Been getting some great advise reading on this forum. Been a member for almost a year and have a question that after searching have not located.
Got a 98' 26x that I purchased last year and it had some damage above the rear berth ceiling (if you can call it that). The inner liner was cracked at the well cavity below the engine well. PO was not aware of this damage and did not notice the leak. The PO's husband had pasted away a few years eailier and she had not used the boat sense before his passing. I'am figuring that rain water had filled this well between the cockpit floor and the berth liner then frozed during cold weather and cracked the fiberglass, it is maybe 1/16" thick. I sealed every thing I know to seal on the boat. I have no water in the belge forward or aft. all is dry. Only time water leaks is after a rain. The boat is not under a cover. I sealed around the pedatal inside and out. I sealed the fuel lockers too. No water enters at the thru the cockpit cables either. I have sprayed water from the garden hose all over, but never a drop, but a normal rain and it is leaking again. The water is clear and yes tasteless. Has this happen to anyone else? Is there a diagram of how these boat are put together? Thanks.
I waited for a steady rain then crawled all over the inside of the boat. With a flashlight I scanned all the inner hull surfaces. Mine was leaking along the transom to upper deck joint (under and both side of OB). The inside transom wall was wet. Rain water would collect in the cockpit and drain down to the step platform on both sides of the motor well then collect at the hull to upper deck joint. The OB motor installer cut away the vinyl trim when they set the OB. That exposed the joint and it leaked significantly.
Also check your chain plate thru hull joints.
I bought a tube of 5200 and carefully put a bead around all deck mounted hardware. I beaded the transom to upper deck joint.
Not a drop in the bilge since.
The correct way is to remove all the deck hardward and reseat with 5200. I beaded mine since I store it in doors. If I stored it out doors I would remove and reseal as UV will destroy the 5200 in a year. It is not as flexible as silicon but more UV resistant. I just use a wood carvers v-blade to clean off the old bead and reseal.
Any leak in the cockpit will travel to the thin liner and down to the lowest point and then drip, drip onto the aft berth. So leaks are hard to find.
I found leaks inside my fuel locker and I ended up fiberglassing the seam between the fuel locker floor and the cockpit lip. The factory caulk seemed to be deficient.
I also had a small leak from loose cockpit cushion brass snaps. And also check the caulk bedding of the screws for the helm seat hinge.
On our first camping trip it rained and we have a drip in the rear birth. Seems to have entered via the hole cut for the Garmin cable in the console. Another Mac owner had the same problem, and just used some silicone to fill the hole in the stainless fitting.
Craig LaForce wrote:I found that rain can follow the steering cable from the steering wheel down and through the hole in the deck. Just another thought.
This is a classic one.. As well as motor control cables.
Maybe this is an American word. It is the compound we use to seal up seams, cracks, holes, etc... You can get it in many colors or clear. I used clear silicone style caulk around the base of my chainplates to keep water from getting under there and leaking into the boat.
Howdy Vulcan I see you share my pain. Living in an humid state you being in South Carolina and me being in Virginia. You also have a 26X with water in the rear berth after it rains well surprise, surprise me too. I will tell you if your boat hasn't had every single screw, bolt, or any other equipment that passes through the deck/ceiling resealed in the past 10 years you need to start there. The dip in the ceiling in the rear is mostly just inner hull, there is quite a bit of space between it and the outer hull. I bring this up because mine was cracked when I got the boat and was leaking water so I just cut it away with a cutting wheel. I then placed pictured square bucket under it. I found that it would be almost completely full after a hard rain until I resealed all of the above mentioned hardware while making access ports to get to said hardware I noticed something else. Humidity even on a hot day collects in the ceiling space between the hulls up there. So my solution was to run two dehumidifiers at the slip (or in the driveway when my boat is home), and place two of those humid absorbing bucket dehumidifiers up there, one for each side along with three others scattered in hidden places within the boat. Now between emptying or at least checking those absorbing bucket once a month, and resealing everything except my rub rail (which I need a new one), and using the dehumidifiers I only get about a cup or two of water in the square bucket Velcro down after a hard rain. I think when and if I ever replace the rub rail I won't even have that much. Now if you decide to do what I did (removing all insulation then reinstalling it after resealing everything and making 6 access ports in that ceiling) I hope you don't have small children around to hear you talk to God in a most stern manner.
And I thought I had a rare issue. Thanks for all your replies. Some solutions I have tried and some I will try. I was about ready to do what "ROAD soldier" did, but wishing I could find an entry point or two first and seal the rain out. Can not see how water could enter at the rub rail, but I do not know how the boat was put together. Thanks again for all the replies and send some more as you think of them.
Been a member for almost a year and have a question that after searching have not located. 
please help me to undestand that.., my English is limited 
.Jim, howabout "u"?
