I have a perplexing leak somewhere in the deck above a cockpit locker on a 1979 Oday 23. After it rains, the underside of the deck (visible from inside the locker) develops a slow drip. I have tried Captain Trolley's creeping crack cure on the obvious spots, but the drip continues. Any suggestions? If my only option is to start rebedding the deck hardware what product would you recommend and where should I start?
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Try looking for spots that are not so obvious. Water travels and finds the easiest way out (just as it would if you had a leak in your roof or in the wall of your house). You might begin by taping rags or paper towels to the underside of your deck to get a sense of where it begins. I was sure I had a leak between the deck and hull. I caulked and re-caulked it for seven years, and then found that it was coming in through the mast step and travelling. Best of luck Mel
Leaks
Same advice here....water travels especially if there is a cabin liner between the deck and cabin. On a 1979 boat (as mine is) you should probably rebed everything that screws into the deck and cabin top. I would recommend Butyl tape - available at RV supply stores. Comes in a roll like tape and always remains pliable and watertight. Problem with decks is that they are in constant flex...that adds to the breakdown of hard sealers. Good Luck - Rob
Same advice here....water travels especially if there is a cabin liner between the deck and cabin. On a 1979 boat (as mine is) you should probably rebed everything that screws into the deck and cabin top. I would recommend Butyl tape - available at RV supply stores. Comes in a roll like tape and always remains pliable and watertight. Problem with decks is that they are in constant flex...that adds to the breakdown of hard sealers. Good Luck - Rob
Stopping the leak in its tracks
Mel is right, leaks aren't always coming from where you see the water. There are probably as many different ways to find the source of a leak as there are people. If you find it necessary to rebed your hardware I would suggest the following: First, determine if you can, what is on the boat now. Trying to get silicone off is far different than trying to remove a polyurethane. Then depending on what you are removing, will dictate how much of it you need to remove. If you have any of the BoatLIFE caulking products, they all marry to themselves, so removal of all traces of material is not necessary, as long as you rebed with the same material. If you can't determine what is on there now, then your best bet would be to remove it completely. You can do this by first removing the fasteners, then carefully cutting the caulking holding the hardware to the deck. An easy way to do this is to use a piano wire and slice under the hardware. Once you have the two separated then you will want to remove all traces of the current bedding compound. This can be done by spraying "Release" and carefully scraping with something such as a tongue depressor, personally, I like to use my finger nail (one of the greatest tools God ever created). It takes some time because "Release" works on the bond between the caulking and the surface, it doesn't dissolve the caulking. You will want to do the same thing to both the hardware and the deck. Once they are clean and free of the old bedding compound, clean both surfaces with Life Calk Solvent & Cleaner (don't worry that it says Life Calk, it's a great all around solvent & cleaner and safe for fiberglass). I would then suggest rebedding with either Life Seal or Life Calk. Apply a sufficient amount of caulking on the underside of the fitting and position it on the deck. Insert your fasteners and tightened down about 7/8 of the way. You don't want to squeeze all the material out which is why you don't want to tighten everything down all the way. Next you will want to wipe up the caulking you have squeezed out. I would suggest you use "Release" for this. Once the caulking has had time to cure, tighten the fasteners the rest of the way and add a dab of caulking around the edges of them to take care of any breaks you may have caused when you torqued them down. For a nice finish you may wish to take a nozzle cut to the smallest diameter and run a thin even bead around the edge of the fitting and smooth it out with your finger which you have either sprayed with "Release" or dipped in soapy water.
Mel is right, leaks aren't always coming from where you see the water. There are probably as many different ways to find the source of a leak as there are people. If you find it necessary to rebed your hardware I would suggest the following: First, determine if you can, what is on the boat now. Trying to get silicone off is far different than trying to remove a polyurethane. Then depending on what you are removing, will dictate how much of it you need to remove. If you have any of the BoatLIFE caulking products, they all marry to themselves, so removal of all traces of material is not necessary, as long as you rebed with the same material. If you can't determine what is on there now, then your best bet would be to remove it completely. You can do this by first removing the fasteners, then carefully cutting the caulking holding the hardware to the deck. An easy way to do this is to use a piano wire and slice under the hardware. Once you have the two separated then you will want to remove all traces of the current bedding compound. This can be done by spraying "Release" and carefully scraping with something such as a tongue depressor, personally, I like to use my finger nail (one of the greatest tools God ever created). It takes some time because "Release" works on the bond between the caulking and the surface, it doesn't dissolve the caulking. You will want to do the same thing to both the hardware and the deck. Once they are clean and free of the old bedding compound, clean both surfaces with Life Calk Solvent & Cleaner (don't worry that it says Life Calk, it's a great all around solvent & cleaner and safe for fiberglass). I would then suggest rebedding with either Life Seal or Life Calk. Apply a sufficient amount of caulking on the underside of the fitting and position it on the deck. Insert your fasteners and tightened down about 7/8 of the way. You don't want to squeeze all the material out which is why you don't want to tighten everything down all the way. Next you will want to wipe up the caulking you have squeezed out. I would suggest you use "Release" for this. Once the caulking has had time to cure, tighten the fasteners the rest of the way and add a dab of caulking around the edges of them to take care of any breaks you may have caused when you torqued them down. For a nice finish you may wish to take a nozzle cut to the smallest diameter and run a thin even bead around the edge of the fitting and smooth it out with your finger which you have either sprayed with "Release" or dipped in soapy water.
I had similar leaks on my former boat, and Oday 23 and also on my current Catalina 27. In both cases, the water was coming through the hinges fpr locker cover. Just remove the nuts and bolts, completely clean off the old sealer, and rebed with silicone sealant. Don't completely tighten the bolts and nuts until the sealer is cured...then tighten things up. That should do it, I hope.
Stopping the leak in its tracks
Mel is right, leaks aren't always coming from where you see the water. There are probably as many different ways to find the source of a leak as there are people. If you find it necessary to rebed your hardware I would suggest the following: First, determine if you can, what is on the boat now. Trying to get silicone off is far different than trying to remove a polyurethane. Then depending on what you are removing, will dictate how much of it you need to remove. If you have any of the BoatLIFE caulking products, they all marry to themselves, so removal of all traces of material is not necessary, as long as you rebed with the same material. If you can't determine what is on there now, then your best bet would be to remove it completely. You can do this by first removing the fasteners, then carefully cutting the caulking holding the hardware to the deck. An easy way to do this is to use a piano wire and slice under the hardware. Once you have the two separated then you will want to remove all traces of the current bedding compound. This can be done by spraying "Release" and carefully scraping with something such as a tongue depressor, personally, I like to use my finger nail (one of the greatest tools God ever created). It takes some time because "Release" works on the bond between the caulking and the surface, it doesn't dissolve the caulking. You will want to do the same thing to both the hardware and the deck. Once they are clean and free of the old bedding compound, clean both surfaces with Life Calk Solvent & Cleaner (don't worry that it says Life Calk, it's a great all around solvent & cleaner and safe for fiberglass). I would then suggest rebedding with either Life Seal or Life Calk. Apply a sufficient amount of caulking on the underside of the fitting and position it on the deck. Insert your fasteners and tightened down about 7/8 of the way. You don't want to squeeze all the material out which is why you don't want to tighten everything down all the way. Next you will want to wipe up the caulking you have squeezed out. I would suggest you use "Release" for this. Once the caulking has had time to cure, tighten the fasteners the rest of the way and add a dab of caulking around the edges of them to take care of any breaks you may have caused when you torqued them down. For a nice finish you may wish to take a nozzle cut to the smallest diameter and run a thin even bead around the edge of the fitting and smooth it out with your finger which you have either sprayed with "Release" or dipped in soapy water.
Mel is right, leaks aren't always coming from where you see the water. There are probably as many different ways to find the source of a leak as there are people. If you find it necessary to rebed your hardware I would suggest the following: First, determine if you can, what is on the boat now. Trying to get silicone off is far different than trying to remove a polyurethane. Then depending on what you are removing, will dictate how much of it you need to remove. If you have any of the BoatLIFE caulking products, they all marry to themselves, so removal of all traces of material is not necessary, as long as you rebed with the same material. If you can't determine what is on there now, then your best bet would be to remove it completely. You can do this by first removing the fasteners, then carefully cutting the caulking holding the hardware to the deck. An easy way to do this is to use a piano wire and slice under the hardware. Once you have the two separated then you will want to remove all traces of the current bedding compound. This can be done by spraying "Release" and carefully scraping with something such as a tongue depressor, personally, I like to use my finger nail (one of the greatest tools God ever created). It takes some time because "Release" works on the bond between the caulking and the surface, it doesn't dissolve the caulking. You will want to do the same thing to both the hardware and the deck. Once they are clean and free of the old bedding compound, clean both surfaces with Life Calk Solvent & Cleaner (don't worry that it says Life Calk, it's a great all around solvent & cleaner and safe for fiberglass). I would then suggest rebedding with either Life Seal or Life Calk. Apply a sufficient amount of caulking on the underside of the fitting and position it on the deck. Insert your fasteners and tightened down about 7/8 of the way. You don't want to squeeze all the material out which is why you don't want to tighten everything down all the way. Next you will want to wipe up the caulking you have squeezed out. I would suggest you use "Release" for this. Once the caulking has had time to cure, tighten the fasteners the rest of the way and add a dab of caulking around the edges of them to take care of any breaks you may have caused when you torqued them down. For a nice finish you may wish to take a nozzle cut to the smallest diameter and run a thin even bead around the edge of the fitting and smooth it out with your finger which you have either sprayed with "Release" or dipped in soapy water.
Problem leaks
Can be found by pressurizing the boat with a shop vac. Seal all the openings with duct tape, turn on the shop vac (in reverse), swab a 70:30 mix of water and diswashing detergent onto all the suspect places: mast base, window frames, stancheon bases, etc. ..... simply look for the soap bubbles. Will surprise you when you find how many unknown leaks you have.
Can be found by pressurizing the boat with a shop vac. Seal all the openings with duct tape, turn on the shop vac (in reverse), swab a 70:30 mix of water and diswashing detergent onto all the suspect places: mast base, window frames, stancheon bases, etc. ..... simply look for the soap bubbles. Will surprise you when you find how many unknown leaks you have.
1979 O'Day 23 leaks
I had the same boat and the same leaks. I suspect your mast step is the culprit. You may even have a deeper problem with the core under the step having absorbed water and rotted. I solved my problem with the product Git Rot which is a low viscosity epoxy resin. Remove the step and drill several 1/4" holes in the deck under the step plate, but NOT completely through into the cabin. Tape the underside of the 4 through holes to prevent the Git Rot from dripping through to the cabin. Let the core dry several days, maybe even hit it with a hot air dryer for an hour. Then pour in as much Git Rot as will absorb. After it's cured clear the through holes for the screws which mount the plate and rebed the plate and screws with clear silicone RTV. That should do the trick. Your fixed ports are also probable leakers. Clean the frames where they attach to the frames and run a fillet around the ports and smooth with your finger. You may also have leaks around the mounting which goes through the deck where you attach the standing rigging. Seal those with silicone while you are at it. Good luck.
I had the same boat and the same leaks. I suspect your mast step is the culprit. You may even have a deeper problem with the core under the step having absorbed water and rotted. I solved my problem with the product Git Rot which is a low viscosity epoxy resin. Remove the step and drill several 1/4" holes in the deck under the step plate, but NOT completely through into the cabin. Tape the underside of the 4 through holes to prevent the Git Rot from dripping through to the cabin. Let the core dry several days, maybe even hit it with a hot air dryer for an hour. Then pour in as much Git Rot as will absorb. After it's cured clear the through holes for the screws which mount the plate and rebed the plate and screws with clear silicone RTV. That should do the trick. Your fixed ports are also probable leakers. Clean the frames where they attach to the frames and run a fillet around the ports and smooth with your finger. You may also have leaks around the mounting which goes through the deck where you attach the standing rigging. Seal those with silicone while you are at it. Good luck.
thanks
Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I think I will try the locker hinges first, since they are near the area where the water is oozing out of a porous spot on the underside of the deck (sometimes it is a brown liquid). Any suggestions about what to use to tighten and seal the screws and hinges? I have thought of filling the holes with epoxy and then redrilling them. It seems like I need something that is a good adhesive and a good sealant and that I can take apart again if needed.
Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I think I will try the locker hinges first, since they are near the area where the water is oozing out of a porous spot on the underside of the deck (sometimes it is a brown liquid). Any suggestions about what to use to tighten and seal the screws and hinges? I have thought of filling the holes with epoxy and then redrilling them. It seems like I need something that is a good adhesive and a good sealant and that I can take apart again if needed.
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