[FishMonger]

Been noticing alot of leakage lately in my cuddy. I have a Sea Sprite 2350 Walk Around. I suspect it is coming from around the 2 sliding side windows on the cabin and probably the platform area were the original owner installed the VHF and depth finder. For those 2 spots I plan on just pulling them out and resealing the areas.

I have never done anything like this before. Is there a certain type sealer I should use? Also, how big of a job would it be to reseal the windows. I see myself having to pull them out and do whatever, not even sure I should attempt it but I hate trowing money away for things I think I can do myself.

Any advice appreciated. Thanks,

 

[MakoMike]

Fishy,
First don't suspect, prove it. Put someone inside the cabin and spray the suspected areas with a hose, if it leaks, then you know where. For the holes left by the previously mounted electronics, if you want to make the holes disappear, use "Marine-Tex" to fill the holes. You can sane the excess and then polish with compound to get pretty close to the original gel coat. If you don't care just use a silcone caulk. Same goes for the windows, if they are leaking. You might even be able to caulk around them with solcone caulk without removing them. If that doesn't work the cured silicone caulk is easy to remove with a razor blade.

 

[FishMonger]

Thanks MakoMike. Gonna check it out this weekend

 

[leakyrivot]

Something I'd like to add - I read an article once by a surveyor on common boat problems. One of these problems was cabins supported by windows; the end result is the windows leaking, loosening up, or actually cracking from stress. It's also bad for the cabin as it's roof is not supported correctly.

With my boat, which is a '73 and well past it's prime, I had a crack in one window for some time.. first trip we made offshore, the windows bothe simultaneosly "exploded" into the cabin, and some other dry-rotted wood broke apart soon after.. It looked like a bomb went off.. funny story.. anyway, the fix was replacing the wood, using lexan windows, and then adding a wooden column from the floor to the roof to eliminate any chance of it happening again.

Jon