2013 Oceanis 48 Overhead Leak

[Blue_Moon]

My four-year-old 48 has developed a deck leak the manifests itself in the form of water dripping out of the overhead in the salon during heavy downpours. I am not on the boat at the moment nor was I there when it was last reported to be more than an occasional drip.

My best guess is that whatever method was used to seal the mast at the partners is coming undone and the water is getting in there. The deck in that area has very little in the way of other through-deck penetrations. The only other likely prospect in my estimation is the track around the sliding Plexiglas cover for the companionway.

Any other places to look? If it is the mast, what is the best solution? Spartite? Toilet wax ring?

[Vasco]

I think the mast is deck stepped. The leak at the mast can then only come from the various wires (vhf, wind instrument etc) that go through the deck. Check the fittings on the wires to see that they are all sealed properly.

[Captsteve53]

Mast is I believe deck stepped so as above wiring?

How ever i recently had the the same complaint with a Jenneau 47 and finally tracked the leak to one of the deck port lights by the entrance hatch as water tends to lye in the seal joint, took them both out and re-caulked with a good flexible poly carbonate sealer,

No more leak


Cheers Steve

[Blue_Moon]

You guys are both right. The mast is deck stepped and through-bolted to a compression post that sits on the keel. My crappy old man memory also "forgot" the half dozen holes in front of the mast where wires go through. I cleaned and resealed all of those. Time will tell if that does the trick.

There is also an aft facing vent smack in the middle of the deck above the salon. I'll watch that next time I am aboard in a deluge as well.

[Blue_Moon]

So, as you kindly suggested, resealing the point where all of the upmast wireing enters the deck at the base of the mast stopped that leak.

Fast forward a few months and I am again on the Moon, in her slip, during a fairly heavy rain storm. This time there was water dripping from both sides of the salon overhead and entering the "gutters" above the cabinets on both sides of the salon and either running aft through those spaces or dripping down into the nav station, galley countertops or the space behind the table.

I suspect that both jib car tracks are leaking and plan to test that theory with a hose later this week. Should I be looking elsewhere as well? If it is the jib car tracks, is it a big deal to pull them up and rebed them? Seems like I am going to have to remove some of the overhead in the salon to get at the underside of them. I have a little trepedation about that.

Should I be having all of these leaks in a four year old boat?

[robert sailor]

That situation you have there is certainly one of the downsides of hull liners. With leaks they can be coming from almost anywhere and water slowly finds its way to an exit point where it will exit, it might be several feet from the point it's actually leaking. Your only choice is to just take your best guess and start to re bed and seal things hoping you get to it sooner than later.

[robert sailor]

If you can actually access your deck which most new boats can't then I'd be pulling those off and having a really good look. Even when you run a hose you have to be very patient because often it can take quite a while fo the water to show up down below.

[Suijin]

No, a four year-old boat should not have issues like that unless it's been abused in some fashion.

If I had a four year-old 48 foot boat and it started leaking like that I would be screaming bloody murder into the phone with a dealer looking for it to be made right before I would be resigned to fixing it myself. I don't care how long the warranty is, I'd press them hard.

And, chances are that the dealer will have some sense of what the specific cause of the leaks is/are. You're very likely not the only one who's experiencing them.

[Blue_Moon]

I have been in touch with Murray Yacht Sales who is the dealer in this case. They have not been terribly responsive on this issue so far. However, I must say they have been pretty reasonable with a few other chronic issues in the past.

The boat is single, private owner and lightly used—mostly overnighters in the Mississippi Sound. The genset has twice as many hours as the auxiliary. She did make a trip to Key West and back last spring. In fairness, it was purchased in February of 13 so it is closer to five years than four. Still, I would have expected closer to ten years before I sprang bilateral deck leaks.

Headed to Gulfport on Thursday to play around with a hose and try to figure out how to disassemble the overhead without breaking anything. Maybe Murray will weigh in by then.

[Blue_Moon]

The problem turns out to be the fixed ports that line both sides of the raised part of the deck over the salon.

I made this discovery using an ingenious technique suggested by the dealer. I pressurized the cabin with the blower output from a shopvac. Next, i painted all suspicious spots with a thick dish soap solution and looked for bubbles. The dealer had alerted me to pay special attention to that area.

The outboard flange of those fixtures stands out from the surface of the deck they are mounted in by 2-3mm. The dealer suggested squirting SCS2000 SilPruf* Sealant in there. I guess that is what I'm gonna do.

[Suijin]

I would be prepared to removed the windows, clean them up, and reinstall them properly. There's an excellent chance that "squirting some caulk in" is not going to solve the problem.

Another short term solution is to tape off the perimeter of the windows, on the cabin sides, about 1/8" out, as a stencil, and run a new bead of sealant all the way around. I say short term because it's only a surface treatment and no caulk is really totally UV proof in my experience.

[Blue_Moon]

Well, if the windows would have to be removed and reinstalled to fix it, that would be an indication to me at least that they were not put in right to begin with and Beneteau should fix it.

I wish there was a forum exclusively for Oceanis 48 owners so I could get a better idea how widespread this problem is and how others have addressed it.

Is there such a site? Maybe one for all Oceanis?

[kupo2kupo]

We just purchased a 2013 Beneteau Oceanis 41. It has a leak at the upper seal of the window in the deckhouse, apparently the same issue as Blue Moon.

I also inquired with the Beneteau dealer. They produced a 2005 Beneteau document explaining how to re-bed PMMA windows. The document refers to a polyurethane sealant, apparently a French brand.

This is good news because it should be much easier to have another layer of sealant stick to polyurethane than to silicone. I will try to do this in spring when the boat launches.

If I were to find more than one isolated leak, I would go the route of taking off and re-bedding the window. I fully expect to have to do this after 10 - 15 years the latest anyway.

Blue Moon, I am not aware of a Beneteau Oceanis 41/45/48 specific forum. There are Beneteau user groups, but most of them deal with much older boats. Would be nice to have a dedicated forum, since many issues will be specific to the boats having been built in the 2011 to 2016 time frame ...