Toe rail screw leak

[Bill]

Hello to all

Well we here in the heartland (OK) finally got some much needed relief from the heat and drougth this past weekend which also afforded me an opportunity to check for leaks on my 25D again. I have one that concerns me! It is in the toe rail, where the water must be going under the rail and (I am certain of this point) it is entering the boat (in the head) via a screw. The teak plug is still in place, therefore, I assume it is coming under the toe rail. At this point I dont wish to remove all the toe rail to repair the leak. My thoughts are to remove the plug and screw, let it dry out good, re-bed with 5200 or something like that, and replace the screw. Or, Should I seal the entire hole with expoxy, let it cure, then re-drill/screw or what?

Thanks a bunch and fair winds

Bill
S/V Rhapsody



willie@clnk.com

[Lee H. Hodsdon]

Hello to all

Well we here in the heartland (OK) finally got some much needed relief from the heat and drougth this past weekend which also afforded me an opportunity to check for leaks on my 25D again. I have one that concerns me! It is in the toe rail, where the water must be going under the rail and (I am certain of this point) it is entering the boat (in the head) via a screw. The teak plug is still in place, therefore, I assume it is coming under the toe rail. At this point I dont wish to remove all the toe rail to repair the leak. My thoughts are to remove the plug and screw, let it dry out good, re-bed with 5200 or something like that, and replace the screw. Or, Should I seal the entire hole with expoxy, let it cure, then re-drill/screw or what?

Thanks a bunch and fair winds

Bill
S/V Rhapsody

Bill,

Seems as though the hole was drilled too deep initially. My recommendation would be to remove the bung and screw, fill the hole in the fiberglass with thickened epoxy and when the epoxy is set re-drill the hole and install the screw and bung. I put a small amount of bedding compound on the underside of the bung before installing. This helps to keep the water out.

Best of luck,

Lee



lhodsdon@nh.ultranet.com

[Dana]

Hi Bill,

I had a chance to look at the assembly of the toe rail at the CD factory and I have done a sectional repair of a damaged rail.

The toe rail has a hallow channel on its bottom edge surface. It is
quite large covering about two thirds of the width. This was filled with sealing compound. Thus it was supposed to seal both the top of the flat head bolts with directly join the deck to hull flange and the penetrations of the toe rail securing screws which join the rail to the hull/deck flange. I think I remember an black sealant that the factory used over the flange bolts when the deck is joined to the hull.

If your leak is from a screw which is direct under one the rail plugs I would first just try to seal that rail screw penetration. There may be a localized void of sealant in the N channel in that area. You may be able to seal it without removing the rail.

Remove the teak plug and screw. I would seal off the screw hole inside of the boat with heavy tape. Then use 5200 to completely fill the screw hole minus the plug space. Then reinsert the screw (maybe someone can hold that tape (inside) in place and gently screw thru the tape. Then replace the plug. That might be enough to fill the n channel void if there is one as well as sealing the screw hole.

Dana



darenius@aol.com

[Matthew R. Atkinson]

Hello to all

Well we here in the heartland (OK) finally got some much needed relief from the heat and drougth this past weekend which also afforded me an opportunity to check for leaks on my 25D again. I have one that concerns me! It is in the toe rail, where the water must be going under the rail and (I am certain of this point) it is entering the boat (in the head) via a screw. The teak plug is still in place, therefore, I assume it is coming under the toe rail. At this point I dont wish to remove all the toe rail to repair the leak. My thoughts are to remove the plug and screw, let it dry out good, re-bed with 5200 or something like that, and replace the screw. Or, Should I seal the entire hole with expoxy, let it cure, then re-drill/screw or what?

Thanks a bunch and fair winds

Bill
S/V Rhapsody

One more experience for the pot. My toerail and rubstrake were separated from the deck by the port shrouds, boat came this way. I removed the plugs and refastened. The plugs came out fairly easily by drilling with a drywall screw which hit the old screw and lifted out the plugs. I cleaned up the wood with a countersink (a little rot here and there) and then refastened and renewed the plugs, bedding them with a waterproof wood glue (Gorilla glue). This brought the rail and rubstrake snugly back on deck. I did not attempt to bed the screws because I wanted to be able to remove them without tearing out the rails. Instead, I revarnished which sealed the outboard joint and I am about to put a bead of caulk (101 adhesive or 4200, Not 5200) along the deck toerail joint on port and starboard. I simply do not trust the old caulk anywhere since I removed a portion of the toerail to install new dock cleats and chocks forward and the old caulk had no adhesion left in it at all. If you use epoxy, your seal at the screw in question will be excellent, but if in the end you have to rebed your toerail, you will most likely have to cut out the epoxyed area. The same could result from using 5200. Thus I would be gentle to start and refasten the screws in question, look hard for separation (there is some somewhere to allow the water) and refasten. If you choose to bed the screws, go lightly with silicone or 101. Later failure elsewhere or at the same location may be repaired by greater undertaking, but without losing your rail. A final note to my solution, it is halfway - there are still small gaps here and there between the hull and the rubstrake. I am leaving these alone under the theory they are self draining and otherwise relatively dry and unknown (no obvious leaks anywhere). The truth of the matter is that rebedding is probably due (1978 hull 77 30 CD Cutter), but I perfer to repair in a stopgap manner, but without limiting my ability to redo later.

Good luck. Matthew

[Bill]

Dana

I removed the offending screw today, and used an angled wire to check for the channel you mentioned. If it is there it sure seems small! Even on the width. There is some channel there but not much. I think I will use something less permenent (sp) than 5200 and see how it works for now (as advised by another poster). I do see signs of a dark bedding compound however.

Thanks
Bill

Hi Bill,

I had a chance to look at the assembly of the toe rail at the CD factory and I have done a sectional repair of a damaged rail.

The toe rail has a hallow channel on its bottom edge surface. It is
quite large covering about two thirds of the width. This was filled with sealing compound. Thus it was supposed to seal both the top of the flat head bolts with directly join the deck to hull flange and the penetrations of the toe rail securing screws which join the rail to the hull/deck flange. I think I remember an black sealant that the factory used over the flange bolts when the deck is joined to the hull.

If your leak is from a screw which is direct under one the rail plugs I would first just try to seal that rail screw penetration. There may be a localized void of sealant in the N channel in that area. You may be able to seal it without removing the rail.

Remove the teak plug and screw. I would seal off the screw hole inside of the boat with heavy tape. Then use 5200 to completely fill the screw hole minus the plug space. Then reinsert the screw (maybe someone can hold that tape (inside) in place and gently screw thru the tape. Then replace the plug. That might be enough to fill the n channel void if there is one as well as sealing the screw hole.

Dana

willie@clnk.com