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I'm getting water in the bilge after heavy rain... I'm assuming it's coming from the chainplate slots. What should I use to seal these? I was going to use a clear silicone sealant... is this ok? Any other rain leak spots to check?

--Mike

I also had a leak at this area and used 3M 5200 Marine adhesive sealant . Check the the screws that hold the chain plate. I had a bad leak inside the pedistal where the cables went through the floor.

Hello:
When my chain plates leaked I made a couple of attempts at being neat and clean. I removed the pop riveted cover, chainplate and cleaned all the sealer. I did a classy job of reinstalling and resealing everything so it was clean on deck. Unfortunately this allowed water to puddle at the seam and leak again after a year. So, in the end I used sealer externally and built up a volcano shaped bead that was smoothed to a fine edge so water has to run down and away from the chain plate. There is enough material to allow for flexing and maintain the seal. That was the last time I had to seal them. It doesn't look as "cool" but funtion over form in my case.

Blue Water Yachts of Seattle says that the chainplates are "the one spot on the boat where clear silicone seal is the right stuff to use". It has worked well for us.

I stopped by the boat this afternoon, and hosed a stream of water on the chainplates to confirm the leak... sure enough, I could see the water running down the side of the hull into the bilge. I sealed them both up with silicone. Hopefully this will end my current water-in-the-bilge problem!

--Mike