Im a noob loooking for leaks. Any ideas welcome.

[Loren Beach]

Actually the transom of the E-27 has a wood core, at least at the center of the cockpit. A previous owner put an inspection plate a few inches below the top of the transom in the middle of the transom. When I first got it I opened it and found solid plywood.

I stand corrected. And surprised.

 

[kapnkd]

What do i check, how do i fix the leaks? I bought a "GREAT DEAL" Ericson 26 -2. Functionally, its ok. Now i have started cleaning and find problems. Leaks... boat seal not msintained..... help!

Welcome and THIS is a GREAT site for all things sailing, especially Ericsons!

In out total refit of our ‘73 E32-II, EVERYTHING on deck and cabin was removed, redrilled oversized, glass filled and then drilled again to correct sized holes. This way - less chances of water ever permeating via the needed deck holes into the surrounding cored decks.

We’ve also been using flat butyl rubber as it remains soft and seals VERY WELL. All our ports and hatches have not leaked a drop to date now for 3 seasons. It comes in 1/8th thick by 1” wide on rolls and can be found at RV supplies as well for a little less $$.

Also for the more minor but pesky leaks... a bottle of “Capt Tolley’s” sealant is great! It’s a very thin water based liquid sealant that seeps into pesky leak areas by osmosis and plugs them up. (After redoing all our window/port glass with new rubber, we had two minor but aggravating leaks. Capt. Tolley’s easily fixed it in short order without the ugly mess of gooey silicone all over everything.

As everyone has mentioned, leaks will/can be traced back to the most least suspected origins!

The one thing I’ve found that all leaks have in common is they usually persist around 3 AM directly above your sound asleep head ...OR WORSE - your wife’s!!! ;-)))

 

[bigd14]

The E-27 seems to have had at least two variations of core material in the transom end of the cockpit. I removed my stern cutout and found plywood (saturated). Others doing the same job reported solid fiberglass. In my case there were some voids in the fiberglass. I believe they placed several panels of 3/4 inch plywood in there to match the curvature of the transom. Wynkoop, I don't think you will find anything but glass in the area you propose to install the exhaust, i would guess it's about 1/4 inch thick or less there. The plywood was only installed in the central stern area to provide thickness and support to the back of the cockpit.

 

[wynkoop]

Bigd14 thanks so much for the insight.

 

[steven]

I am in progress pulling, potting and backing many deck penetrations with 1/16" stainless.

There are way too many holes in the deck and I am permanently removing any fitting that doesn't absolutely need to be there.