For several years we’ve chased a leak in the V berth just in front of the helm. We had been having trouble with the helm side window and the seals there were bad, so we thought that was our problem. We finally fixed the window and thought our leaks were history. Our trip to the Florida Huntoon Island Gathering this spring proved us wrong. After a overnight rainstorm Penny woke up in the morning with a wet pillow, but not the main bed. So we knew it had to be mid-ships, not around the anchor locker. I crawled in and found a drop of water hanging from one nut on the starboard side mid-ship cleats.
Today I pulled the mid-ship cleats/ nuts/ bolts and found that the cleat had probably never been bedded properly. A bent wire pushed sideways into the ¼ inch bolt holes found little remaining substance of the wood core as far as it could reach - about one-half inch. It appears to be pretty wet in there.
What are my alternatives? I don’t think squeezing “Get Rot” into the 1/4 inch bolt holes will do an adequate job. Dr Bob has shown us the proper way to replace rotten core in several discussions. I did that on the rear battery hatch opening. There I had exposed core and could easily scrape out the damaged edge of the core. Here, the only way I can see to do a proper repair is to go in from the bottom and cut off the fiberglass bottom layer (ceiling of V berth), scape out the damaged core material, dry it out with a hair dryer or similar, fill the evacuated hole with thickened epoxy using a vacuum bag system working upside down, and then re-drill the bolt holes and re-bed the cleats.
Any other suggestions?
Chuck
Today I pulled the mid-ship cleats/ nuts/ bolts and found that the cleat had probably never been bedded properly. A bent wire pushed sideways into the ¼ inch bolt holes found little remaining substance of the wood core as far as it could reach - about one-half inch. It appears to be pretty wet in there.
What are my alternatives? I don’t think squeezing “Get Rot” into the 1/4 inch bolt holes will do an adequate job. Dr Bob has shown us the proper way to replace rotten core in several discussions. I did that on the rear battery hatch opening. There I had exposed core and could easily scrape out the damaged edge of the core. Here, the only way I can see to do a proper repair is to go in from the bottom and cut off the fiberglass bottom layer (ceiling of V berth), scape out the damaged core material, dry it out with a hair dryer or similar, fill the evacuated hole with thickened epoxy using a vacuum bag system working upside down, and then re-drill the bolt holes and re-bed the cleats.
Any other suggestions?
Chuck