Under seat storage collecting water

[Kozzie2020]

My boat has a fully enclosed double bimini. The black material is all solid Sunbrella and the grey windows are made from a product called Vistaweave 95 which only allows 5% UV through, so it’s very fine mesh and only a little rain mist will enter the boat if it’s windy.

My problem is every time it rains I get water in the lounge storage compartments, sometimes half a bucket per compartment.
I have noticed that any water that falls on the lounge is drained externally so no water can enter that way.

Does this mean the water might be entering through the bottom side drain holes, maybe the wind is pushing the water between the bottom fence rail and the deck and straight in through the bottom side drain holes? The water then pools to the end of each compartment because my boat is leaning to stern.

Strange as this may sound but if I silicone the bottom side drain holes could this fix the problem?

Has anyone else had this issue?

 

[Vikingstaff]

I would not want to fill or plug ANY area that might serve as drainage. As you describe your problem, perhaps drill, or drill and route drainage in the back of each of those spots to the exterior...? To me, that is a better approach.

 

[Potomacbassin’]

Leak test it - run a hose with a shower head and start low (around the base) and work your way up. Hit each area a couple minutes each to give it time to find any circuitous routes. You may find the source of the problem surprising and not in an area you originally suspected.

Like Viking stated, just sealing holes and drains may actually do more harm than good - I see this all the time with building facade leaks where people caulk weeps closed and make the problem 10x worse. Had a real bad flood in a building recently and we tore that place apart looking for the cause including running cameras through every pipe. Turned out to be a storm drain in the parking lot was clogged full of leaves and pine needles and the storm water from the roof backed up into the building during extreme rain events. You just never know sometimes so work though it in a logical progression eliminating possibilities as you go.

Good luck!

 

[Kozzie2020]

Thanks guys for your input. May have to do the elimination thing with the shower head.
BTW loving our Bennington. The family is using it twice a week.

 

[big shooter]

I had the same problem, check to see if your drain holes in the top of the seat are aligned. Some of mine were not, see pic. I aligned them and drove a small screw next to the hole to keep them aligned. I learned this on this forum, apparently this is an ongoing issue. Mine also didn't have any drain holes in the bottom, but I'll probably let the dealer do that this winter.

 

[SEMPERFI8387]

I had the same problem, check to see if your drain holes in the top of the seat are aligned. Some of mine were not, see pic. I aligned them and drove a small screw next to the hole to keep them aligned. I learned this on this forum, apparently this is an ongoing issue. Mine also didn't have any drain holes in the bottom, but I'll probably let the dealer do that this winter.

You want to get the holes drilled in the base as it will end with water accumulating in there if you don’t.

 

[JohnL]

Make sure the drain holes in the base are clear also. If you have accumulating water my thought would be those drain holes are blocked and not letting the water out.

 

[Kozzie2020]

In the end what was happening was very simple to see.

The water was running down the back of the seat into the side channel and because my boat is very much leaning towards the stern the water accumulated at the lowest end and simply overflowed into the cavity. There are no external drain holes on either end of the lounges.

My boat has a full enclosure with the windows being a fine mesh which allows for some driving mist to enter. I have placed tarps over the lounges when stored. Problem solved.