Rain Water Collecting on Interior Plank Battens

[Larry Exum]

When I first began the remodel of the 45' Chris Craft, I noticed that there were a lot of leaks from the deck and toerail which had not been caulked in many years. Rain water would run down the inside of the hull and puddle in the plank Battens on the hull side and also on the bottom. I found only a few small areas where wood rot needed to be tended to, and am still in the process of recaulking all the deck and toerail areas to prevent new rain incursion.

Here is a drawing of what is occuring, and how the water is accumulating. Chris Craft apparently did not allow for any way for that water to drain (only evaporate). Is this why another writer a few days ago mentioned that there was some pitch/tar in his bilge? How would be the best way to allow this water to drain. Drilling holes sideways through the batten, could potentially go wrong and end up with a new Thru Hull hole. Not acceptable, as it would also clog up easily. Should I pour Epoxy along the top of each and have it harden level so as any water would simply roll on over the batten?

Advise what has been done on others with this same situation please.

http://www.gngems.com/Catalina27/Bilge.jpg

[Matt J.]

Larry,
In my ever-so-humble opinion, it's always easier, safer, and more efficient to provide water a low point to move it where you wish it to go than to force it out of where it wants to be - water wants to be in the low point, and does not like to be forcibly raised and re-routed. It loves when you give it a lower option, though...

I don't know how to fix your problem, but I don't like filling the stringers / battens to "push" the water out. I'm interested to see what people suggest.

Good luck.

[Scott Rosen]

I think the only workable answer is to correct the leaks properly. The collection of water on the battens is the symptom, not the cause, of the problem. There should be no water in there in the first place. Do not try to build up epoxy dams on your planks. You could use a flexible caulk or pitch, but why bother? If you fix the leaks properly, your problem will be solved.

[RGM]

I'm onboard with Scott, fix the problem not the symptom. Fixing symptoms instead of problems has been the downfall of many/most wood boats. Fixing your problems may very likely involve removals, possible replacements, prepping, re-bedding and refastening various pieces of wood, decking, toe rails, etc and very likely some hardware. It will require more than just squirting a little "toe bead" of shipwright in a tube along some questionable joints. Use pitch if you still feel inclined to attempt to spill water towards your bilge. Good luck.

[nedL]

I'll have to agree with Scott & RGM (not that that is a badd thing mind you ;) ). I will say we never had this as a problem on the 46' C.C. I grew up with that was virtually the same construction. - Fix the deck leaks & the sitting water problem goes away.

[Larry Exum]

Fixing the leaks is certainly a priority. I have been recaulking the deck and the toerail, and that helped with a few small dribbles, but not the main problem. It is a known defect in the construction of Chris Craft that their windows leak severely in a rain. The windows slide open like a glass door, and thus have a channel which fills up in a good rain, and runs under the glass and into the boat making its way down the inside of the hull (except that which puddles on top of my 120 volt stereo system). I spent the weekend anchored out in a steady rain and determined where the water was coming in. I fixed all that would normally be a problem of deck leaks, but unless I seal the windows shut, never to be used again, I do not see how I can prevent this from reoccuring. Fortunately, I am in a covered slip, so the only time it will happen is when I am anchored out for the weekend. So far I have experimented with the rubber door sweeps, and although it does allow LESS water through, it still allows too much, and it also makes opening the window harder.

[Bruce Hooke]

I have no specific experience with Chris Crafts but a common solution to this sort of problem (with the windows) is to collect the water that comes through the windows and channel it back out onto the deck via drain holes. Another option would be to collect the water and use some small tubing to channel it down to one place in the bilge from where it could more easily be pumped out.

I agree with the others that this is not a good place to be trying to fill the areas that are trapping water. Particularly with the battens on the bottom of the boat it would require an excessive amount of material to fill in these areas.

[Ed Laning]

I'm a new "listener" to your forum. If I may, I'd like to jump in with a comment. I have some experience with this problem too. I agree with Larry as well; fix the problem of the leaks. Trouble is, that is not so easy. My boat is a similar Chris Craft, 37' Hardtop Express, with the same poorly engineered window condition. This has to be one of Chris Crafts worst designs. My window frames had apparently been leaking for years and the previous owner ignored it or didn't know it. I dismantled the whole window assembly (one of them) and found a huge amount of rotted wood. So I replaced and sealed these and re-assembled. It's very hard to caulk these window frame pieces and get a perfect seal. At least it was difficult for me. I still get rain water leaking through this area. Sure there are drain holes for the water to channel back to the deck. The holes allow 75% of the water to drain properly. Still a problem. So I had fabricated some window "curtains" that cover the windows on the outside. These are fastened under the lip of the cabin top so rainwater doesn't easily get under the curtain but runs down the outside. The bottom edge is fastened with snaps to the outside of the window frame very near and overlapping the joint to the deck. It's not an ideal solution but it does keep very nearly all the rain water out. I used the vinyl net-like material. White. Sure it has a bunch of holes in it. But it works pretty good. This material lets a decent amount of light to get into the main salon area and allows more privacy at night. Rain just runs down the outside and onto the deck and drains away. A wind-driven rain that strikes the "curtains" from about 90 degrees still gets in. But this is seldom. My trade-off for wanting some daylight. Certainly Sunbrella or PVC materials could be chosen for even better water resistance. So this method doesn't really fix the leaks but it goes a long way to preventing the rainwater from entering the boat through the sliding window channels.

Ed Laning
CXA113H

[Ed Nye]

Opal is batten seam. Each batten has a limber hole. Each batten, at its low spot, has been faired so it won't collect (puddle) water. On a big boat, I thought they used to use tar for this. Of course, Opal is so dry there are dust bunnies in the bilges. Splash down is Thursday, 1300, at Seaview East, hope she does her normal 20-minute leak and them dries up.
Ed