Cutta Hole in my Boat!

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Sep 25, 2008
992
Oday 25 Gibraltar
well, since no one answered the last question, i will give the answer that i found with abundant reading, research, web browsing, and asking around the club: I looks like that the best way to get off silicon caulk from the plastic ports is alcohol, and elbow grease. no i didn't try beer. i went to walmart and bought rubbing alcohol. To get the caulk off the cabin sides i used acetone. then i scrubed everything down with a brillo pad. All the screw holes were busted and cracked so I ground down to solid lamnant with a cone shaped grinding stone attached to my dremmel. tomorrow i hope to patch and fill the ground out areas with epoxy paste. if i do that, it will be the first time i have put epoxy to boat. I am a bit nervous!
Yeah, I gotta replace mine too.
 
Dec 8, 2006
1,085
Oday 26 Starr, SC
Reply to Keith

Keith,

When doing repairs with epoxy, I recommend mixing small amounts at a time. Go to local discount store and get a sleeve of plastic party cups, the short and fat kind for mixing small amounts. Go to craft store and get package of tongue depressors or pop sticks for mixing.

I find it better to tint epoxy even if it does not perfectly match, it looks better than yucky yellow.

These guys sell pigments that work:

http://www.shopmaninc.com/pigments.html

Get a larger jar of white, as you will use it a lot.

If you are not already familiar with how to use epoxies, look here:

http://www.boater.com/repinfo/westsys/west1.html

http://www.epoxyproducts.com/

Ed K
26



well, since no one answered the last question, i will give the answer that i found with abundant reading, research, web browsing, and asking around the club: I looks like that the best way to get off silicon caulk from the plastic ports is alcohol, and elbow grease. no i didn't try beer. i went to walmart and bought rubbing alcohol. To get the caulk off the cabin sides i used acetone. then i scrubed everything down with a brillo pad. All the screw holes were busted and cracked so I ground down to solid lamnant with a cone shaped grinding stone attached to my dremmel. tomorrow i hope to patch and fill the ground out areas with epoxy paste. if i do that, it will be the first time i have put epoxy to boat. I am a bit nervous!
 
Oct 2, 2008
1,424
Island Packet 31 Brunswick, Ga
thanks, i just went to the site and it is exactly what i need. i layed awake thinking about how i was going to fill in all the cracks that i have in my deck, and the main thing i was worried abouit was trying to get a color match, or atleast as close as i could. I have a lot of cracks in the deck around most fittings that look pretty deep.
BTW, i recieved the second edition of "This Old Boat". Just released. It is very helpfull. But there is NO WAY i could get the boat done without the help of folks like you on this forum.
Thanks again, and please check back when there are new posts.
keith
P.S. Appleman astutley noticed that there is a larg gap between the skin where the hatch mounts, and the underlying liner. He said that there would be a large amount of flex there, and that it should be reinforced with spacers. any ideas? The gap seems pretty large to fill with putty. although that is what the PO did on the starboard side. (not pictured). He didn't do so well though and all i have is a big blob of "playdough" only partially filling the gap on that side. sigh..........
 
Oct 21, 2005
205
Oday 26 Indian Cove, Guilford, CT LIS
P.S. Appleman astutley noticed that there is a larg gap between the skin where the hatch mounts, and the underlying liner. He said that there would be a large amount of flex there, and that it should be reinforced with spacers. any ideas? The gap seems pretty large to fill with putty. although that is what the PO did on the starboard side. (not pictured). He didn't do so well though and all i have is a big blob of "playdough" only partially filling the gap on that side. sigh..........
The best I can come up with is to use some plastic tubing to make a spacer. very small PVC tubing might work, or if you have a good hardware store nearby, one with a large display of fasteners in drawers, you can find nylon bushings of various lengths and diameters. Cut them to length and glue them in place with some epoxy. the epoxy should hold long enough to get the bolts in place and tighten.
 
Oct 2, 2008
1,424
Island Packet 31 Brunswick, Ga
The best I can come up with is to use some plastic tubing to make a spacer. very small PVC tubing might work, or if you have a good hardware store nearby, one with a large display of fasteners in drawers, you can find nylon bushings of various lengths and diameters. Cut them to length and glue them in place with some epoxy. the epoxy should hold long enough to get the bolts in place and tighten.
Thanks for the reply
What i did was wet out some strips of glass cloth, and roll them into tubes and then used epoxy to adhere like colums into the gap. i put them under the screw holes in the corners to give the area better support. do you think this is a good idea, or would it be too inflexible. i could always cut it out with the grinder if it is not a good idea.
keith
 

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Oct 2, 2008
1,424
Island Packet 31 Brunswick, Ga
does anyone know if the toerails can leak into the cabin? i looked and could not see the screws extending into the small space between the inner liner and the deck. Should they be reseated or just removed to finish as needed.
same questioin with tthe hatch slides. i do not see any bolts in the inner liner like i do for the hand railes. should the slides be resealed, or just left alone. they seem sort of loose on one end.
thanks for the help
keith
 
Oct 2, 2008
1,424
Island Packet 31 Brunswick, Ga
does anyone know if the toerails can leak into the cabin? i looked and could not see the screws extending into the small space between the inner liner and the deck. Should they be reseated or just removed to finish as needed.
same questioin with tthe hatch slides. i do not see any bolts in the inner liner like i do for the hand railes. should the slides be resealed, or just left alone. they seem sort of loose on one end.
thanks for the help
keith
Since no one answered, i decided to remove and explore the rails, and yes, the toerails screws do intrude through the deck and into the cabin. When I removed them today I was able to insert a wire through the hole into the cabin, but behind the cabin liner (roof). So the lesson is that if you are trying to take care of all the leaks, you must consider the toe rails also.
Does anyone have advice as to how to reseat them? there was no sealent under the toerail.
thanks
keith
 

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Sep 25, 2008
992
Oday 25 Gibraltar
Since no one answered, i decided to remove and explore the rails, and yes, the toerails screws do intrude through the deck and into the cabin. When I removed them today I was able to insert a wire through the hole into the cabin, but behind the cabin liner (roof). So the lesson is that if you are trying to take care of all the leaks, you must consider the toe rails also.
Does anyone have advice as to how to reseat them? there was no sealent under the toerail.
thanks
keith
Are you talking about the toe rails or the grab rails? Rich
 
Oct 2, 2008
1,424
Island Packet 31 Brunswick, Ga
Thanks rich,
well, both actually. i took the toes rails off and it looks like the holes go ghrough the deck and i cian insert a wire through to the cabin, behind the liner. I also took the slides and the grab rails offf. alot of the deck where the slides attached came ouit wet. but it looks like the p.o. had attempted to fill in some of the holes with epoxy. It is some sort of poorly mixed blue and white stuff that looks to me like playdoe, but alot harder. he has used it as filler in other areas, including the gaps at the ports and hatches.
I noticed that there was no caulk or sealent at any of the attachements for the grabrails, toerails, or slides.
How do i reinstall these? Do I use sealeant all along the wood, or just at the screw holes
thanks for the help
keith
 
Oct 10, 2006
492
Oday 222 Mt. Pleasant, SC
On my 222, there was a dab of sealant around each hole on the toerail. A lot had given up the ghost when I pulled it up, though.
 
Oct 2, 2008
1,424
Island Packet 31 Brunswick, Ga
On my 222, there was a dab of sealant around each hole on the toerail. A lot had given up the ghost when I pulled it up, though.
That is what I had too, same for the slides and the handrails. I wonder if that is the best way to put them back on, or should i seal the whole thing? I have done a forum search, limited to odays, but didn't find anyone who had posted experience on rebeding the teak handrails, toerails, and hatch slides.
keith
 

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Oct 2, 2008
1,424
Island Packet 31 Brunswick, Ga
On my 222, there was a dab of sealant around each hole on the toerail. A lot had given up the ghost when I pulled it up, though.
what did you put them back on with, did you just put a dab of sealent at each hole, or under the entire rail?
thanks
keith
 
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