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Last week I got to finally do some sailing on a five day sail down the Chesapeake and back (actually, only three days of sailing... high wind had me in harbor for two of them). And some interesting things where noticed regarding the mysterious leak.
One, on a night with some thunderstorms (lots of wind, and a fair amount of rain) no moisture made it down below that I could tell. Everything seemed nice and dry.
Two, on the last day I had to beat into some healthy weather (based on the forecast from the Francis Scott Key Bridge, wind was gusting to 16 knots, although I think it was probably a little higher out in the more open water before getting into the Patapsco River) and with the hull heeled over between 20 deg and 40+ (my inclinometer only goes to 40) and crashing through the occasional largish wave, in the process soaking my foredeck, water made it onto the shelves all the way back by the dinette. (Whew, how's that for a sentence).
This tells me a couple of things. One, the dorade vents and main cabin windows look to be off the hook. Two, the problem area is almost certainly on the fordeck. The small deadlights in the forepeak and the small opening port in the head are suspect, as is every fitting bolted onto the foredeck.
So, the plan over the next several months is to REPLACE all the deadlights (including the non-offenders in the main cabin), and REBED all fittings. Both are tasks which are overdue anyhow, so maybe this realization will get me off of my lazy posterior and get things done.
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