Hunter 306 Owner Modifications and Upgrades

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Rear cabin bed wet?

posted 09-12-2008 by Don

If the rear cabin bedding is wet, and no one has contibuted thier own water, the first thing to do is to determine whee it is coming from. On my boat, I was experiencing wet cushions when heeled to port or when under power. Upon doing the taste test, salt water was found.
I removed the bedding and removed the rear bulkhead by unscrewing the screws on the outer portion of the molding on the center panel. Then just lift the panel out.
If posible, go out with anoth person onboard and run the boat under full power. This is what I did. I noted water dripping from one of the swim ladder screws. Once back at the slip, I removed the swim ladder, dried the area, and rebedded the screws using 3M 4200. Dont be cheap with the 4200. No more leak from these screws after 1 season.
More salt water appeared about one month later. Did the same check as before. This time I noticed water coming in from the starboard side of the stern rub rail area. Back at the slip I carefully removed the crews holding the rub rail on. It will spring out so proceed slowly as not to lose any screws. At this pint I rebedded all the screws for the rub rail. Signs of moisture were present on all the screws removed. 3m 4200 was used. I also ran a bead of 4200 along the edge of the stainless rub rail once it was screwed back onto the boat.
This is one repair that you schould not wait to do. Water will cause many problems with the cushions in the way of mold and fabic break down.
On a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the hardess, I gave this repair a 3.