol storage compartments which are in the stern and also some water in the cabin. In between the showers on Sunday I put on another tarpaulin which covered the whole boat and I will again check it for leaks on Saturday, which the Norwegian weather forecast authorities say is going to be the only sunny day this weekend for the west coast of Ireland. If this fails then I will take up Robin's suggestions about leak finding.

Regards
Mal

Thanks for the tips Robin, I guess I will keep trying the old process of elimination,

Hi Mal,
Let me know how you get on with covering the full boat, and if you find any cures to your problem, I will try again over the next few weekends and see if I can figure it out, I will try the areas Robin mentions also.

Thanks again

Charliejo

Hi,

We had a 536 the same as yours and it had the same problem. In our case, the rainwater was getting in through:
1) The blanking plugs on the side decks
2) The mounting points for the pulpit
3) The fairleads.

Another possible source is the mooring cleats at the stern. I re-sealed all of these, which cured the problem.

Whilst you are at it, it is worth re-sealing the winching eye at the bow - unlikely that it will let rainwater in but I found ours to be letting salt water in when under way - anything that gets in here also ends up under the deck.

Good luck,

Damian.

Hi,

My F4 leaked through crazed and cracked cabin windows and the cracked sealant for the windows, and also through gaps in the bonded joint between the hull and topsides, underneath the rubbing strip. It was worst in the areas near the rear fixing points for the pulpit rail, where I guess the boat had taken a few bashes against walls and jetties when mooring etc, in the years before I bought it.
I finally found the leaks with a hosepipe on a dry day.
I replaced the windows and resealed with sikaflex. I took the rubbing strip off, filled the gaps between the hull and topsides mouldings with silicone sealant, replaced the decayed rivets with stainless bolts and refitted the rubbing strip.
I have had a pretty much leak free boat since.

Morning all.

Last Sunday was a somewhat sunny day considering it rained all last week so I went to check the boat for leaks. Despite the fact the boat was covered by 2 tarpaulins there was a small amount of water in the cabin, petrol storage compartment and the battery storage well. Both of these compartments are located in the stern. I’m beginning to question if the 2 tarpaulins I purchased from B & Q are even weather or rain resistant.
I replaced the boat’s windscreen last weekend thinking it would stop water leak into the cabin, it did not. I drained all the surplus water from the petrol and battery compartments and cover the boat up again as a light drizzle had just started. When I return several hours later there was a small trickle of water in both compartments. Looking towards the boat’s stern there appears to be a small hole in the front left corner side of petrol compartment letting in water. A similar situation also exists in front right hand side corner of the battery compartment.
Does anyone on the site have any idea were the water in the compartments is coming from?

As I was leaving for work today it was raining heavily and the forecast is much the same forwards the weekend so I may have to postpone looking for leaks until drier weather is upon us. Living in the west of Ireland we are used to bad weather but this is exceptional. There is an old Connemara saying “ It only rains twice a week in Galway, once for 3 days and the other for 4 days. This myth is turning out to be true.

Mal

Hi Mal, I'm just wondering if you have checked the splashwell drains yet? These were leaking on my 535 when I first got it and the bilge would slowly fill with rain but since I've removed the liners and resealed them in with some silicone the bilge has been almost dry. I'm thinking this leak could be a sign that my transom is due for a rebuild very soon!

Hi Bobtooke.


Thanks for this information but at the minute I’m working away from home and won’t be able to inspect the boat until the weekend. Please pardon my ignorance as I’m new to this game but are the splashwell drains located in the transom well of the boat. The transom looks pretty solid and there are only several drill holes in it for securing the previous outboard.

The surplus water from the 2 compartments was previously deposited into the transom well and then drained off into the ground but this was making the surrounding area very mucky. However, last weekend I deposited the surplus water into a bucket and poured it down the drain. If the petrol and battery storage compartment are dry this weekend then the splash well drains are the problem.

Many thanks Bobtooke for all your help with this matter.

Mal

Yes the splashwell drains are the holes in the bottom of the splashwell which connect to the outside of the transom. Water that collects in the splashwell can then empty out freely. My drains are lined with little plastic tubes which seal them from the wood of the transom. While they were leaking, water would collect in the splashwell then leak through the drains, between the GRP and transom plywood and into the bilge. Once the drains were sealed in with silicone all was good.