Deck Problems. Should I be worried?

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LordNelson

LordNelson

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Sep 20, 2006
367
Oday 20 Seneca Lake
I have an oday 20 with some small cracks in the deck. I have rebed all the deck fittings which looked bad since I bought the boat three years ago.

I don't know if I should be worried about them or just sail the boat till it gives out? I am not great with fiberglass repair. I would be interested on feedback on what a repair might cost if I had a yard do the work on the worst areas.
 

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Joe11688

Joe11688

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Jan 24, 2005
4,881
Oday 222 Dighton, Ma.
LordNelson said:
I have an oday 20 with some small cracks in the deck. I have rebed all the deck fittings which looked bad since I bought the boat three years ago.

I don't know if I should be worried about them or just sail the boat till it gives out? I am not great with fiberglass repair. I would be interested on feedback on what a repair might cost if I had a yard do the work on the worst areas.
Click to expand
They look like hair line gelcoat cracks to me. I have those on my boat too. Most of them on my boat are near the main bulkhead of the companionway.
 
emergpa1

emergpa1

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Oct 2, 2008
1,424
Island Packet 31 Brunswick, Ga
Trinkka said:
They look like hair line gelcoat cracks to me. I have those on my boat too. Most of them on my boat are near the main bulkhead of the companionway.
Click to expand
My boat had alot of cracks like that, esp around fittings and hardware. I tried to do the recommended "this old boat" repair and scrape them down with the corner of a cabinet scraper. What I found is two things:
1. In don caseys book, god bless his heart, all his cracks are straight. In real life, they are curved twisted demonic little things designed to make you cuss, and good luck getting your scraper to follow the crack. Maybe if you had one crack and all week.....
2. Even when you get stuborn and get your scraper to follow the crack, most of those cracks will go down deeper than you can really scrape. Maybe not to the core, but pretty deep. You will still have some crack left at the bottom of the scrape.
3. Even when you are stubborn, and get your scraper to follow the crack, and you go all the way to the bottom of the crack, and you fill the crack with good old non matching gelcoat, that you tried to match to your weathered finish, it smears, you have to sand and it still shows up, quite visible to the eye.
So, I would recommend just being sure your fittings are dry, and that the area around the fittings are cored out and filled with epoxy where the core is soft. I would bet that the deck otherwise will last longer than you!
(ok, three things)

keith
 

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LordNelson

LordNelson

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Sep 20, 2006
367
Oday 20 Seneca Lake
gee, i was hoping i'd out live my deck : )

by cored out, do you mean drilling small holes, pulling out what soft wood you can, and then injecting epoxy into the hole(s)? ( i ordered don casey's book on hull and deck repair from amazon)
 
emergpa1

emergpa1

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Oct 2, 2008
1,424
Island Packet 31 Brunswick, Ga
Well, that is good question, and there are a couple of things i would say.
First, i really didn't like the results of the recommendation by casey about drilling alot of holes then letting the core dry. It just didn't work for me.
What happened is that the core wouldn't dry. Now I live in ga where it is humid. maybe if i lived in west texas....But i ended up having to cut out what i had drilled all those holes in for the most part. and that means that you can't use the old skin you drilled all the holes into because (and that brings me to my next point)...
The other problem is there is just no way to fill all those holes in without making a big mess. What i mean is that you cant get the holes filled back in and level with the deck because when you try to put get the epoxy level it is either too high, or soak up some and too low. And if you try to wipe up the excess it get everywhere. If you are wiping it up in your non skid it just smears. because you can't wipe around all those little holes with out smearing it some more.
It is hard to explain without showing you, so if you want to go that way, try to do several holes in a hidden area and then try to smooth them out and sand and finish them before you commit to large highly visible areas. then you will know if it is right for you.
What i meant in my original reply was just be sure that you have cleaned out the core around the bolt holes of the fitting you are reseating, and fill those holes with epoxy (sealing the underside of the hole first! otherwise you get a cabin full of that sticky stuff) then when it is dry, redrill your holes, beveling out the top like casy showes.
 
emergpa1

emergpa1

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Oct 2, 2008
1,424
Island Packet 31 Brunswick, Ga
To clean out thecore around the bot holes use a drill and chuck in a bent nail. Stick that in the how and spin it to break up the soft core around the bolt hole. Then I used a curved hemostat to dig out the chunks. Sometimes the core was tougher and I coudnt get it out but then I would just fil with thickened epoxy anyway. The epoxy will still be absorbed. Cadets book is right on andworkes for me in most instances.
 
LordNelson

LordNelson

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Sep 20, 2006
367
Oday 20 Seneca Lake
thanks for the response(s). the casey book arrived and i see the pictures of the bent nail epoxy repair. i can probably handle that without gluing myself to the boat : )
 
emergpa1

emergpa1

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Oct 2, 2008
1,424
Island Packet 31 Brunswick, Ga
ha, good thought, hey i refer you to my post: "observations on the character of epoxy" i believe it was....
keith
 
LordNelson

LordNelson

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Sep 20, 2006
367
Oday 20 Seneca Lake
the weather here has been cold and raining and i was worried about the epoxy curing, so i covered the boat yesterday. i will wait for spring to attempt it. hopefully, it will be warmer and drier when i get stuck to the deck : )
 
Maine Sail

Maine Sail

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Feb 6, 1998
11,704
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
Give this a try

The bent nail trick is not really such a good trick nor it it a treat either. It can really be more of a PITA especially if you hit plywood core.

Feel free to read this article on potting deck holes it may make it a lot easier for you.

Sealing Deck Penetrations to Prevent Core Rot
 
emergpa1

emergpa1

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Oct 2, 2008
1,424
Island Packet 31 Brunswick, Ga
yeah, most of the time my nail broke. i ended up using a combination nail, small cat's paw, curved hemostat, and whatever i could used to get out as much core as i could. you will come up with your own ways.
I will have to look up that article mainesail posted. he usually has good advice and his website is good too. Also check out Buff Magic
have fun!
keith
 
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