Rainwater in aft cabin, Albin 25

[Chris G]

Hello Guys.
I am getting ready to replace the headliners in the aft cabin but I have ran into an irritating problem.
I'm getting water coming into the aft cabin. I know it is rainwater. I've ruled out the roof and the ventilator and windows. I've completely stripped the rear mahogany shelves and the head liners, so the cabin is completely empty. The boat is on land.
The water seems to be coming in from the port and starboard hull where it joins the deck. The stern bulkhead is dry.
Where, in your experience, can the water be coming from? What are the 'usual suspects'? I plan to loosen the chrome/wood cleats and the railings and re caulk them to start with.
I appreciate any ideas.
Many thanks.

[DesertAlbin736]

Re-bedding the cleats & rail stanchions is a good place to start. Can you run a water hose over the deck & be able to get a better idea where the water is coming in at? Have you pulled the rub rail off & see what's underneath?

Aalborg looks like pretty country, not unlike many of the flatter & greener parts of the Eastern & Mid Atlantic USA. From Aalborg could you not cross the Kattegat over to Gothenberg in Sweden and all the way across to the Baltic Sea & to Stockholm via Gota Kanal & Vattern & Vanern lakes? That would be an awesome cruise with an Albin 25. There's a tour company that rents Albin 25's for a 7 day cruise on the Gota Kanal. Would love to do that someday. Anyway, good luck with stopping that leak. Feel free to post pictures, always fun to see other A25's, especially those from "across the pond".

[Chris G]

Unfortunately the temperature has fallen to 0 c and snow so I can't use the hose. Even so, I fear that the water is seeping in one place and entering the cabin somewhere else. I hope it is not seeping in under the rub rail, as I have heard that it is difficult to put it back on, especially in the cold. I'll try the cleats and everything else that is screwed/bolted on first. It would be great to get to the root of the problem so that I can put the cabin back together again.

@ DesertAlbin: Yes you are right about Aalborg. I miss the mountains but on the other hand, you are never far from the water wherever you are in Denmark and ther is plenty of sky. Funnily enough, the Albin 25 is not a trailer boat over here as it is Stateside. Probably because of the size of the vehicles and price of fuel over here. People tend to put them in the water around late April/May and take them out again October.

You are right about Sweden. You have probably, like me, seen the amount of their Albin films on You Tube. They really make the most of it over there. I am also a member of the Swedish Albin 25 site.

We bought our boat late in the season last year, so in between restoration, we only used it to sail in the Limfjord. the Kattegat will have to wait for now!

[Northern Spy]

Our A25 has several holes drilled near the rub rail through the flange to allow water to drain, I don't know if they are supposed to be there or not. If these get plugged up with debris we get leaks in the aft cabin. We also get them around the door when water sheets down the canvas and overflows.

[WillieC]

Ours has one hole only in each aft corner and it doesn't take too many pine needles to plug them. The water we get in our aft cabin is almost certainly wind driven into the center vent. Also wind will blow rain up and over the rear lip just above the hatch for the aft cabin and we get a few drips there. I hope you get yours figured out. Nuisance wind drips are nothing compared to something possibly more sinister. From what I have read here, when you move up to an A27, you'll look back fondly at the silly little leaks the 25 had.

[Chris G]

Can water get in under the rub rail and come in where the deck is fitted to the hull? I have heard that removing the rub rail is quite a task....or rather getting it back in again, especially when it is cold.
The funny thing is, that there is no rainwater coming in from the stern. It only comes in where the deck meets the hulls as seen from inside the cabin.
The deck drain holes are clear and the boat is on land. Just thinking out loud here, but could the drain holes themselves leak into the cabin? I don't mean leak directly into the cabin, as I can see the underside of the drain hole outside the hull. But what if water seeps transversely through the 'walls' of the hole? I am considering blocking them temporarily to rule out this possibility.
My former boat was from 2010. Rainwater came in via the rub rail, and rather than remove the whole thing I sealed the top and bottom sides of the rub rail with marine sealant (Tec 7) and this solved the problem.
An odd drip on the bulkhead does not sound serious, but when I bought my Albin, the plywood bunks and mattresses were rotten because of the rainwater. I have everything in the cabin stripped and am ready to replace the headliners etc., but until I have found the cause of the leaks, I can't go ahead.

[WillieC]

I am in the process of swapping engines on my A25 and doing massive cleanup inside. Just ripped out a half-fast propane locker that didn't meet ABYC spec even remotely, but it was an attempt. Anyway, in the process I started looking at that joint where your problems seem to stem from, since i have a lot of it exposed. Mine is all dry and i can't imagine what would compromise that joint short of a wreck and substandard repair job. I think I would expose that joint, which i assume you have, and yes, plug that drain hole and watch it carefully. Hose it all down without forcing water in and observe. The attachment is the hundred stainless screws around the perimeter, any of which could pose a problem, but it should become clear where to focus, unless the leak is too diffuse. I do not know what kind of core is in the deck, but I think it is all glass, (anyone verify this?) since this seems to be a rare problem. Did you mention that you have multiple drain holes on yours? Only two were standard so those extra holes, while possibly an attempt to correct another problem, may be adding to yours.
Be patient. Water goes where it wants to. I just found, after removing my fuel tank, that water is coming in around the bransle fill fitting. Not much, but the whole area under the tank was soaked with lots of evidence that this has been going on a while. Were this to happen in the after berth, it would be a mess like you are describing. There are a bunch of fittings, vents, line guides, garb bars, stern light in that area. You will probably rebed them all, but I would want to know which one(s) are causing the problem so that I would know that it is solved before putting it all back together. Sorry I can't be of more help.
Just for wisdom's sake, I re-read your posts. Sorry to get off track. It appears you have already narrowed it down to the actual seam, and not various fittings. In my varied construction experience, not directly applicable to boats, but not insignificant, I have learned that damming a leak with caulking or whatever is usually counterproductive. And you now have a mess to deal if it is not successful. Take your time and find the real cause.

[Chris G]

Thanks guys for your input. I'll keep you updated. I had considered that it might not be rainwater but sweat from my frustrated brow

[Chris G]

Well, I found the major culprit. The roof ventilator. Water was coming in under the rubber seal and under the plastic flange on the outer side of the deck and finding its way in between the roof and the ceiling. It then found a weak spot in the join where the ceiling meets the starboard side and ran down, collecting in the aft cabin bilges. I had re-bedded all the deck hardware, the teak handrails on the aft cabin roof and even the air intakes on the stern deck to the engine. I even checked window seals. I never would have guessed that the rainwater was seeping in from the center of the cabin roof. I was sure that it must have been from the hull/deck join.

Just thought I'd post this for anyone suffering from the same mystery in the future.

Again guys, thanks for your input.

[WillieC]

Thank you for the update. Glad to see you solved this one. Your persistence even when you were sure it was the deck joint is critical to success. I, too, have been certain of things that weren't necessarily so.