Weak Spot/Stern Rail

[Viesail]

Hello,

I've recently acquired a beautiful Hunter 22 with a couple spots that need attention. Looking for some advice.

Have been collecting rain water below and have tracked down the spot. Where the starboard stern rail bolts to the deck, is in rough shape (pictures attached of above/below). None of the other mounts look that bad but all do have some stress cracks in the gelcoat. This one spot looks like it was a bad DIY, and the bolts are just wiggling around, letting rain water in and feeling like if anyone put some force on the starboard stern rail, it would rip right out.

What am I looking at here, how bad of a job/fix is this?

Thanks all!

 

[Bill Roosa]

Clearly someone has been banging the rail on a dock or something. The gelcoat cracks on the inside look structurally OK but the outside looks pretty bad. Is the center pict showing painted wood?
If it is just wood over FRG then you "should" be able to just pull the rail, pull the wood and replace. If the wood is bonded to or it ain't wood to begin with then get out the power grinder. Building up FRG is pretty easy but vertical surfaces take some extra skill as the resin always wants to run down hill till it sets. The key is using a "fast" hardner. The rub with fast hardner is that you don't have much time to work it and if this is your first job odds are against getting it right the first time. No worries though just drag out the grinder again..... repeat as needed.
You will certianly know how to glass when all is said and done. And yes, we have all been there and suffered the learning curve.

 

[Viesail]

Thanks for the response. It's not wood, it looks like there is adhesive residue around that area from some type of tape (better image attached). So besides that, the bolt holes are gnarly, going in a couple different direction as can be seen from the image on the first post. Should there be some sort of reinforcement plate for the bolts to secure through?

I've also attached an image of the stern rail mount to port. It's a lot more secure, and doesn't seem to be leaking rainwater, but is got some cracking in the gel coat.

 

[MrUnix]

Should be a pretty simple job.. pull the rails, clean everything up and fill the holes with epoxy. Get something under the holes as a backing, be it wood, metal or more fiberglass, to strengthen up the area and prevent any more stress cracks. Then just drill new holes and bed with butyl. If you want to fix the spider cracks, that is a bit more work and you will learn all about the wonderful world of gelcoat Still not too difficult, just time consuming and requiring lots of patience.

Cheers,
Brad

 

[inarathree]

I would also bet that a p/o added this, as I have never seen a H22 with stern rails. I agree with Brad, it isn't that big of a deal to pull the rails, fill with epoxy, clean it up, and start over. I would go with a wood or s. steel backing plate, seal with 5200. Go sailing.

 

[Fly_H23]

Hello,

I've recently acquired a beautiful Hunter 22 with a couple spots that need attention. Looking for some advice.

Have been collecting rain water below and have tracked down the spot. Where the starboard stern rail bolts to the deck, is in rough shape (pictures attached of above/below). None of the other mounts look that bad but all do have some stress cracks in the gelcoat. This one spot looks like it was a bad DIY, and the bolts are just wiggling around, letting rain water in and feeling like if anyone put some force on the starboard stern rail, it would rip right out.

What am I looking at here, how bad of a job/fix is this?

Thanks all!

Not sure if you were just referring to the spider cracks around the bolt holes. I couldn't help notice but there is clearly a 1/8" or so wide crack several inches long visible from the underside along the the edge of the toe rail. I think I would remove that toe rail and have a look under there too.

 

[drumbeater]

Mine has a stearn rail, but it doesnt look anything like that one. It comes straight up from the deck and is all welded. I'm pretty sure it's factory.

I'd think taking it up bedding the base in 3M 5200 and reinstalling may fix leaks. Cracks are probably due to the installer not using a countersink around the holes he drilled. You've got to remove gelcoat from around the hole and the fasteners. If not any flex put on that area will cause the gelcoat to crack.