Has anyone come up with a solution to keep water out a J24 during winter storage with the mast up?
J 24 winter storage
- Thread starter papa_goat
- Start date
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 22,876
Not sure what age of J24 you own. There are known issues regarding the J24. One of them deals with the mast and Bulkhead.
as reported in Practical Sailor:
Where is the water coming from, the outside of the mast or the inside?
Outside the mast, the hope is you can wrap the mast tightly and have water shed onto the deck and off the boat.
Inside the mast, is an issue addressed by covering over openings on the mast and prayer...
as reported in Practical Sailor:
Harder to rectify is the problem of delamination of the main bulkhead. J/24s are raced hard, often with substantial rig tension. The chainplates pierce the deck and are bolted to the main bulkhead. The plywood bulkhead is tabbed with fiberglass to the hull and deck. The mast is stepped through the deck and sits on an aluminum beam, which is also tabbed to the main bulkhead. Rig tension pulls upward on the bulkhead while mast compression pushes downward on the beam, resulting in tremendous shearing forces on the bulkhead and its tabbing.
On some of the older J/24s, the plywood has delaminated, letting the mast “sink” 1/4 inch or more. Owners of these boats have either returned them to the factory for replacement of the bulkhead, or ground off the delamination and reglassed the bulkhead themselves. The builder now uses a better grade of plywood and installs screws to reinforce the bulkhead tabbing. As an added precaution, the boat owner may wish to bolt the mast-bearing beam to the bulkhead with an angle-iron.
Where is the water coming from, the outside of the mast or the inside?
Outside the mast, the hope is you can wrap the mast tightly and have water shed onto the deck and off the boat.
Inside the mast, is an issue addressed by covering over openings on the mast and prayer...
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 22,876
I am afraid inside the mast is something we all live with. Some of us have deck stepped masts. Then the water accumulates in the mast at the deck. Smart owners make sure they have weep holes in the mast step. That way the water seeps out onto the deck and off the boat. If no weep hole, then the water accumulates till it eventually finds a way out.
I took precautions with my mast I created weep holes. I clean the weep holes each winter. And I installed elevated pipes to pass the electrical cables into the cabin. Additionally the wires pass through a length of hose. The hose is coiled so water running down the cables inside the mast drip off into the mast base. Water has to accumulate above the pipe level to gain access into my boat. So far I have a dry interior - no leaks.
The wires you see there are the old system They were cut off during install and the area was filled with 4200 caulking to prevent possible leaks.
I took precautions with my mast I created weep holes. I clean the weep holes each winter. And I installed elevated pipes to pass the electrical cables into the cabin. Additionally the wires pass through a length of hose. The hose is coiled so water running down the cables inside the mast drip off into the mast base. Water has to accumulate above the pipe level to gain access into my boat. So far I have a dry interior - no leaks.
The wires you see there are the old system They were cut off during install and the area was filled with 4200 caulking to prevent possible leaks.