My 2000 Beneteau 411 has several leaks that I have traced to the deck/hull seam under the teak toe rail. I can watch the water drip in along the screws that bind the deck to the hull. I have removed caulk and caulked the toe rail edges. Still leaks? Not a big deal but aggravating! Can’t seem to find much about this topic on the web sail boat forums. Any advice?
Deck/Hull joint leaks
- Thread starter Waterman19
- Start date
I really don't know the deck/toerail/hull fastening method on your boat. If by chance it is like my boat (1980 Hunter) where the bolt heads go through from the top of the aluminum toe rail and then through the inward facing deck and hull flanges where the bolt is secured with a nut, then the following might be worth a try. Hunter packed butyl caulk between the toe rail and the deck fiberglass piece. With time, the joint compresses and becomes loose leaving openings for H20 ingress. On my boat (and other 1980's vintgage Hunters) tightening up on the bolts solved the problem. The butyl caulk is then again pressed firmly around the bolts. A helper on the deck needs to prevent the bolts from turning while you cinch the nuts from underneath. Just a firm up will do. Don't over-tighten. You problably will need a deep socket for your wrench. And in my case, several extensions and one of those articulating "universal" joints for socket sets was necessary to get to the nuts in many of the locations.
Wait, what? Screw? It should be through bolted. Are you sure it's a screw? It is more typically bolts with washers, lock washers and nuts on the underside.
You can't rebed stuff like that. You need to completely remove it and clean the area thoroughly. Then you need to rebed with the correct sealant. What kind of sealant did you use?
No, this could be a very big deal. You have a fiberglass boat with "sandwich" construction, meaning you have a fiberglass skin on top of wood with a second fiberglass skin below. If water gets in it cause the wood to rot structurally weakening the hull. And this leak is at a critical spot for strength.
Do you have any photos that show the area? When was your last survey with a moisture meter?
Last survey 1 yr ago showed no moisture in the area affected. It definetely is screwed not bolted. There may be bolts that I cannot see but I can see the ends of the screws if I look up along the inside of the hull from the cabins. Water drips down from the ends of the screws during heavy rain.
Are the screw heads covered by bungs? Those bungs should be tight. Therefore water could be wicking around either the inboard or outboard side of the toe rail. Do you have a rub strip on the outside edge? If so take a peak under there. I had a seam hidden under the rub strip that leaked.
The wood screws should only be for holding the toe rail down. There should be other bolts clamping deck to hull. The bolt heads might be hidden under the toe rail.
The wood screws should only be for holding the toe rail down. There should be other bolts clamping deck to hull. The bolt heads might be hidden under the toe rail.
Leaking
I had a leak in the stern of my 2001 Hunter 290 and it leaked because when the 2 parts top and bottom are put together they at the factory missed a 2'' spot
with 5200 that they put in between and bolt together like a sandwich.
it was at the water line at the stern they need to remove the rubber rub rail covering it and unbolt and put wedges in between to spread apart and than recaulk with 5200 and this is what was explained to me by Hunter.
I also had leaks same reason along the starboard side but was taken care by
dealer before I took the boat to another state.
So could be leaking because of bad sealing at the factory and wearing of the sealer or just loosening of the bolts.
Nick
I had a leak in the stern of my 2001 Hunter 290 and it leaked because when the 2 parts top and bottom are put together they at the factory missed a 2'' spot
with 5200 that they put in between and bolt together like a sandwich.
it was at the water line at the stern they need to remove the rubber rub rail covering it and unbolt and put wedges in between to spread apart and than recaulk with 5200 and this is what was explained to me by Hunter.
I also had leaks same reason along the starboard side but was taken care by
dealer before I took the boat to another state.
So could be leaking because of bad sealing at the factory and wearing of the sealer or just loosening of the bolts.
Nick
I am not sure this would help but to find leaks, an old trick is to pressurize the cabin with a leaf blower and then on top, brush everything with a brush emersed into a bucket of real soapy water and where you see air bubbling out, there is the leak. I would close off everything, tape the ports and tape a large plastic cover over the companionway with a small slit in it to insert the leaf blower and tape around that as well. Just two cents worth
Your boat is fairly new and there seem to be several opinions back and forth here re hull / deck joinery and fasteners. I would not guess what the fix is here. Try calling Beneteau directly and see what they say. They will know exactly how its engineered and will most likely provide the proper fix. One good thing about Production manufactures is that they do offer insightful reccos on things like this.
Our 423 has the same caprail that the 411 does. Two years ago we had one section replaced and the hull deck joint was exposed I was impressed with how it was sealed. In a prior reply someone mentioned bung covers. That's probably a good start since it may be more likely that it's the caprail screw that's leaking rather than then the hull deck fastening. Also make sure you've ruled out Stanton base
Beneteau also publishes service bulletins - call Marion and see if they have one for this situation
Beneteau also publishes service bulletins - call Marion and see if they have one for this situation
Stanchion bases...good place to look. They can get stressed when pulled hard and break their seal. Water can run a long distance before finding a way out of a cavity.
this seems to be a manufactures issue that is not treated as such. There was no relief from Beneteau. I just completed a very costly re-fit on my 411 last fall,not only the deck hull joint but windows and all deck fittings were removed and re-beded. While my local dealer did a great job correcting the problems , I still feel Beneteau should bear some responsibility for the defect. the underside of the toerail and joint bedding were a mess. Dont wait too long , as I unknowingly did. The delay seriously damaged "a lot" of my interior woodwork.
I would never call rebedding of hardware, including the toe rail, a manufacturer's issue. This is standard maintenance. IIRC, production was stopped on the 411 in the mid 2000s. That would make any of them over 10 years old. You should be rebedding your hardware by then if it was done with polysulfide or polyurethane sealants. The only bedding that will last longer than that is butyl tape but you won't find that on most production boats. That's one of the reasons they are production boats.
Sounds more like your boat suffered from deferred maintenance not manufacturer's issues.
Fair winds,
Jesse
Hi Waterman19 - I've got exactly the same issue on my 2000 Beneteau 411. Definitely not the stanchion bases as a hose test on the deck has no water ingress but a hose test on the teak toe rail gets water inside. Most of the issue is on the starboard side in the saloon and we get a lot of water in just from rain. My toe rail has a "gap" where the sections fit together just forward of the leak and I also have a split under the centre cleat just above the leak. Just wondering if you successfully fixed the leak and what you did to resolve?
cheers
Marcus
cheers
Marcus