wet core around chainplate

[fiestaMojo]

I bought my boat (1981 Hunter 33C) this past spring; it was on the hard with the stick up. One of the chainplates was leaking, the surveyor's report/recommendation was to pull and inspect the chainplates. I put the boat in the water and motored it to my slip (~45 nm), figuring I'd pull the chainplates a pair at a time to inspect/rebed.
well, I got the 1st pair of chainplates(fwd stbd, rear port) pulled, they didn't come easy! I've got to clean out the wet core & shoot some epoxy before re-installing/bedding (both chainplates looked real good after a quick go with the Dremel); my question - if I clean back as far as possible and still wet core, will the epoxy job last the season?

 

[Ross]

Don't make any repairs that you will worry about when you get caught in a storm. Do the job as though your life depended on it.

 

[Stu Jackson]

- if I clean back as far as possible and still wet core, will the epoxy job last the season?

The epoxy will last forever. What you also want to do is to SEAL the chainplates where they come through.

See: http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/sealing_the_deck

 

[Ed Schenck]

Not sure about Ross' answer. I agree with the premise but wet core will not compromise your rig. Wet bulkheads will however. Where the chainplates attach must be solid of course.

There is not a Cherubini still sailing that does not have wet decks around the chainplates including my own. Except those where the work has been done that is.

So if the chainplates are good and their mounts are secure then seal well and go sailing. At end of season you can do the job right. To me that means cutting out the deck and coring, replacing the coring, and redeck with new glass. At the same time make the holes for the chainplate solid so that water can no longer get into the coring. Lot of work and reason I just reseal every couple of years.

 

[fiestaMojo]

Thanks Ed. . .

 

[Ross]

All of the instructions that I have read for epoxy included preperation of the surfaces to be Joined. Clean, Dry, free of dust, dirt, and loose material. How can you achieve that through small holes drilled in the outside skin? You simply can't depend on a bond with epoxy and surfaces of unknown condition.

 

[Hermit Scott]

I bought my boat (1981 Hunter 33C) this past spring; it was on the hard with the stick up. One of the chainplates was leaking, the surveyor's report/recommendation was to pull and inspect the chainplates. I put the boat in the water and motored it to my slip (~45 nm), figuring I'd pull the chainplates a pair at a time to inspect/rebed.
well, I got the 1st pair of chainplates(fwd stbd, rear port) pulled, they didn't come easy! I've got to clean out the wet core & shoot some epoxy before re-installing/bedding (both chainplates looked real good after a quick go with the Dremel); my question - if I clean back as far as possible and still wet core, will the epoxy job last the season?

I have done a lot of repairs on my boat like what you are dealing with. I strongly recommend that you go ahead and do this job right. If you already have the chain plate out and you have prepared to do some work on this area, the hard part is done. You are going to be cleaning this area out anyway. It is not that much more work to do this right.
If you take some pictures of what you are looking at with the chain plates out, post them on here. Me and a few others on here will tell you exactly how we would do to it. Then you can decide what course you will take. Then you will never worry about those chain plates again.
It's either that or shoot some epoxy into a questionable area and worry about dismasting.
Which to be perfectly honest with you, if you did dismast it probably wouldn't be because your chain plate ripped through the fiberglass.
This will also be an exercise in doing fiberglass work the right way. It will build your confidence about this type of work and expand your capabilities.

 

[CharlieCobra]

Ok folks. There seems to be a miss-conception that punching holes from the topside and filling with epoxy actually does anything with a wet core. Let me assure you, it does not. When I pulled the ply decks off Oh Joy, one of the things I found was hundreds of little epoxy towers throughout the ply. They did absolutely NOTHING for the strength of the decks. If your core is wet, bite the bullet and do it right....

 

[fiestaMojo]

I'm not quite sure I understand the dismasting comment - the epoxy is not bonding the chainplates, they are fastened to knees inside with 4 3/8' x 3' bolts; the epoxy is merely to replace the core around the chainplate in case of a future leak I won't be soaking core again. As it turns out, I cleaned the coring 'til I got dry wood; I've still got to think about the core in the sidedecks in general, but that can weait. . .

 

[Ed Schenck]

Hermit kind of rescinded the remark with "Which to be perfectly honest with you, if you did dismast it probably wouldn't be because your chain plate ripped through the fiberglass". As we discussed previously, the sidedecks do not support the rig. But everything from those knees that the chainplates are bolted to up to the last tang and bolt on the mast do.

 

[Maine Sail]

Ok folks. There seems to be a miss-conception that punching holes from the topside and filling with epoxy actually does anything with a wet core. Let me assure you, it does not. When I pulled the ply decks off Oh Joy, one of the things I found was hundreds of little epoxy towers throughout the ply. They did absolutely NOTHING for the strength of the decks. If your core is wet, bite the bullet and do it right....

Amen Charlie! I could not have said it better myself. Been preaching this for years but folks still want to believe it works..