Cracking gel coat around mast pulpit.

[thetailwind]

Hello, I am a new owner of a 1987 Cat 22 and have a question concerning the urgency of repair about cracks around the pulpit seen here:

I understand that the underlying concern is the condition of the wood under the gel coat, but I am wondering if this is common cracking with age, over tension of shrouds, or what exactly? I Intend on grinding down these cracks and re gel coating them in the spring. I knocked on the fiberglass and the sound was uniform across. There is no signs of abnormal wear on the ceiling in that are from inside. This was like this prior to my purchase and I have been tightening my uppers to 21 and lowers to 15 with my Loos PT1 (1/8 gauge). I am also raking my mast to 6" aft on the boom (These should all be North Sail spec) with 15 on the backstay with the Loos PT1.

Thanks for you expertise.

 

[Leeward Rail]

I'm far from an expert by any means, but your boat is the same year as mine and there a no cracks whatsoever on my boat in that area.

 

[Gene Neill]

Mine has similar cracking, but not quite as bad. It's on my to do list, but not at the top. But I'm not an expert either, and FWIW, I keep my boat under a canvas carport when not in use, so it stays dry 90% of the time.

 

[CaptDon01]

The gel coat is hard, so if it flexes, it can crack. I would say for whatever reason, your mast step area is flexing. Maybe from the stays letting the mast move excessively, or, the plywood coring has gotten wet, and is allowing the area to flex. Probably time to re-bed the mast step anyway, so take it apart and find out the condition of the coring. Looks like a lot of movement has been going on up there.

As far a rigging tension, I have a Loos gauge in my tool box, and that's where it stays. Can't remember the last time I used it. My side stays are adjusted to hold the mast up with minimum stress. When sailing, mine will show just a slight looseness on the leeward side, just like the manual recommends.

Don

 

[thetailwind]

Is it reasonable to believe that I can remove those three mast lighting screws and pull up that connector to get an idea of the plywood condition with the least invasion? That area is on a hill and it seems unlikely that water would pool there enough to get the core wet.

 

[Leeward Rail]

Yes.
If you remove those screws you will see a large recessed hole with exposed plywood core. At least that's how it was on our boat.

In my opinion that connector is one easy way for water to get into the wood deck core.
In the process of refitting our boat I removed the mast step, "potted" the bolt holes and that electrical connector hole, with epoxy. I then installed a metal connector with includes a screw on cover to keep water when the mast isn't up.

On my buddy's 86 boat the area around the mast step holes and the connector were both wet.
The area around the connector had the worst of it.
FWIW they looked like they hadn't been re-bedded since the boat was built. My boat was ok there. YMMV

Here's a link to my post about redoing some of my mast wiring, which includes photos of the hole in the deck once you remove that connector:
http://forums.sailboatowners.com/in...purchase-and-refit.171757/page-3#post-1227488

 

[thetailwind]

Good deal! I will use that as a means to check the wood. Thanks for your help. Crossing fingers for the best.

 

[allen-deckard]

I have cracks there as well but mine at least are just spider cracks in the gel coat and don't really go anywhere.
With that said who knows what I'll do in the future.
I've done about everything I'll ever do to my boat have twice in it what I could ever get out of it and am not just enjoying it for the most part.
I have some bad spider cracks that are more than spider cracks on the deck near the life lines way on the outside. Not sure whats there but not sure how much I want to tear apart. Don't have a barn anymore and since I only paid 2500 for the boat pretty sure I could wear this one out take all my stuff out put it in a new hull and be a happy camper again for another 10 years. hehe
But never know about me and what I'll decide to dig into next when I'm bored.

 

[CloudDiver]

Use an engraving bit on a dremel tool to grind down just the crack itself, then use this to fix it; Color matched and easy to use.
http://spectrumcolor.com/ProductDesc.aspx?code=F553500K&type=4&eq=&desc=CATALINA-WHITE-80-88&key=it

 

[Gene Neill]

You wanna know something funny, I will confess I always thought that was PAINT on the non skid areas, presumably on top of a gel coat base.

It's just gel coat?

 

[CloudDiver]

You can absolutely paint over non-skid area as long as they are prepped properly. Only thing is that spider cracks almost always will show through the paint. The Spectrum Color gel-paste I posted is the cheapest and most sure fire way to repair gel coat cracks IMO... The 2 oz jar goes a long way, and the color match is spot on. I wish they made the color that matches my interior, but they mostly only have white for exterior applications.

You wanna know something funny, I will confess I always thought that was PAINT on the non skid areas, presumably on top of a gel coat base.

It's just gel coat?

 

[Jacktar]

Might want to take a look at the compression post (wood or metal post inside cabin below the mast step) for integrity and any spacing or gapping. If it got wet and dry rotted as wood it could be the cause, if metal check the top support or flange for corrosion.

 

[rustyw007]

A few years ago, I repaired similar cracking on my stinkboat in a manner similar to that suggested bu CloudDiver. The cracking returned after just a couple of uses strongly indicating that the "root problem" was not solved - which turned out to be a rotted core.

Disclaimer: I'm brand new to sailing - just made the transition - so keep that in mind when reading my posts. But my limited understanding is the mast is kinda the key piece of equipment so personally I wont be taking any chances in that area. Speaking of which, first thing I'm doing when it's light tomorrow morning is looking at MY boat in that area (just bought it yesterday - did I say I was new?)