Taking in water on port side of vessel during winter

[Popscott]

I have a 26x and now I’m officially fed up with having water on the port side of the boat while it’s on the trailer sufficiently covered. I do live in the inner Northwest and the vessel does get plenty of condensation. However two days ago I bailed out at least five gallons.
Anyone else have this problem?

[Russ]

Where are you bailing? Which compartment?

The chainplates are the most common place for water intrusion.

[Jimmyt]

By "sufficiently covered", do you mean that you are 99.9% sure that you aren't looking at rainwater? If so, 5 gallons is a lot of condensation. What time interval would you estimate for that accumulation?

Are the hatches closed, or open?

Is the port side more shaded, or facing north? I'm looking for some reason that the port side would have condensation, but not the starboard side.

Do you have power available? If so, a small heater could be used to test the theory that condensation is the issue.

Something like this, 700watts, or thereabouts to prevent overloading the extension cord to power it. No moving parts, and a working thermostat. Set it just high enough to exceed the anticipated dew point (add 5 degrees F). Set it in the center of the cabin, with flammables well away from it. Close all hatches. Use a 12 ga extension cord with good ends.

https://www.google.com/shopping/product ... 40480,cs:1

A mechanical dehumidifier would actually be my first choice, if you already have one. Compressor type, 20-50 pints per day minimum. Don't waste your money on the peltier type. If you're having that much accumulation, you will need to raise the boat temp above dewpoint, or have enough dehumidification to keep up. The dehumidifier will raise the boat temp while running, too. You'll need to set up a continuous drain unless it's in your side yard and you want to go empty the catch tank every few hours.

Damp rid works fine in areas that don't have a high humidity load, or in spaces that are tightly sealed. In your Mac, based on that much accumulation, I don't think damp rid would be a practical solution.

Unless you have a definitive explanation for the port side condensing while the starboard stays dry, I'm suspicious that you have a leak somewhere. But if the port side is totally shaded, or facing due north while the starboard side is heated all day.... well, maybe.

Anxious to hear your feedback, and any further info. Interesting problem. Thanks for posting!

And, sorry you're having the issue.

[Popscott]

Thank you for your suggestions, I’ll definitely look into all the options and keep you posted.

[NiceAft]

I still am stunned with 5 gallons. That’s a crazy amount of liquid. You said the boat is adequately covered. Does that mean completely covered stem to stern?