just venting!!!!!

[cbull]

I do not understand why a boat builder would not use sealant when attaching rub rails, crab bars, or anything for that matter when the balsa core would be penetrated. Taking all this apart and sealing with 5200 is a pain in the but. The main reason for sealing rub rail today is water intrusion due to screws poking into interior. Plus the rail holds debris behind it. Ok I am done I love my boat. My wife can not stand boaters world.

[westward]

Hi Cbull. The rubrail area of a 22'C-Dory is actually a strength, perhaps an area where C-Dory Marine deserves kudos. First, the hull/deck joint is glassed (not glued/screwed) together which takes them longer but tends to unitize the boat. Secondly, I don't believe there is any balsa core in the rubrail area, just solid glass and gelcoat. the rub rail consists of an aluminum extrusion which accepts a molded rubber insert. If you ever damage the rubber insert, as I have in the past, you would not be able to easily remove/replace it if it were embedded in 5200. I am with you in your fondness for 5200, though. I think silicone should be made illegal for use as a marine sealant. Heck, it doesn't even adhere very long in a residential shower application. Later, Mike.

[cbull]

you are correct. no wood here. however, sealant on screws might/should prevent water intrusion into cabin. The floor and roof penetrations are not sealed at all on my 2004. It is kind of like mounting a outboard on the transom without sealant. I do not know if the factory is using sealant at this time. They should look into it.

[westward]

I think that, as C-Dory expanded in recent years, there have been many quality control issues like this. I've read many threads here describing nagging little problems that were nothing more than lack of diligent quality control by the factory. My 07 Angler has a few features and deficiencies that make me scratch my head. The first time fishing in the rain, for example, I got a steady dripping leak from the base of one of the cabin top grabrails. No sealant whatsoever! Maybe one indirect benefit of our current recession will be that C-Dory marine will feel they have the time to completely detail every boat before shipping them off to dealers. Anyway, I do still love my boat and have made plans to correct the shortcomings myself. Gives me something to do with my spare time up at our cabin. Cheers! Mike.

[SEA3PO]

Yep !! Most of us have the drippy rails... when it rains I always get a drip over my head.....and always say I am going to pull those handrails off and fill the holes with 5200....but then the rain quits....and I forget about it...
It's always something...add it to the list

Joel
SEA3PO

[El and Bill]

Ah, Joel -- the Arkansas Traveler -- great memories and tune:

Oh once upon a time in Arkansas
An old man sat in his little cabin door,
And fiddled at a tune that he liked to hear,
A jolly old tune that he played by ear.
It was raining hard but the fiddler didn't care
He sawed away at the popular air,
Though his roof tree leaked like a water fall
That didn't seem to bother that man at all

A traveler was riding by that day,
And stopped to hear him a-practicing away
The cabin was afloat and his feet were wet,
But still the old man didn't seem to fret.

So the stranger said: "Now the way it seems to me,
You'd better mend your roof," said he.
But the old man said, as he played away:
"I couldn't mend it now, it's a rainy day."

The traveler replied: "That's all quite true,
But this, I think, is the thing for you to do;
Get busy on a day that is fair and bright,
Then pitch the old roof till it's good and tight."

But the old man kept on a-playing at his reel,
And tapped the ground with his leathery heel:
"Get along," said he, "for you give me a pain;
My cabin never leaks when it doesn't rain."

[Les Lampman]

Leave that 5200 in the drawer unless you want to GLUE something; it is NOT a sealant, it's an adhesive. For bedding use a good polysulfide sealant. The factory uses Bostik; Sika and 3M also make appropriate products. I agree about silicone in general but there are so many available and the quality and formulae vary a lot.

[SEA3PO]

Ha !....Bill ya got me....and it's true... there is always something fun to do in the sun...motorcycle to ride...dog to chase... or just a fine nap in the sun....You could not have been more correct about me... Guilty as usual...

Also thanks Les.... I think I have some 3M stuff and yer right, if I ever get to it I should use sealant....not adhesive... (I just love that 5200 stuff)

Roxy is in a working dog program.....just finished week 2 of a 10 week training program....she's a natural.... Once she is certified I will have a full time keeper .....

See Ya All Thurs....(hopefully)

Joel
SEA3PO

[thataway]

The hull to deck joint should be completely glassed--on the inside--and a few places on the outside. But unfortunately in some boats this has not been done (for example behind the head outer bulkhead in some boats). Also in many of the boats, the area between the transom, and the end of the rub rail is just filled and gel coated--and can crack. If this happens, the rub rail at the aft part, and the cracked area needs to be ground out, and glassed, then re-gelcoated. Also the area inside needs to be checked to see if it was properly glassed. All in all, the hull to deck joints in the C dory is one of the best in the industry.

The rub rail should be pop riveted in place. The inside of the pop revits should have been covered with some compound--some are epoxy covered. The problem with silicone sealant is that it does not always adhere well, and when it does, residue is left on the gel coat which prevents other sealands from adhering in the future.

The balsa core is only in the hull bottom, in some parts of the cabin house (the CD 25 the center of the top is not cored--the Tom Cat is cored). The deck is cored. Whenever there is a hole in an area which is cored, the core should be removed from around the cored area, the core sealed with epoxy, and then the hole redrilled, and I like to use 4200, or the Boatlife, life caulk for plastic--sealant.

[ffheap]

Hi Folks,

When I purchased my 1983 C-Dory, I pulled every screw and resealed it. When I had my new engine mounted, I found that my new battery switch had been attached with screws and not nuts and bolts. When I asked them, quite pointedly that it was not the way to do things, they looked at me as if I had two heads, It went over their head. I told them that a shop was judged by the quality of their work. This outfit was one of the biggest in the area.

If water gets into the balsa core on OUR C-Dory, we have nobody to blame but ourselves. I am always checking the hull to see if something got in before I purchased it. Maybe. If so, I will do the best to fix it.

One thing about a boat like the C-Dory. If the boat happens to get water in the core, we can seal it in. The problem may stop there, but we will be caring a little extra weight around. The hull will still be safe to use. Just a decision of whether it is worth the cost and effort to fix it or not.

Fred