IP440, leaking, water in lockers behind salon sofa & isolation transformer locke

Hello,
I‘m new in this forum. I met Hayden and his Island Spirit in Jolly Harbour, Antigua, and we had a nice talk. Do you remember, Hayden?

My problem:
Since last summer I own an IP440 built in 2006.
During Atlantic crossing west to east we had a lot of white and green water on deck, due to a storm and a lot more strong winds and waves. After arriving in Europe I found a lot of water in the lockers behind/under the salon sofas on both sides. In Horta, Azores, the isolation transformer between shore power and on board power died, because there was five fingers high water in it‘s (locked) compartment. I have to replace it by a Victron 3600 Auto.

Does anybody have an idea, where the water got in? I supposed it could be the old sealing between the stainless steel handrails and the GRP on deck. I renewed the sealing only on portside using Sikaflex. If there will be new water on starboard but not in portside, problem is localised.

I found another post here in the forum, which said it could be a weak spot inside the window frames. How can I check this?
Another post talks about leaking stanchions. Can water get inside the salon by this way? Should I remove a stanchion for checking? 

During strong winds spray got inside the dorade ventilations above the owner‘s berth in the front and above the chart table and portside salon sofa. How can I avoid to have a wet matress in the front berth and wet sofa cushions in the salon other than placing a hood over the dorade vents on deck?

Hope there will by some hints for solving these problems!

It sounds like you may have multiple ingresses. Water should not be entering through the dorades into the cabin. There are screw covers that fit into the dorade holes so you can close them off, I have some that came with my boat but I never used them and have never had water coming in through there, so it seems like you may not have water tight exits for the water coming out of the dorades, it may be getting in between the hull and the cabinetry. So, I'm thinking that since you had water entering on both sides of the hull, you might start with examining the dorades. Otherwise, the hunt is on......

HI Volker:  I have a 420 and had the same problem with water in the lockers behind the settee.  The 420 manual identifies the chainplates as the source of the water.  I've attached the section from the manual.  I followed the instructions and the leak stopped.  Not sure it will be the same on the 440, but it's something to look at.  Good luck!  John 

Hello John and Sailing Gal,
thank you for your hints and suggestions. I will check both spots during my next stay on the boat at the end of April and will report what‘s going wrong.

Hi Volker,
We had similar problem on Shawnee IP380. Drove me nuts for several years - leaks behind starboard settee, by propane lockers. And water got into floor lockers under galley floor (stb on IP380) and salon hanging locker (also stb side). Turned out to be multiple problems: leaky screws for propane locker hinges (rebedding stopped some leakes); major recurring leak was screws holding the outside trim ring on port holes (rebedding screws stopped the leaks). In debugging process I removed and rebedded every screw on the deck on starboard side of centerline. Hatch screws, no difference. Screws holding blocks, no difference. I didn't do anything to stanchions or cleats or jib block tracks. For those, I could see the through bolts and backing plates were totally dry. With the screws that did leak, the water traveled down the ceiling liner or inside of deck, and down the inside of the hull, behind the inner panels. When the water hit the seam at the floor pan, it traveled fore and aft until it could get into floor lockers. The leak from propane locker lid hinge would wet the top shelf behind the starboard settee. These drove me nuts for several years. Process of elimination found the problem.
For rebedding the screws I used Sudbury Elastomeric - good adhesion for sealing, but easy to remove when you want. Defender used to carry it. Now at other places like amazon, or www.boatoutfitters.com , others. Got this tip from Maine Yacht Center - good guys in Portland ME. Usual disclaimer, no commercial interests in any mentions here.

Good luck with yours leaks.
Fair Winds, Drew

I recently had a new leak with water entering behind a settee and discovered it was the sealant I used to seal the gas tube that leads out of the propane locker failed for some reason. At any rate, a quick fix and easy to check. That is a common source of leaks.