[C38] Leaking Chain Plates: Gravity Rules!

[Charles]

Steve and Phil,
I would guess we are all experiencing this problem and I would suggest 
we also have done a pretty careful job of caulking the chain plates as 
you have.  Yet, many of us still are frustrated by ongoing leaks in this 
area.  I think the problem is that the chain plate area is the lowest 
point from the mast area to the bow and therefore is the likely egress 
for almost any leaking condition that has had years to make its way 
(kind of like erosion).  I am positing that the normal chain plate 
maintenance will fix leakage problems on newer boats, but we have 
another problem altogether that manifests the same symptoms!  I am by no 
means finished and probably never will be, but below is list of likely 
suspect areas I am investigating.
1. Mast collar leaks (this one can cause a lot of water to enter the 
boat).  I found large voids around my mast and put almost a gallon of 
west epoxy in this area.  It is hard to believe a gallon, but with the 
cost of this stuff.... you know how much you use!  With the mast 
removed, I worked from the cabin using wire to carefully remove all the 
rotted, wet material.  I then built a clay dam at the mast hole area and 
drilled 1/4 inch holes in the deck at the bottom of the void and then up 
by the mast collar.  I then used the caulk tube offered by West to 
inject epoxy from the bottom up with the idea that when epoxy came out 
of the hole near the mast collar I had filled the void.  I did this for 
three voids.  One very large one on the port side; one down past the 
main halyard deck winch on the starboard; and one from the main halyard 
sheave on the starboard side. 
I then used startite to seal around the mast.
2. The cabin also has windows and ports that of course cause leaks.  I 
found the teak rail was leaking down to the chain plate.
3. The staysail / spinnaker track on my boat always has water in it when 
it rains.
4. I have a Dickenson heater with the double stack so I don't use cabin 
air.  I turns out that when I take serious weather over the bow, water 
gushes into the stack and ends up down below soaking the cushions right 
in the chain plate area.  A friend pointed this out to me when he was 
below during a nasty bit of weather on Lake Ontario in May of this year 
and a quick look revealed that this is essentially a 2 inch hole in the 
top of my cabin!  Duh!  Turns out Dickenson has just started selling a 
stainless cap that you install to stop this very issue. 

Now to my prime suspect!
I am almost positive on my boat that the deck-hull seal is my major 
culprit!  I think that rain flows into this area from the rail and of 
course we do bury the bow in heavy weather.  This all takes time to flow 
back to the chain plate area and by then I think I may have overlooked 
those events.  I have fashioned a gouging pick out of a screw driver and 
also have purchased a circular cutter blade for my roto zip.  I plan to 
cut the existing caulk back as far as I can and then fill with 5200 
before launching next spring.  I will use a caulking gun as this will 
allow me to inject the 5200 rather than coat it over, which is what 
happens with a hand tube

By the way, I would love to hear from others about any areas I may have 
overlooked!

Happy Hunting!
Charles Finn
Mighty Quinn #114
Great Lakes

Steve Smolinske wrote:
> Hello All,
> I thought I had the problem fixed when I had the mast down, I took off 
> all the chain plate covers dug out all of the silicone and rebed the 
> openings with 4200, made sure the air pockets were out, then filled up 
> openings with excess and slowly screwed down the cover plates.  I 
> cleaned up all the excess that squeezed out around the covers.  The 
> last few days we have had some serious rain.  Both port and starboard 
> chain plates for the uppers and lowers are leaking, the port like a 
> hose and the strbd slightly less.  Inspecting the deck work I can't 
> imagine that much water is getting in if any at all, the seal all 
> around looks great.  Since doing the repair we have had little rain, 
> now that it is back it looks as if no repair was done at all.  Any 
> suggestions?
>  
> Steve
> Peregrine #312
> Seattle
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