Problem with Gel coat repair

[kitcat]

I've already used Cap'n Tolleys Creeping Crack Cure, and thought I'd fixed it, but it just coincided with a dry spell, and the next time we had significant rain, there was the water again. The only good thing about it is that it is fresh water not salt water, I'd be really worried if it was salt water

Paul

[Mac26Mpaul]

Well, I still wouldn't be ripping that rubrail off, until you are absolutely certain thats where it is getting in.. You need to trickle your hose onto that for a while, (without wetting the window/chainplate at all)...

[kitcat]

Yep, I tried that, but it took abouty 15 minutes for water to show on the inside, and it appeared to come through the carpet from the back, not to be running down on the outside or dripping off the lip of the inner liner.

I'm getting to the stage of actually giving a boatyard a call and paying money for a professional opinion!

Paul

[Kittiwake]

Yep, I tried that, but it took abouty 15 minutes for water to show on the inside, and it appeared to come through the carpet from the back, not to be running down on the outside or dripping off the lip of the inner liner ....

Kitkat this (my font increase above) sounds virtually diagnostic: as I recall, there is a small circular hole in the inner liner at carpet level immediately aft of the cabin carpet. I gather this is to alert one to the presence of water accumulation under the liner in the battery area. It seems to me that water leaking through the hull/deck join and accumulating in the aft bilge compartment would be the logical source of the phenomenon you describe.
Kittiwake

[kitcat]

Sorry, when I say carpet, I am not talking about the floor carpet, but the carpet material that is glued to the side of the hull above the waterline and up to just under the deck join, under the roof liner. It is getting in and must be running down behind this glued on material somehow, but only starts showing 6"-12" below the bottom of the roof liner edge, which is why it appears to be coming through the gel and fibreglass.

Paul

[Mac26Mpaul]

You should put some photos up of both sides

[kitcat]

Yes, quite right, I promised Sumner I'd also put some up of my new lazy jack & stack pack system too.

I'll gen. up on how to do it and get 'em up over the weekend, all being well.

Paul

[Mac26Mpaul]

I just use photobucket.
http://photobucket.com/
start an account and then start uploading your photos. You can put them in different folders if you want and make them private and some public or whatever. It must be pretty simple, because I have done it

Then to post a photo in the forum, you just copy the image code from the photo. From memory, you just click on the photo and then you get a list of options. I think the top one is the one you click on. Then go to the forum page and click paste where you want the photo, very simple

[Divecoz]

Kitkat.. Its the chain plate or the rub rail.. Chain plate is easiest so do it first.. Still persist.. its the rub rail.. I say that assuming your boat is sitting level!
I could have well taken place with a HIT to a pier or a piling... Do you have any fractures in gel coat on the coaming?

[kitcat]

Thanks Paul, I'll give photobucket a try.

Divecoz, I've never, to my knowledge tapped anything solid with the rubrail, and if it was the chainplate, surely it would show on the inside directly behind and underneath it, whereas, it shows on the inside lining material as coming in some 12" or so forward of the chainplate position. Yet there is nothing on the outside to indicate where a leak may be. It is raining here today, and the water is very evident!

Paul

[Divecoz]

Hi Paul....... Lower the front of the boat as far as she will go..if that increases the wet area ( now forward) you have a better idea as to where its getting in.. The chain plate could be poorly seated / bedded.. ?? It wouldn't show signs of damage .....only the rub rail , might offer a clue to damage.. I assume you looked at the rail and it shows no sign of damage? No rub marks? What might only appear to be a rub mark, could in fact be an impact point.. BTDT and I am thankful I didn't have a gun on board or I might well be writing this from Jail.. Long story.. There are some real Jerks who own big boats..

[Kittiwake]

Sorry, when I say carpet, I am not talking about the floor carpet, but the carpet material that is glued to the side of the hull above the waterline and up to just under the deck join, under the roof liner. It is getting in and must be running down behind this glued on material somehow, but only starts showing 6"-12" below the bottom of the roof liner edge, which is why it appears to be coming through the gel and fibreglass. Paul

Yo kitcat, I gather that locating leaks in sailboats in general is well known to drive owners mad. It must be frustrating having so many of us suggest causes that differ from your original thoughts (especially ones like my incorrect interpretation!); but you seem to be taking it all in stride. Obviously a number of us figure the fiberglass/gelcoat is an unlikely culprit. I wonder if the glue holding the carpet to the inside of the hull is retarding water from showing up immediately at its source of entry - eg. perhaps the thin film of water entering through the hull/deck join percolates down beneath some glue-saturated carpet backing before finding its way past the glue to the carpet fibers and making them noticeably wet.
Whatever the cause, hearing your final outcome will be of considerable interest to all.
Kittiwake

[Divecoz]

Rub Rail Install.. www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4Ib9j47LnY 10 minutes well spent!!!

[Keel_Hauled]

That's my friend Mark in the video, replacing his rub rail. Nice boat; it's in the marina up the street from my house. I just saw him this weekend relaxing in the his cockpit during our Spring Fling powerboat races... I wonder if he knows how popular his video has become ?

~K

[Erik Hardtle]

Check ALL your deck hardware from the inside access holes in the ceiling liner.

I just got done working on resealing the stanchon bolts because they were leaking down the side of the boat. I don't think MacGregor uses 3M 5200 for it's sealant... as the sealent that was there was mushy. I've had to do this every so often on different deck bolts as water shows up in the blilge after a rainy night.... and yea... not easy to find. Patience is a necessary tool.

I have smacked my rub rail very hard over the 10 years I have owned it... sometimes to the point of hearing fiberglass crunch and missing chunks of black rail... but have never tracked a leak from there.