Rubrail rainwater leaks in 22' C-Dory

[paverrills]

This a follow-up to the rainwater problem. We seem to have the same problem that others have shared about pinhole leaks around the rubrails. I tried the Marina where our 22' C-Dory is kept over the winter to see what they would charge to re-seal all the rubrails. Does anyone use a tarp to cover the entire C-Dory for the winter? What size tarp and what has to be removed from the cabin roof?
We certainly appreciate the helpful comments. Jim B wrote that Bret at the factory suggested removing the rubrails on his 25' and resealing all. The marina where we have our 22' C-Dory wintered wants about $730 to do this because of the rivets and time involved. Does anyone have experience in dealing with the factory about paying for something like this? Our C-Dory was new in Sept '05.

[Da Nag]

You are well within the hull warranty period - one would assume there would be no cost to fix this. I'd pick up the phone and call the factory to see how you should proceed.

My guess is, they would like your dealer to handle the repair. If for some reason that is not possible (distance, etc.), they have been known to be very flexible in handling issues like this. I'm fairly certain they'll take good care of you.

Let us know how it works out.

[JamesTXSD]

Hi Jo & Dave,

Just to clarify a point: I did not remove the entire rubrail, only the center rubber section. Then sealed each rivet, plus a small bead top and bottom on the rail. This took me the better part of a day - 10 minutes to pull the rubber out; a couple hours with the 5200; 4 hours and a handful of blisters to get the rubber back in; two more days to scrape all the 5200 off my hands and out of my hair!

Messy, but not a technically tough project. Bret did ask if there was a boat yard in the area that I trusted. I said yes, but told him I would just do this myself. Less fuss than hauling the boat to the next town, and I knew that I would be careful and thorough with my sweet boat. No payment was ever discussed.

Here's my cost breakdown:
two tubes of 5200 - $12.00
money paid into the "cussing jar" - $356.25 (a quarter at a time)
band-aids and dressing for my blisters - $15.89
my labor (including pain and suffering) - $ hahahahahahahahahahahaha
getting the leak to go away - Priceless

Water inside the boat is darn frustrating. Dealing with most service situations is almost as frustrating (they seem to look at me and say to themselves, "We've got a live one here!").

Call the factory folks, see what they have to say. Good luck with this.

Best wishes,
Jim B.

[oldgrowth]

Jim – I just did a quick calculation and if all those cuss words came when you were working on the boat, that would be about one cuss word about every 15 seconds. I am surprised you were not struck with lightning.
________
Dave