BC26 - fresh water in port (larboard) Locker

[AndyB]

I have water gathering in the port locker and wondered if anyone else had suffered from the same fate. According to my tongue it is fresh not salt.

I can't see anything obvious - my suspicions are with the whale shower - maybe it leaks down the side but really am not sure.  It and the bilge pump are the only holes.

It is not a lot - perhaps a litre over the past couple of months. It has been raining hard and consistently recently.

Next step I guess is to lay down some paper to see if they pick up a drip etc

Any thoughts/advice would be appreciated.


Andy B

[Nick Orchard]

Hi Andy
I've had several sources of fresh water leaking into the locker. The shower unit is certainly suspect no 1 - either it needs a new washer on the shower head connector, or  possibly just tightening, or else check the push-fit plumbing connections. I have had problems with elbows leaking both in the heads and near the pump. I think part of the problem is that on a boat we keep depressurising the system and to some extent it's the water pressure that maintains the seals.
Next suspect is the socket for the tiller pilot in the seat/locker lid. This socket is subject to quite high forces and the lid isn't very thick. I noticed mine was starting to move under load and leaked rainwater. I glued a wooden backing pad on the inside and reset the socket with epoxy and haven't had any trouble since.
Another way I managed to get water in was via a towel that I hang off the rail under the locker lid. I realised one day that the towel was wet because I'd got one corner of it trapped under the lid and it had wicked water in from the channel at the back, surprising how much water was in the bottom of the locker as a result.
It might also be worth checking the drainage channels around the lid for hair-line cracks.