Factory bedding and sealing

[Steve Laume]

I think you have to give the boat builders of the 70s and 80s a lot of credit and some leeway for being pioneers of new methods of boat building. The better builders did the best with what they knew at the time. Balsa was extremely light and by using, end grain layups it would conform to all sorts of curves and the end grain would also limit the spread of moisture. If they had known at the time, that all fasteners should only enter uncored areas maybe they would have done what we should do now. Rebed all the original hardware and put a plug of epoxy in every location and redrill the holes, champfer em even. Then use Life Chalk or butyl tape.

What have you ever owned that didn't need some maintenance in over 20 years? Raven appears to be very dry but you need to rebed before the problems start. The bedding is the problem. The rotten core is the result. I have done almost all of the bedding on Raven but there are still a few things, that I am sure have not been touched since 1984.

Time flies and life is short, Steve.

[hilbert]

I would like to emphasis that problems are not always apparent.

Here is an example with the cowl vent. On a CD28, the aft deck is narrow and the skin is very thick.
There were subtle signs of grazing (from freezing?) and a discoloration on the underside.
However, with the thick fiberglass skin there was no obvious flexing and tapping noise was consistent along the length.
You can see that it must have been wet for some time to have the core disintegrate, yet the survey did not catch it.

[Gary H]

Section 3.28 of the Cape Dory Owners Manual states that deck gear will, after a period of time, develop leaks and that the owner should remove and rebed deck gear with either Boat Life or Sikaflex. Any owner who waits more than 30 years to rebed the deck fittings should be hesitant to blame the manufacturer. I would not be surprised if the windows leaked on my 30 year old car or that my shower tiles needed recaulking or that my roof leaked 30 years after I last had it installed? Sure the original install could be improved upon but what installation couldn't be with 30 years of hindsight?

If your sealant has not been replaced, it would be wise to do so even without visible signs of leaks.

[JWSutcliffe]

Gary:

Well said.

These are for the most part 30 plus years old. I would be hard pressed to criticize a manufacturer for using materials that in some cases need replacement in that time frame. These (and any other boat, now or then) were not marketed with any promise of them lasting indefinitely. I, for one, am happy to enjoy my Cape Dory and put in the maintenance that should be expected. Compared to the O'Days, Bristols etc, from the same era, the Cape Dories have held up extremely well and still retain far more resale value.

[Markst95]

I agree alot depends on the care the boat had. Mine had sat 15 years out in the weather before I got it. Needed alot of core work:




After with everything sealed properly

[fenixrises]

Hi all,

To relate some personal history.

I started to work in the f/g boat building industry in the late 70's. Let me assure you that most knew the potential problems of balsa coring by that time. James Baldwin who owned and sailed Atom, a Pearson Triton built in 1968 if memory serves, spent much time and effort re-building his decks in South Africa due to rotten balsa coring.

I suspect cost and indifference were the reason for the poorly done bedding of fittings and hardware. Let's face it most of these boats were never thought to last the life time of a 30 year old owner. And most were never used for anything other than an occasional day or weekend sail, with maybe a two week summer cruise thrown in.

That many still survive in relatively usable condition is a testament to the longevity of f/g. 3M was marketing 4200 and 101, a polysulfide compound similar to BoatLife in the 70's and possibly earlier. Dolphinite was used on f/g boats but was really designed for use in wooden boat building. It is little more than linseed oil and clay mixed together.

When I bought FeNIX my CD28 I knew there were problems. What I did not know was the extent of the problems.
14 months later and after spending more than the purchase price on the rebuild she was finally re-launched.
There are many capable older boats out there BUT it is often not practical to upgrade them. Because most owners do not have the time or expertise needed to do the work, to say nothing of the expenditure in boat units.

These days I could see buying an older boat for around $10-20k and then spending $40-60k to refurbish and upgrade the boat. But most people want a boat they can sail now, this spring and summer. It is rare to fine someone willing to park the vessel by their house and spend 2,000 hours or more in labor on the boat. Case in point John Stone and some others.

http://farreachvoyages.com/dailylog.html

Therefore ongoing "minor" repairs and maintenance are expected. So learn from others who have made the repairs and do them to the best of your ability but hopefully not to the depth of your pockets.

Take care,
Fred (Basking in the Malaysian sunshine aboard SunShine)