How to eliminate water getting through the bow slider ?
 

Yup, I posted this same question on the modifications forum because I believe some real talented people lurk on this repair forum .........

Running the ocean yesterday - with a good deal of spray and wind, I found water was intruding a section of the cuddy. Some part of the carpet was getting wet, most not.

I'm going to run the hose on the bow simulating rain and spray while I'm watching the inside of the cuddy.

I know this is common with the V21, but also recall one guy who wrote about his correction to the issue.

Anyone with experience, appreciate feedback.

Two channels on either side of the sliding hatch drain down into the cockpit beside the cabin door. The inside wall of the channel is something like 1/2 starboard. I believe it is screwed into the fiberglass on either side. I bet it is coming in b/t there.

I don't have much trouble with it except when towing in the rain (or taking one over the bow :cen:). Then it gets pretty wet down there.

By the way, mine does not have carpet anywhere in the cuddy. The previous owner removed it and painted the interior with awlgrip. I can take the cushions out while towing in the rain so no big deal for it to get wet down there once in a while.

That's a good idea - unless storing things you don't want to get wet in the cuddy...........
rags, radio, clothes, seats, the list goes on and on.

I'm going to examine it, watch the water, see if I can engineer an adjustment to prevent most water intrusion.

I ran a bead of caulk b/t the starboard piece and fiberglass. Got to be careful not to make a high spot in the drainage channel in the process. It helped a lot.

Hold on now - I thought you don't have carpeting in your cuddy and you don't mind getting water intrusion ? Funny. Thanks for the suggestion.

I may have to go directly to Destroyer or the other guy.........forgot his name........one of the other V freaks / experts for a detailed and absolute solution !

LoL I'm far removed from an expert...(but thanks for the compliment) I just look at things from an engineers point of view. I haven't looked at the water/bow slider problem yet... working on my repairing my side rod racks first. Once that's done I'll turn my attention to the slider ...but don't hold your breath, better minds than mine have looked at the problem already.. :(

I pulled all the old carpet out of my 21 and will eventually yank it out of this '84...IMO and for my needs, it's one of the best things you can do for these boats...:clap:...but be forwarned...it didn't come outta the 21 easy...:cen:

LOL - I guess I lied. It didn't solve the problem completely but helped in the obvious spots.

I had the same water intrusion problem with the sliders. I put a bead of sealant on it and it was fixed - for a few seasons. I had to do it again this spring. Poor design in my opinion.

I throw the kids in there so they like the carpet. I friggin just steamed cleaned it last week!

You put a bead of sealant where buddy ?
Does this mean you don't allow the hatch to be slid open at all ?
Not sure what Wellcraft was thinking about this design........ seems to me it's only adaquate if:
A. Boat is used on very calm waters- not subject to any spray from waves.
B. Boat is never used in the rain and then stored indoors to avoid getting wet !

Anyway, I'm carrying on here............... V21 owner Destroyer plans to evaluate this issue shortly, so we all may wind up using his solution.......I don't have a solution myself.

If the moon and the stars all line up correctly this evening I will snap a pic of where I put some sealant. Leaving the house at 1700 to go jug fishing for catfish on High Rock Lake!

Here are the "jugs" my buddy made up.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-2...255B1%255D.JPG

May be worth seeing - thanks for offering to show pics.

Looking for solution here. Improvement's a good thing but DRY solution is the goal to ELIMINATE water intrusion under these circumstances:

1. Rain
2. Wave related spray action related to rough water etc.

Anything short of this to me is wet vs dry.

Sort of like sleeping in a " sometimes wet bed." No thanks.

There are these starboard molding pieces that frame the slider and the door into the cuddy. Two long ones shaped like curve Ls and one short one under the slider. I unscrewed them, took them off and put some calk on them, then reattached. Then I put a bead along the top between the molding and the slider track. I smoothed it with my finger where I could reach. As Blue mentioned, you need a smooth bead otherwise the water pools a bit. This has kept my cuddy dry for a few years. Sorry, no pics to post.

If you remove the slider you would see the raised guides on left and right connected in the middle to form a big H shape...it would not be impossible for water to fill the front of the H and overspill into the cuddy....also the guides themselves are bound to carch and channel water toward and then under the center glass...to avoid these sources RAINING, don't raise the bow too much on the trailer....there's a particular level where water runs aft in the cockpit and forward ahead of the windshield...it should find this level naturally when floating on the water and you can find it on the trailer as well...

When running w/the bow up, given enough water, it will find its way into the boat through either of the two routes above...I considered installing drains in the front of the H to give that water another place to go...hoses would run left and right and exhaust under the rub rail just ahead of the windshield...what comes thru the side channels(guides) and under the center glass is gonna be tougher..our at least I never thought of a good way to divert that water...Keep in mind all water that falls onto the slider when closed will run into those channels whether it's rain or spray...

Yup, I had removed the entire slider / cover and looked it over. Wait a moment - I thought you don't mind a little water in the cuddy ? I'm going to figure this out........and make it water tight to about 5,000 feet under water.

Here is what I thought about doing at one point. Have a small piece of sunbrella made to cover the sliding hatch area and snap up under the windsheild. Snaps wouldn't work so well on the front so (forgive me I don't know what it is called) have piping on the canvas that slides into those round aluminum channels like you see on some enclosures. Could also use the channel/piping on the sides if you wanted to.

I would probably only use when trailering/trolling in the rain cause it would make it a pain to use the slider!

BTW - got some pics yesterday. Gotta get my thumb drive out of the truck. Pics up before lunch time...r

Canvas covering area in red.


https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-x...Y/s455/v21.gif

I am in the process of doing the same thing of removing the sliders and recaulking. I notced that they warped a little bit and I am going to add a few more screws hopefully they wont pull away any more. This issue is my only :bat: with this boat.

The fishing was less than good. We ended with 5 or 6 dinky Mr. Whiskers 1 - 2 lbs and a couple of "knock downs." All released.

Cool thing about these jugs they have a strike indicator - piece of rebar that slides down the PVC essentially standing the jug up so you know it has been hit. Pretty cool.

BGREEN - bad pic and excuse my dirty drainage channels - but where the red line is and all the way up on the top too....

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-C...ider_caulk.JPG
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-R...0503121822.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-M...0503121836.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-m...0503121837.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-4...503121837a.jpg
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-w...503121911a.jpg

Gotta like how calm it is where you fish..........

Me........ I'm stuck with mostly 2,3,4 foot seas because I fish the ocean off New Jersey.

So, I wind up plowing through the waves, spray, wind, rain etc....

DESTROYER is going to figure this out and come up with the best solution.

By the way - saw a V21 in my area with a canvas that covered only the hatch on the bow, with snaps every 6" or so. Obviously, we're all in the same " BOAT" about this......

I doubt that his is now water tight, but it probably keeps some water out.

LOL - that is just the local lake. I fish Virginia Beach during winter stripers (sometimes Oregon Inlet depending on where the fish are), Cape Hatteras for Memorial day cobia, dolphin, wahoo, tuna and whatever else, then the rest of the season Murrell's Inlet SC for BSB, trigger, snapper, king mack, sheepshead, sometimes dolphin and occasionally luck into a cobia.....caught a sailfish last season. Really want to get my grouper game going this season.

Trust me - I see my share of chop, wind, spray in these inlets! But yes, the lake is normally nice and laid back and an excellent source for getting the salt out of the engine's water passages. :beer:

Do you fish the V for those salt water locations ? Nice, I love it- that's some great fishing.
While I'm working today, friend had striped bass to 44 lbs trolling the spoons !!! Today !
The cows are in. I like to release those big breeders .

Yeah, I've fished the V in all of them. Virginia Beach the winter before last it snowed 2 inches while we were out there. Visibility was oh, about 30 - 40 feet as long as you keep the snow off the enclosure. Got one fish the whole day. . . and it was 1" short. LOL

One of my buddy's got a 22' cc a couple of years ago so we switch it up now, but in the beginning the V was our only battle wagon. She never disappoints! Just needs a bigger fuel tank.

Leaving for Hatteras 5/23 to fish 4 days. Love it down there. Stream is close and you can be in the meat within 20 - 25 miles. On a normal day we'll burn around 35 gallons. In fishing Hatteras during Memorial day weekend for the last 5 years we've never been skunked. Hope I did not jinx us.

Nice that ya'll get to catch the big stripers in short sleeves! We're all bundled up. :beer:

While I was out, family didn't realize the cover had blown off during heavy rain.

Thought I'd find the cuddy soaked, but nope dry. Go figure.

Must be mostly wave and heavy spray coming horizontally that really gets in there.

I bet it is those trim tabs. Just send them to me and I will dispose of them properly :sly:

I thinking of what I'll call a " drag gasket" ............ a rubber strip about 4" wide attached to the outside bow slider that wick's away water from getting in. Abviously not completely water tight, but if dragging flush along the bow deck, could essentially shield all rain and spray.

White color, so as to blend in nicely and possibly attached with an adhesive to avoid drilling holes. Not sure yet - just a thought. Might be able to make it look like " factory equipment" if done right.

ps - the trim tabs work great on this hull..........again this past Saturday, 1-2' rolling chop and just a touch of tab bow down was all needed to eliminate the pounding that engine trim could not alone. Good stuff.