2006 Cape Cruiser cabin to cockpit sole joint

C

Cjames

New member
I have a new to me 2006 CC. It looks like the stuff filling the joint between cockpit sole and cabin could use some love, a few "cracks". Does anyone know/recommend what product to use here to fill this joint? Don't think it is original, but the current filler looks like a flexible sanded grout. It does look like it is too wide and deep to use exterior or marine caulk.
One of many projects to get this good looking boat looking good and back on the water soon.
 
I have the same year/model Cape Cruiser. I re-caulked the joint between the cockpit sole and the cabin bulkhead last year. I don't know if the caulk which I removed (as much as I could) was original or not, but it was cracked in a few places and had an orange peel surface look to it. I cut and scraped carefully with a box cutter tool, then cleaned it up with Acetone. I applied a caulk using 3M 4000 UV: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40066991/ . Seemed to work good....

The other big reason for doing this is, I believe water was getting under the cockpit sole through this joint and eventually finding it's way under the cabin floor...
Chris
 
Yes we have hull 3 You must caulk the seem between cockpit and cabin usually every few years.Otherwise it seems water gets in the cabin . I’ve used boaters caulk and 4200 with some success .I also put in a drain hole by the rear bilge pump Also put in a bilge pump in v-berth check my photo album I still love the boat .
 
So I have successfully removed the nasty chalk (probably 3m 4000) from this joint. I see that there is a small maybe 1/8th inch gap between the cockpit floor and the “wall” of the cabin in this gap space where I removed the chalk.does anyone know if I can run a filler of thicken epoxy in this joint? Or does it need to remain flexible. It seems that it would be better to have a permanent barrier to prevent any water ingress beneath the sole, especially since my boat - hull #22-appears to be foam filled from bow to stern. My husband has successfully cut 2 access ports in v berth and removed foam to use this area for storage, most likely several 2 gallon water containers to get some weight in the bow. It was a huge job, I think he got 4-5 kitchen trash bags of foam out so far.
So has anyone epoxied up this gap at the front of the cockpit floor? I would refill the large gap with 3M 4000 when the epoxy has cured.
 
Cjames":25ljfqoo said:
So I have successfully removed the nasty chalk (probably 3m 4000) from this joint. I see that there is a small maybe 1/8th inch gap between the cockpit floor and the “wall” of the cabin in this gap space where I removed the chalk.does anyone know if I can run a filler of thicken epoxy in this joint? Or does it need to remain flexible. It seems that it would be better to have a permanent barrier to prevent any water ingress beneath the sole, especially since my boat - hull #22-appears to be foam filled from bow to stern. ...
So has anyone epoxied up this gap at the front of the cockpit floor? I would refill the large gap with 3M 4000 when the epoxy has cured.
Click to expand...

I would refill this joint with something flexible. The boat can flex some and there is expansion and contraction of the boat due to temperature changes. My 22 has noticeable dimensional changes between hot and cold weather. For instance, I can only get the ceiling shelf at the front of the cabin out after the boat has sat in the sun on a hot day for awhile.

You might also want to seal the seam on the inside cabin side as well.
 
So I have successfully removed the nasty chalk (probably 3m 4000) from this joint. I see that there is a small maybe 1/8th inch gap between the cockpit floor and the “wall” of the cabin in this gap space where I removed the chalk.does anyone know if I can run a filler of thicken epoxy in this joint? Or does it need to remain flexible. It seems that it would be better to have a permanent barrier to prevent any water ingress beneath the sole, especially since my boat - hull #22-appears to be foam filled from bow to stern. My husband has successfully cut 2 access ports in v berth and removed foam to use this area for storage, most likely several 2 gallon water containers to get some weight in the bow. It was a huge job, I think he got 4-5 kitchen trash bags of foam out so far.
So has anyone epoxied up this gap at the front of the cockpit floor? I would refill the large gap with 3M 4000 when the epoxy has cured.
Click to expand...

I had thought about filling the gap with thickened epoxy as well. My thoughts were along the lines of ssbol's response - that it likely needed to be a flexible joint. Curious about other's thoughts on this..... oh, btw, on a 23 there is a glassed-in cabin sole/floor, so it is not possible to seal the rear bulkhead joint from inside.

I also just recently cut access hatches in the V-berth and dug out a seemingly endless supply of expanding foam. It was interesting to me that even though there was some water in the bottom of the boat, the foam that was in contact with the water didn't absorb very far....maybe an inch. Since I assume that the same foam is under the cockpit floor, (I have not cut an inspection hole in the cockpit floor yet), this was a bit of a relief.. I have cut an inspection hole in the floor of the cabin, back by the door, and there is no foam in that cavity. I did find a hard swirly-colored and cracked "filler" that I think was leftover colored resin that the builders had just poured in before laying down the cabin floor.

One thing I did do, was to remove the dodgy plastic plugs where the builder had injected the foam, and epoxied/glassed over the holes. (In the cabin bulkhead, and in the cockpit - not necessary in the V-berth).
 
SSOBOL is spot on... The boat hull will move and the aft cabin bulkhead will move, due to normal flexing, while underway, or trailering. On top of this, there is normal expansion and contraction. Your thickened epoxy will last a show while, and then the issue mention above will cause eventual separation.
The best corrective measure is to use a reliable, flexible caulk. Of course the caulk that should never be consider for any boat project is silicone.
 
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