www.iFourWinns.com

I came across this post and found it very interesting. I have a 2002 SD 205 with similar issues. My bow area was always damp or plain old wet. I also noticed that my boat lists to starboard a little. When I winterized my boat I though I found the source of the leak: there is a engine block "Y" hose installed on my boat that had a brass garden hose cap on it. When the engine was running above idle the cap leaked. I fixed this with a $.03 rubber washer. I also got out some mechanics wire and ensured that the two drain holes between sections were actually clear to allow the water to flow back to the engine compartment. There was some junk in there.

When I get the boat back I am going to check my cuddy for leaks. I did find that the small storage compartments were wet. the one on the starboard side was actually half full.

I have also wondered if I have a problem with my scupper drain on the starboard side in the stern. When I am in the water it always seems to have water right up to the drain near the battery. I have not figured out how to take that drain assembly apart to inspect it. I have a small suspicion that that little compartment is wet inside.

I appreciate all the information I have gotten from this forum.

I had the exact same issue and posted on here few years back. I believe Graham helped a great deal in diagnosing the problem as water seeping in through the edges of the engine hatch.

My solution was initially to have the rack rails angled so that the bow was raised slightly. This kept the water out of my cuddly, but that still left all of that water coming in through the engine hatch and hanging out in the bilge. When I replaced the factory cover with a custom job, I had them design the cover to extend back and out to cover the entire engine hatch. The rain now just runs off of the cover and over the sides of the boat.

_________________
Matt
2003 Four Winns Sundowner 245
VP 8.1Gi/DP
2008 Toyota 4Runner

Well my Sundowner 2000 model had an additional fail point of a table mount in the cuddy well ! They previous owner had cut into the forward stringer section.

I noticed it'd never dry out properly, so further investigation was required. So this week I pulled the front floor sections up & dug out the not very wooden centre stringer.

However the glassing at the the cuddy drain is/was the main point of failure for allowing water into the stringer, yes the glassing for the stringer sides & drain were just that eg: glass & no resin pretty much! Pretty poor all round I'd say.

Still its given me a job to do on my week off, shame it nearly killed me quite literally, had an embollism in my left leg artery, the weekend was spent in hospital being fixed under the knife All fixed now though & have the shark bite scar to prove it