Sailing a 5,000 mile loop on the Atlantic: ‘Six months in a leaky boat’

Mike Reynolds and his wife Nicki sailed over 5,000 miles to the Azores, Canaries and across the Atlantic to the Caribbean while repairing three separate leaks

Finally we had arrived in the Azores from Newfoundland, a passage described in YM February 2025. En route we had discovered water leaking into the forepeak and the heads compartment bilge. Over the next six months and 5,000 miles we identified and repaired three separate leaks while cruising the Azores, Canaries and eastern Caribbean.

In the Azores and Canaries we joined an Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) event celebrating the club’s 70th anniversary.

Zen Again, our Japanese-designed and built 1980s IOR ¾ tonner, is a well-equipped ‘pocket’ blue-water cruiser. The interior has moulded fibreglass headliner panels in the forepeak, head and quarterberth. Many years ago we removed the quarterberth headliner to install new cockpit winches and foot blocks. Finding and fixing our leaks required more such surgery.

Azores, Madeira & Canaries

Our initial search for the source of the leaks led us to the forepeak. Inspection during a passage between the Azores islands showed water running off the forepeak headliner, down the topsides to a stringer, along the stringer past the main bulkhead into the head, then down into the head’s isolated bilge. All through-deck fittings were inaccessible due to the headliner.

Close inspection revealed that although the main bulkhead was fibreglassed to the hull it wasn’t at the stringers. We filled these gaps with sealant. Another passage produced water in the forepeak bilge and very little in the head. We decided it was time to remove the forward section of the forepeak headliner. This was a substantial job made easier with a multitool.

With the headliner gone the source of the leak was immediately obvious. Two of four 40-year-old bolts securing one of the mooring cleats were rusty and damp. Removing them, cleaning the holes and fitting new bolts was a very quick job compared to finding the source!

Despite the ‘boat maintenance in exotic locations’, we had a wonderful time with the group of OCC boats. We visited most islands in the Azores. From there we sailed to Madeira and onward to several of the Canary Islands. These passages confirmed we had cured the forepeak leak but there was still water appearing in the head bilge.

In Gran Canaria we finally identified the source as a ¾-inch skin fitting. This had been replaced (with its sea cock and hose tail) only two years ago, the most recent of several replacements in the last 15 years.

With a background in offshore racing we’d been cycling the head sea cocks at each use, leaving them normally closed. We belatedly realised sea cocks aren’t designed for thousands of cycles per year. Worse, each replacement had involved cleaning up the hole in the hull, gradually increasing its diameter and reducing the contact area of the skin fitting flange. Big mistake!

The solution was to replace the head inlet skin fitting and upsize it to one inch. We wanted to do so since our next passage was across the Atlantic. However, our Schengen time was expiring and booking a haul out and finding a mechanic to assist in the run-up to the ARC fleet’s departure proved too difficult.

The water ingress was less than a litre a day, we had plenty of underwater sealant and epoxy putty aboard, and we could divert to Mindelo in the Cape Verde
islands if necessary. So we purchased spare fittings and set sail.

The ‘calculated risk’ wasn’t a good idea. Within a day of departure, and in fairly boisterous conditions, the water ingress had increased to a litre every three hours. We were bailing out after every watch.

We decided to divert to Mindelo. Luckily we had friends a week or so ahead of us who also had a problem requiring a haul out in Mindelo. They had arranged an emergency haul out via crane and repairs. The work was not done well and they had to haul out for a second time. It was very expensive and they were unhappy with the work. On arrival we discussed our situation with them and came up with an alternative to hauling out.

Our plan was to apply disks with underwater-curing sealant both outside and inside. The disks helped pack the sealant against the hull. Conveniently our friend Adam was a diver and he assisted with the external application, which we initially held in place with a line from toe rail to toe rail under the hull.

The external emergency repair sealed off the skin fitting so we swapped hoses between head inlet and sink drain, using a small bucket below the sink. See the diagrams of the repair concept and the photos of the eventually removed disks.

We used CT1 sealant for the task which can cure underwater. One mistake we made was departing before the thick sealant had fully cured. Initially the sealant was weeping but after two days at sea it was dry. A second mistake was applying the interior fix before the exterior fix had cured.

We would certainly NOT recommend crossing an ocean with a temporary repair of this kind. Our friend’s experience in Mindelo led us to our DIY effort as a last resort. Nonetheless we think it was a pretty good emergency fix.

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Trans-Atlantic

Our crossing was more or less leak free. In the rare boisterous conditions and after rain we found a little water in the head bilge. This could be followed up to the headliner. We had a great crossing, keeping in touch with two OCC yachts via WhatsApp (over Starlink) and SSB.

After a week in wonderful English Harbour we sailed overnight to St Maarten. Duty-free St Maarten is a great place for boat work. We had parts couriered from the US and UK, including a full set of Trudesign skin fittings, sea cocks and hose tails to replace all aboard. The too-frequently replaced ¾-inch fittings in the head were changed to one inch.

While hauled out we also replaced our zincs, shaft seal, cutlass bearing and rekeyed our Coppercoat. Inspection of the external patch showed it had stayed well attached for more than 2,500 miles. The photos show how nicely it conformed to the skin fitting, inside and out.

Back in the water and anchored in St Maarten’s lagoon we set to work on the final leak. The multitool took off the headliner easily. That revealed a set of stainless steel screws had been used to locate the fibreglass dorade box when originally installed. Several had rusted and one was damp.

Removing the screws from below proved impossible. Half of them sheared off due to rust. We used the multitool to cut off port and starboard side dorade boxes on deck. That gave us access above and below, allowing us to remove the screws. We opened out their small holes to 1cm diameter and filled them with epoxy resin, also soaking the end-grain balsa sandwich material nearby.

We used West System Six10 epoxy to re-attach the dorade boxes on deck.

It is thickened so it doesn’t run and can be easily shaped and faired. It comes in a self-mixing dispenser. We first reshaped the box bases and the coachroof mounting surfaces that were damaged during ‘disassembly’.

With our mini refit in St Maarten complete we bade farewell to friends and departed for Panama. We had a great 1,000-mile shakedown to check all was well before transiting the Panama Canal.

Arriving in Panama completed our 12,000-mile 2023-2025 North Atlantic circuit. And Zen Again was dry again.

Lessons Learnt

Avoid risky decisions

Don’t take unnecessary risks. We could probably have extended our Schengen time for repairs in Gran Canaria.

Finding a leak takes time

Tracking down leaks is difficult. It’s often a saga of plot twists and flawed theories requiring dogged effort and occasionally power tool assisted violence.

Think outside the box

When push comes to shove, getting creative can get you out of a tight spot!

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