BVIs to the Azores - Day Fifteen 34 20.443N 040 21.208W
Aurora_b
Mike and Liz Downing
Wed 11 Jun 2014 21:50
The saga of the scupper leak continues. The repair stopped any water coming in around the scupper, so that was good. However, apparently it didn't stop it going into the deck, which is a balsa sandwich. We always thought that was a possibility and thought we would have to dry it all out when making a proper repair (that would include sealing the deck where the scupper deck tube goes through). What we didn't reckon on was that a plate had been screwed into the deck from inside the boat to act as a backing plate for an old deck fitting that was removed back in 2007. The fittings screw holes had been sealed on deck, but, we discovered, not on the inside. So in another close-by locker we have 4 holes going up into the balsa sandwich deck - just perfect to let in any water that happens to be in the deck! So we had quite a bit water in the locker to mop up again today. The holes are not easy to get to so we haven't decided yet whether to try and block them up or wait until we do the proper repair. Keeping them open will at least tell us that the repair has properly sealed the deck, but it would be nice to keep the inside of the boat dry, so may just try a very temporary repair to plug the holes that can easily be removed once the scupper has been properly repaired. There's always something to keep us busy!
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