Hunter 23 Hull/deck joint R&R?

[mjsader]

I'm a member of a small, "casual" sailboat club on an Army Corps lake in Kentucky. Last year I purchased a (basically) abandoned Hunter 23 from a former club member for $1200. Working sails, a trailer, Yamaha 6hp were included in the sale. It's been on the hard for years.
Unknown upper leak contributed to significant interior water damage. Initially we were hoping the leak was from the chain locker drain, or the hatch, or leaky deck fittings. Thinking- find the leak, epoxy/R&R some bulkheads and get on the water.

Sunday I discovered that most of the aft deck is loose from the hull.
The club has power; water; a head, etc. It's ~45 minutes from teh house. I'd really like to repair the boat enough to sail it some this season; i.e. in ~2 months.
Do I really need to separate and replace the entire hull joint this season? Since it's aft, could we lift that portion, repair, re-caulk and re-screw it; or are we looking at an entire hull joint repair? FYI- I've seen and reviewed Mark Major's posts about this.
I can attach more pictures- thanks in advance.

 

[dmax]

I think more pictures, especially of the affected area, would help. If the rest of the hull-deck joint is solid, you should be able to just repair the part that's separating.

 

[mjsader]

I'll upload more pictures. I've got more, but none of the affected areas specifically. If I can upload a video clip to YouTube of how much movement there is, I'll do that too.
Thanks!

 

[Brian M H23]

Hey MS
Not sure if you made any progress - I had a 23 for years and fiddled around with the same joint

It's a rather "production" kind of joint - if you pull the rubber bumper out it's screwed together. Deck overlaps hull, screws go through both into strips of wood.

To be honest, I wouldn't even fight with the bumper- take a junk spade bit and countersink a hole for some new screws, rip 3/4 plywood and paint with epoxy, get someone to hold in place as you run screws through. It's not going anywhere!

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Sent this poster a message. Let’s see if he responds

 

[mjsader]

I pulled the rub rail and the rub rail mount off where it seemed loose. Here's where we are. Cleaned the joint last weekend (after these pix). Considering injecting 5200 into the joint and rescrewing. Here's the worst of the damage- apparent impact at the port stanchion alongside the cockpit-

 

[mjsader]

It looks much better now- took a paint scraper "5-in-one" and cleaned out the joint and surface. Only concern I have now is whether the backers are intact enough for the screws to purchase. Re-attaching the rub rail is a concern for later.
It needs a lot of work, but I'm satisfied it's repairable.

 

[Thaniel]

Glad to see progress on this project. Please keep posting how things go.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

@mjsader
Former dealer who sold the most. Retired but willing to help as I sold the most of any dealer and very much got v hunter to build the water ballast sailboats. I sent you a private message offering my help. Just trying to help fellow sailors

 

[mjsader]

The joint in question didn't seem to have any caulk or sealant. I decided the plywood "backer" only functioned to provide screw purchase and had no structural purpose. As a result, my plan was to separate the joint, inject 5200, then re-screw the fiberglass joint together, ignoring the condition or placement of any plywood. The 5200 now serves to secure the joint, I think much better than the original assembly. I first drilled a shank pilot hole all the way through, then a thread pilot hole through the deck overlap, so the threads would not bind. I then applied painter's tape below the joint, and wedged it open with standard wood shims. In most locations the "fat 1/4" end of the shim went in easily. Where it didn't. I used the thin end and wedged the joint open by inserting more shims. I then caulked the entire joint, pulled out the shims, and screwed the joint together. Quite a lot oozed out. I tooled it with the end of a shim, to reduce the mess a little.
Came back ~24 hours later and removed the tape before the caulk cured completely. Re-attaching the "rub rail" will be another project, but I'm moving on to R&R of the deteriorated bulkheads so I can at least get a little sailing in this season.