Been There!
Brad, I just finished the very same job--which started out as replacing my rubrail and the PVC molding that holds it, which had been damaged last season. I suspected water was getting into my v-berth through the damaged area near the bow peak. There was also a damaged three-foot section near the cockpit on the starboard side. The boat is a 1983 Oday 23, and my experience with it in the past two years since I bought it suggested that the previous owner hadn't maintained anything other than the shine on the topsides. So I decided to replace all the modling and rubrail. I ended up with more work than I'd expected. A few weeks ago (after the snow melted around here!) I pulled off the old rubrail and molding and found what you found: big gaps where there was no caulking in the hull-to-deck joint. And I did pretty much what you describe. First, I scraped away all the remaining caulking and cleaned everything as thoroughly as I could. I used thickened epoxy to fill all the holes from the screws that held on the rubrail molding. Then I recaulked the joint. I got some terrific advice from Joe and others on this forum for replacing the rubrail molding. It was a chore, especially bending the PVC molding around the bow peak and the two stern corners. But ultimately the job went fairly smoothly. Putting the rubrail on once the molding was set was relatively easy. I'm feeling much better about splashing the boat this season after doing this job. I should add that after much reading, talking to people at my marina, and especially reading and getting advice from this forum, I did a number of other maintenance and repair jobs to the boat while she was on the hard. Here's a partial list (in addition to the rubrail and hull-to-deck joint jobs I just described): - removed and rebed the mast step, which was leaking. I had to remove the port bulkhead to access one of the four screws holding the mast step, and I also cleaned out the screw holes, filled them with thickened epoxy, then redrilled them before re-installed the step. Following Joe's advice I also installed a utility plate under the mast step. - removed and rebed both chainplates. I followed the procedure described in Don Casey's book for this, which involved cleaning out some wet balsa core, filling the cavity with thickened epoxy, redrilling the slot, then rebedding with good marine caulking. - removed and rebed the forward chainplate. Toughest job of all, given the lousy access in the v-berth to the bolts and nuts. But since I had the rubrail off and suspected a leak there, I decided to go for it. - removed and rebed the towing u-bolt. Another mess that kept getting bigger as I worked. Initially I thought this job would be a matter of loosening the nuts and replacing the old caulking. But when I began removing the nuts, I found that the wooden block that served as a backing plate for the bolt was completely dry-rotted and useless after years of leaks. So I had to fashion a new block from oak. - removed and rebed the hinges for the forward hatch, which were also leaking. - repaired some water-damaged sections on the edges of the teak plywood of the port bulkhead (which I removed to access the mast step screws, as I noted earlier). Putting the bulkhead back in place was easier than I'd expected after reading many accounts on this forum, but it was still work. I'm done with all these jobs and still have to clean and wax the boat and take care of the teak before we launch her in a few weeks. I will admit to cursing the PO a few times in the past few weeks while trying to finish all this work, but I learned a lot about the boat and about maintaining her. Sorry for going on at length. I guess I needed to vent to other sailors (the poor admiral is the only one who's had to listen to me complaining about all this!). Good luck, Brad. Bob
