V-Berth refresh - your comments please

[keneasley]

In the interest of getting Felicity to be truly dry regardless of sailing and weather conditions I continue to look for and seal leaks.

Last season I had some water coming in during a fairly rough day - 25+knots, 3-4 foot seas, and lots of healing beyond 30 degrees.
Seemed like it was coming in somewhere up front. Maybe a gallon or two made its way into the bilge.

I've been removing and replacing the interior woodwork over the years as the boat had some damage from water.

Now I'm working on the v-berth.

I've removed the bases for the bunks and ceiling boards and a shelf on the starboard side.
The shelf was partially rotted and it and the ceiling boards limited my ability to get at the mountings for the stanchion bases and other fittings.

After removing the bases for the bunks (I plan to replace these with new, sealed and painted marine plywood):

V_Berth_6.JPG (2.25 MiB) Viewed 575 times

After removing the ceiling boards:

V_Beth_8.JPG (1.26 MiB) Viewed 575 times

I'm considering not reinstalling the ceiling boards. They were screwed into some fiberglassed-in vertical struts.
Instead I'm planning to clean, sand, and prime the hull and paint it.
Similar to what I did with the main cabin a few years ago:

Cabin_b22.JPG (2.44 MiB) Viewed 575 times

So - my question: Are the ceiling boards structural in any way?

Appreciate any comments and ideas.

[Jim Walsh]

Since the ribs were glassed to the hull, they and the ceiling attached to them, do add structural integrity to the hull. Would removal lead to oilcanning…I would not hazard a guess. Instinctively I think you’d be fine because the unsupported section of the hull is relatively small but the fact that the ribs were glassed in place and not just bedded to remain in place before the ceiling was attached leads me to believe they were intended to be structural and not just a hidden component of a design feature to entice buyers.

[John Stone]

Ken, tracking down leaks is a tireless business on older boats. Sad key even many new boats soon begin to leak. All leaks can be stopped but you just have to find them. All the usual suspects have to be eliminated. You know of course it is pointless to caulk around fittings. They have to be removed, rebedded, reinstalled for there to be any expectation they won't leak.

I am not familiar with the construction of the Intrepid 9M. Looking at photos on-line I see the 9M has a wood toe rail and prominent ports. I would expect to see leaking there if they have never been rebedded.

Regarding the cleats for the ceiling. If the hull is not cored then I tend to agree with Jim Walsh. You certainly don't want to see oil canning though lots of boats experience it going up wind in hard conditions, even the venerable Cal 40. In my limited experience normally longitudinal stringers are used to prevent oil canning and are glassed in where needed.

The nice thing about the ash ceiling is they create and air gap being them. I installed insulation all through the Far Reach behind the ceiling and found it to be wonderfully effective not only as insulation but also sound deadening. Perhaps it's something to consider before you decide to eliminate them.

A dry boat is an amazing experience and if successful accomplished worthy of the considerable effort it takes to achieve it.

[keneasley]

Jim, John,

Thank you for the advice. I'll be putting the ceiling boards back in after I clean the area.
I'm ordering some new silicone bronze fasteners from Fair Wind Fasteners. They have a great selection.
I'll post some pictures later of the refurbished v-berth.

RE the ports - I replaced 4 of them a few years ago with surfaced mounted Plexi-glass.
That worked very well. I still have the other 4 to do. I plan to rebed them (as opposed to replacing them) this season.
For now the Port-Visors from Seaworthy Goods keep most of the rain off.

Port_LIght_2.JPG (1.94 MiB) Viewed 553 times

RE the toe rail and hull to deck joint. After taking off the ceiling boards and shelf I was able to see up to that seam.
I'll post some pictures of that. It may be different on the Intrepid.


The main leak problem looks to be the anchor locker which is up on the foredeck. It definitely leaks. I thought I had fixed it three years ago when I reglassed the bed of it. But I didn't do the entire thing. Something I'll redo this spring. I'd rather have a more traditional chain locker and a solid foredeck than this type of anchor locker. Maybe someday I'll seal up the entire thing and run a pipe down to a chain locker.

Anchor_Locker_3.JPG (1.87 MiB) Viewed 553 times

The problem with this anchor locker is that the aft part of it has some gap somewhere. My plan is to sand it and put in fiberglass cloth, epoxy and paint over the back area as I did to the rest of it which worked very well.

[JD-MDR]

I like the ceiling boards because they help keep bedding and clothing etc dry. I think all boats leak and it drains down the hull so the boards keep stuff away. Leoma was taking a lot of water whenever i was pounding into weather. I climbed into the v-berth and looked in the chain locker and saw a cup or two coming in the hawse hole everytime a wave hit. Ive since rebedded all the deck hardware and made a cover for the windlass. I stuff a piece of foam in the hole with the chain. I havent had to test yet but I’m sure it’s gonna be much better

[keneasley]

Finally got this project completed (mostly) yesterday.

I reinstalled the ceiling boards and replaced the boards for the bunks in the v-berth.
The old, original boards were badly rotted from water ingress and wear and tear over the years.

I used 1/2" marine plywood with barrier-coat primer and Rust-oleum Marine Topside Gloss White paint finish.

Before:

After:

Next, I'll do something to cover the forward area.

I still need to determine if water comes in from the anchor locker although at this time I cannot see where it could come in from.
I can half-fill the anchor locker with water and it does not leak.

To be continued...

[Jim Walsh]

Very nice. Well worth the time and effort.

[JD-MDR]

Wow. Really looks nice. Ive been meaning to post comments about water leaking I’ve bedded and rebedded the deck hardware so many times. I went to look in the chain locker when underway and I saw leaks at almost every bolt. I’m thinking it’s from the hull/deck seam and from inside just looks like it’s from the hardware bolts because the hardware are sealed above and if water gets in the deck seam it can flow along that ledge inside and fall down anywhere. I want to remove the toerail and reseal the deck seam. But it’s not that bad yet.