repair of leak in cutlass strut

[newboatowner]

I posted an inquiry last season about water that was accumulating under the fuel cell of my Catalina 30 that only occurred when the engine was powering the boat. I just pulled the tank with the boat on hard and saw a bit of water that may have collected when the boat was motored to the crane.
Someone who has more experience that me in this area suggested that perhaps the area where the strut attaches to the hull is allowing for prop wash to back up into the boat. I saw that there was some chipping of the bottom around the area where the strut connects to the hull and perhaps this is allowing water inside.
How can I go about addressing this without removing the strut?

 

[woodster]

I posted an inquiry last season about water that was accumulating under the fuel cell of my Catalina 30 that only occurred when the engine was powering the boat. I just pulled the tank with the boat on hard and saw a bit of water that may have collected when the boat was motored to the crane.
Someone who has more experience that me in this area suggested that perhaps the area where the strut attaches to the hull is allowing for prop wash to back up into the boat. I saw that there was some chipping of the bottom around the area where the strut connects to the hull and perhaps this is allowing water inside.
How can I go about addressing this without removing the strut?

first off if it is leaking it would do so while static ...if it is leaking at the strut the only thing you can do is take it off the hull and clean everything up ( hull and strut surfaces where they come in contact with each other) and then reseal them when you reinstall the strut to the hull making sure of your alignment ...there is no quick fix or patch for this if indeed it is the problem...some like 3m 4200 and some like 3m 5200......

regards

woody

p.s. you might try thighting the bolts that hold the strut first to see if thay are loose.....

 

[newboatowner]

Thanks for prompt reply Woody. I am assuming that I can get to bolts that would require some removal of fiberglass from inside. Am I correct?