While working on the boat on a particularly stormy day last week, I noticed quite a bit of water dripping into the aft berth (specifically, the "shelf" that runs along the port side). I pulled a cover off, and observed the water coming in through one of the bolts that holds the fiberglass arch in place.
Today, I took look inside the arch, figuring I'd just have to loosen the bolts and reseal them with 4200. However, I found that the arch has a "floor" to it... in other words, the heads of the bolts could be sealed just fine, but water could still get in between where the bolts pass through the base of the arch and then into the deck. I'm probably not describing this very well, but heck, anyone who has had this problem before probably will instantly recognize what I'm saying.
Anyway, I'm baffled as to how to go about stopping this leak, since I can't reach the area of the bolt between the bottom of the arch and the deck. The only thing I can think to do would be to remove all the bolts securing the arch in place, lift it up enough so that I can goop on a nice big blog of 4200 around the holes, and drop it back down in place (resealing the tops of the bolts afterwards as well, obviously).
Is this the proper way to fix this? I recall seeing other posts on this subject, but could not locate any suitable threads with a search.
--Michael
Today, I took look inside the arch, figuring I'd just have to loosen the bolts and reseal them with 4200. However, I found that the arch has a "floor" to it... in other words, the heads of the bolts could be sealed just fine, but water could still get in between where the bolts pass through the base of the arch and then into the deck. I'm probably not describing this very well, but heck, anyone who has had this problem before probably will instantly recognize what I'm saying.
Anyway, I'm baffled as to how to go about stopping this leak, since I can't reach the area of the bolt between the bottom of the arch and the deck. The only thing I can think to do would be to remove all the bolts securing the arch in place, lift it up enough so that I can goop on a nice big blog of 4200 around the holes, and drop it back down in place (resealing the tops of the bolts afterwards as well, obviously).
Is this the proper way to fix this? I recall seeing other posts on this subject, but could not locate any suitable threads with a search.
--Michael