My Islander 34, 1967 has had leaks around the toe rail for a number of years. This fall, I removed the cap rail and all the bolts holding the gib sheet track, as well as the teak in the gap between the deck and hull. I found that there was some separation here and the bolt holes were the main source of water intrusion. I epoxied the gap holes and all the bolt holes. My intention is to epoxy oak in the gap and replace the cap and gib sheet track with screws that don't go through to the cabin, thus eliminating the source of water. I will only put bolts where the gib sheet block usually stays, ie. six bolts. Does anyone know if these bolts have anything to do with the structural integrity of the hull deck joint? They sure don't appear to. Does anyone have any suggestions on other solutions. Any suggestions on a fixture for securing spring lines with this set up? Thanks Colin Topshee Nova Scotia
- Status
Colin, My 1968 Islander 30 Has a raised flush deck
and the hull/deck joint was below the windows. The joint was made-up of mating flanges and rivets and glassed on the inside. The toe rail is about 1x1.5 inch mahagany built into the deck during construction and is under the gelcoat. There is no Jib track but if you use a large counter-sink on the bolt holes and a generous amount of bedding compound when you tighten the bolts the bedding compound will squeeze into the counter-sink and form a donut around the shank of the bolt and prevent the leaks. When I rebuilt my I30 I removed the covering on the external hull/deck joint and ground everything fair and glassed over the joint. So that now I don't have a hull/deck joint.
and the hull/deck joint was below the windows. The joint was made-up of mating flanges and rivets and glassed on the inside. The toe rail is about 1x1.5 inch mahagany built into the deck during construction and is under the gelcoat. There is no Jib track but if you use a large counter-sink on the bolt holes and a generous amount of bedding compound when you tighten the bolts the bedding compound will squeeze into the counter-sink and form a donut around the shank of the bolt and prevent the leaks. When I rebuilt my I30 I removed the covering on the external hull/deck joint and ground everything fair and glassed over the joint. So that now I don't have a hull/deck joint.
Thanks Ross I think the main source of the leaks are at the bottom of the bolt which is about 2.5 inches in length and water intrusion doesn't necessarily come down the shank. Water in the past at least was evident all along the channel. Prehaps your solution could work if the whole piece of wood were totally sealed in the channel and the bolt shank the only possible entrance point.
bolt holes be gone
You're right Ross, I think I'll not put the bolts back, I'll epoxy the oak in the channel and mount everything with screws to the oak. Thanks Colin
You're right Ross, I think I'll not put the bolts back, I'll epoxy the oak in the channel and mount everything with screws to the oak. Thanks Colin
- Status