Water in the deck core

Hi, so I went looking to see what was really going on. There are actually three separate problems I found.

1.The VHF thru hull connector had failed and was letting in most of the water, the other connectors had simply just corroded and stopped working and I had no mast nav lights either.

2 There was a small leak around the Lewmar foredeck hatch.

3 A lot of the moisture in the forecabin is actually condensation.

For the first problem I cut out a portion of the inner deck fibreglass and measured the moisture levels of the balsa. I used a grid of 30mm square sections to see how far the water had got. I started small so I didn't have to cut too much. I used a multi-tool cutter to chop the segments out.

This shows the initial cut and the dark wet balsa. This section was dripping when I removed the inner skin.

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This is a far as I needed to go.  I was looking for a moisture reading of < 20% which I felt was about right having tested a couple of known dry areas in the rest of the boat. I used a standard wood moisture gauge intended to measure moisture in firewood etc. The wet areas were 80%+. Because the balsa is installed with teh grin running vertically it does not wick sideways too much.

It was then a case of removing the balsa, filling the void with some light plywood strips, some fibreglass filler and glassing the lining back to something like normal. Not pretty but strong and waterproof.

Finally I made some holes in my nice new deck and installed a Scanstrut deck gland and fed the four wires through that, terminating all the wires on good quality terminal blocks.

The result is that all the lights work again, the VHF is good for 10+ miles again and no more annoying leaks, at least for the moment.

The hatch has been re-seated and sealed again, and I plan on installing some ventilation in the forecabin and ensure there is a good flow of air possible to try and keep the condensation down.

I have not used a heater or dehumidifier for two winters. I have a large open vent to the wash board in addition to quite a large gap at the top. 

I leave the forehatch open a crack on the second lockable setting.  I also have the cockpit tent up under the winter cover with the optional aft cabin window open.