1978 Com-pac 16' questions??

[Michaeldi23]

Hello I have recently acquired a com-pac 16' my first question is how common is this boat I have heard that anything before 1983 is pretty rare. Second question is I am doing my referb in the water and have discovered that I have a very slow leak somewhere. I think it may be the scuppers, but am not certain. The Hull and keel are solid. Are there any other common place's to look on this boat. Thanks Michael

[mgoller]

Hey Michael,
An early ComPac 16 is rare and desireable.  It is a sought after cruiser.  After you enjoy it for a time you will come to find out why it so desired.

There could be a small hole somewhere but it is unlikely.  More likely is a bit of water is getting by the companionway, hatch board area or leaking from the cockpit scupper seal when it rains.  Check your scuppers first.  They are plastic tubes which drain the cockpit and out through the hull.  Water coming in from outside is unlikely since the scuppers are above the waterline.  The tubes are sealed with sealant as they make their way out from the cockpit.  This sealant dries up and is prone to cracking.
How much water?  If you dry it up, how much do you have coming in over a couple of dry days.  If it doesn't rain for a few days and you have water - say a couple of gallons you have a leak in the hull below waterline.
Even a pin hole will flood a boat in a couple of days.
If its less it is an above waterline issue.

[fafnir]

Of course you could always take the boat out of the water, fill it with water and see if any comes out.  I have done that in the past. :-)

A good way to check for leaks topside is to draw chalk lines using colored chalk under each of the deck fittings.  Spray the top of the boat with a hose or wait until it rains and see if water runs thorugh any of the chalk lines.

Another although kinda time consuming in my opinion method is to plug all of the obvious holes ie, hatch vent etc. and using some plastic sheeting and duck tape insert the hose of a shop vac through either the hatch or cabin vent (easier),  set the shop vac to blow and cover the deck, hull etc in soapy water and look for blowing bubbles.  This is a great way of doing it because you can tell right away if you solved the problem.  For me on my Ranger 23 I had a leak that was from one of the ports, I saw where it was leaking, poped  the port out rebedded it, put it back in and tried it again and found the problem was solved.  What made this one so hard was the port leaked, the water ran down the headliner and came into the cabin about 3 ft behind where the port was.  The shop vac method showed where the true leak was.

[pelican]

I would agree with Marcus on his assessment., Always look for leaks in the most obvious places. I would also add, the cabin roof around the mast step, chain plates, ports , top side hardware , screw holes on any topside teak trim, and rub rails.

Sometimes, (most of the time) it is necessary to re-bed everything on older boats to keep water out. Sometimes these leaks will reveal themselves by water streak marks on the interior walls if you catch the light at the right angles.

Sometimes baby powder sprinkled on interior walls etc will reveal the leak if you pour a bucket of water on suspect areas.

I would plan on re-bedding everything and consider it normal maintenance. It's a little time consuming but worth the effort to put a nice classic Compac back on the water. Congratulations on your find.

Terry

[pelican]

PS

A leak in a boat , beside the obvious fact that it can cause the boat to sink and/or cause the wood  to rot can cause other problems as well.

Some of the foams used in boats for flotation or to stiffen the hull can break down over time or when exposed to certain chemicals. ( like Gas )

These foams can absorb water over a  period of time and cause the hull to gain a significant amount of weight.

Infact, I once had a friend with a Very popular,expensive foam filled unsinkable power boat . He started burning out trailer bearings and the boat started handling very sluggish.

Someone suggested weighing the boat and he took it to some trucking scales. The Boat weighed more then 2 times the specified weight because the foam had soaked up water.

Hull weight gain  due to foam soaking up water is a very common problem with some very popular sailboats.

I don't know if Compac foam absorbs water or not.  Try to keep interior dry and call Hutchins for their advise.

If the leak is below the water line, sometimes tapping in the hull with a light rubber mallet may detect a sound change and the water source. Look at the keel carefully for any cracks or blow outs. I would bet your problem is topside. Sorry for the long winded post. Just my 2 cents

[hobnob]

I too recently acquired a '78 CP16 and it was basically leaking like a seive.  The bottom line for me was that sealant doesn't last 30 years.  I redid the deck/hull seam (major source of water intrusion) as well as removing and resealing with 5200 the motor mount, tiller mount, bow hook, chainplates, handrails, companionway brightwork, portlights (use 4000 on these because 5200 isn't suitable for lexan) and most of the topside fittings.  For the most part there was very little original sealant left in any of these places.  Another place I'm finding that water gets in is the original cowl vent.  This is really only an issue when washing the boat or when it rains, but since I've redone the interior with new hull-liner material and some other sprucing up, I'd rather not get water in there.  I'm having a very hard time finding a suitable replacement as no one seems to have a vent that fits a 3-1/2" cutout.

[GrFa]

Is the sealant more prone to deteriorate on boats kept outside versus inside? Our 78 CP16 (hull number 763, what's yours?) has been kept indoors most of its life. It is basically mint, but I feel like some resealing might not be the worst idea after so much time.

[steve brown]

Hobnob, Regarding your cowl vent; you might want to look at a Nicro solar powered/ rechargeable battery vent. More than likely your current vent is a Nicro product and will accept the upgrade. I did this on my 19 and love it. The vent can be made to intake or exhaust. It sure helps to air out the boat. Steve

[hobnob]

I was thinking about a solar one but none of them seemed to be the right size - the closest, including the N20020 solar vent, is 3-3/4" for the hole.  Since it looks like I'm going to have to increase the diameter anyway, solar is probably the way to go.

GrFa - can't really answer the sealant question at this point since I only acquired mine last November and I redid the seam sealant last month.  Hull 623, baby!

[hobnob]

West Marine ran a sale on the Nicro 20020 day/night powered vent for $89.99 just recently and I picked one of those up.  Weird thing because I measured the outside diameter of the old vent where it stuck into the cabin at 3-1/2, but after removing it the 3-3/4 fitting for the new vent fit just fine.  And the screw holes even lines up with the originals.  Gotta like that.