Hello,
I’m in the process of purchasing a Freedom 35 CK, on the foredeck is a rope locker that collects water and in the case of this locker leaks into the v-berth. Has anyone had this trouble? How did you overcome this problem. Having the rope locker forward is handy but I may just seal it permanently to prevent water intrusion. Thank you in advance for the assistance.
My 4040 had a leak when I first purchased it. It leaked in the corner at the bulkhead. The solution was to add fiberglass at that point, making sure that it sealed well.
– Geoff
Thanks for the quick response,
I will take photos this weekend of the issue. The rope locker is on the center top of the fore deck and, with the door open, is a bowl dropping down without a drain. In this situation there are typically “gutters” around the hatch, as the case of cockpit seat lockers, but there are no gutters to redirect the water away from the locker. The previous owner coated the interior with Flexseal, this only made it hold water until it eventually failed and once again leaked water into the fore berth. There may be some drain I missed or the previous owner covered that diverts water into the chain locker but this would still leave your lines damp most the time.
The 4040 has 2 large through-hulls that drain the chain locker. Clearly, this is a location that can/will collect a lot of water. I would suggest that you consider installing some through-hulls to drain your locker.
Not sure if this is the same sort of boat, but on my UK F35 CK, there is a locker at the forward end of the coach roof, which opens to the outside. There are two small limber holes at the aft end of the locker on each side, about 1cm diameter, which drain the locker onto the deck, except for a few ml. of water, which serve to keep everything damp. There’s no way it would leak into the forward cabin, unless there was some other damage.
The chain locker is below the windlass, mounted on the bowsprit, and water can follow the chain down into the space ahead of the mainmast; this is drained by a hose leading to the bilge, and can get blocked by mud if the anchor is used frequently without cleaning during recovery.
A couple of pictures taken during the last refit show the hole where the chain goes, and the locker, with and without the lid. The latter does have channels, but they are not very effective, since they drain into the locker.
This is a UK 35. Now I know to scrape off the flex seal and paint to find these drains. Thank you for the photos, she’s beautiful.
Quick update, there is a crack in the bottom of the rope locker causing the coring to rot probably froze and split the interior fiberglass. In the process of re-coring and glassing. Thanks for the heads up about the drains otherwise I may have accidentally covered them.
“Quick update, there is a crack in the bottom of the rope locker causing the coring to rot probably froze and split the interior fiberglass. In the process of re-coring and glassing. Thanks for the heads up about the drains otherwise I may have accidentally covered them.”
Cannot imagine why anyone would seal up the drains, at least without sealing the hatch too. Sounds like a tedious job; hope it goes well. As for the heads-up, you’re very welcome, and that’s really what this forum is for; I’ve had some valuable advice in the past, and we should all be grateful for the effort that keeps it going. Thanks, Geoff!