Mahe 36: Hull

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by tpkas

Thanks for all of that Jeff. In our case it does only seem to appear after a fair bit of rain so the detective work continues.

I noticed on our boat that the stanchion bases are raised above the deck slightly, hence if they leak it's only when there is enough rain for water to build up on the deck high enough for the water to reach the stanchion base.

[Cotemar]

Rub Rail water leak repair

Some here have noted that when it rains a lot that they notice some drops of water going down behind the inside hull vinyl wall liner and dripping onto the floor.

Here is the repair method that has worked on a few boats. The rub rails are in two 15 foot pieces on both side of the boat.

Removing the wood trim board on the inside does not seem to help and just adds to the workload.
The Rub rail fix can be done from a dingy when in the water or on the hard.

The exterior rub rail voids I have seen are from temporary screw holes made during manufacture that are 1 inch deep used to clamp the boat together and hold the joint tight until the hull joint silicone hardens. They remove the temporary through bolt clamps, but do not properly fill the holes with silicone.

This is a DIY job that takes about 1-1/2 hours per 15 foot section if done from a dingy.
Tools needed:
1) Philips screw driver
2) Pointed Awl for probing and digging out loose silicon
2) Clear marine silicone
3) Sponge with scrubby side and small bucket of water to clean rub rail area
4) Painters tape
5) Roll of paper towels to wipe off excess silicone

Rub Rail water leak repair process
1) Clean above rub rail and apply painters tape
2) With Philips screw driver remove all, but the center screw to hold the 15 foot rub rail
3) Hold onto rub rail and remove last center screw
4) Rub rail will pull away from hull easily
5) Clean rub rail and hull area where rub rail was thoroughly
6) Examine the hull joint closely for small holes or loose silicone and once you fine the problem, dig out the joint with the pointed Awl to remove silicone debris and let dry.
7) Pump the clear silicone into the void
8) Re-install rub rail by filling each screw hole in the rub rail with a bit of clear silicone and then push the screw into the silicone and tighten all the screws
9) Clean up any silicone with the paper towels

[Therapy]

Silicone?

Really?

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by Therapy

Silicone?

Really?

I use Boat life- Life Seal

A unique combination of marine silicone and polyurethane, formulated especially for fiberglass.

[JohnyV]

I need to repair a few gel coat chips and dings on Victoria. I've had a good browse through various postings and am going to give Marks scotch tape method a go. I realise that gel colours may vary according to age etc but to get a starting point, what colour recipe from base white have people who've tried found to be correct for their Mahe? Cheers, Jon.

[Cotemar]

Matching gelcoat color is an art. Sometimes you get lucky and hit it in 15 minutes and other days it can take more than an hour to get a perfect match.

1) You can get Gelcoat tints from Fiberlay. You can also use Universal tints, but I like to stick with tints designed for gelcoat. Order from Fiberlay or find a local source.

2) Prep and polish a spot near the repair area. I always find a spot that I sand and buff until I've exposed like new gelcoat and use that as my palette. A color can vary dramatically from bow to stern due to less than perfect mix in the drum at the factory. You are trying to restore the original color so you can match to it. Sometimes you can find the inside of a hatch or something which has not been exposed to weather and that can help.

3) Try to do the gelcoat match in the shade and make sure you have had your sun glasses off for at least 30 minutes. Thin the devil out of the new gelcoat your mixing with MEK to be sure that any pigment totally dissolves.

4) Take it very slow because a little pigment can go a long way. On my boat it takes about 6-8 drops of pigment per quart to match.

5) Here is minaret’s secret tip. Once you have selected and prepared your spot, acquire a piece of clear Mylar film. Cut it into one inch squares. In a pinch cigarette cellophane works fine. Put a daub of prospective color match onto your prepped area. Then take a square of the Mylar and lick one corner to get some spit on it. Put the dry corner onto your daub of gel. You will see a clear demarcation line between the spit and the gel. Gently rub the Mylar until the spit line touches the gelcoat. You will be able to see even the smallest color difference using this technique. I can't explain why it works, but if you try it you will see why this is the deepest darkest secret of the color matchers art. With practice anyone can match better than any spectrograph.

6) Stick to it and you'll get it. Try using yellow umber and burnt sienna. These along with a little bright yellow, red, and black, are the usual suspects for getting most shades of white. Be careful with the red and black. Both generally need less than a drop. I generally use a sliver broken off a stir stick for getting a micro drop. Almost all whites need a hint of black.

7) Since you are not adding any catalyst, the gelcoat won't harden and you can clean your palette from time to time with a rag and a bit of acetone.

Another good tip for the amateur is to do your match and then blow a little tiny patch of it on your prepped match zone, wait for a cure, and polish it to make sure it cures in the direction you expect and is a good match. This can save you from making the mistake of shooting a large repair that doesn't quite match.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post1324519

I just used the gel coat that came with my boat, so it always matches perfect.

[JohnyV]

Thank you for that. Sadly no gel coat with our boat (well, not unused anyway ) so it'll be trial and error.

[Seastream]

After many emails, I finally got a response from Alexander Derche of FP indicating they would cover under warranty osmotic blistering above the waterline on my 2008 Mahe hull # 91, which was noticed during survey in June of 2012. Stay tuned.

[DtM]

Are you the original owner?

[Dod42]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

I just used the gel coat that came with my boat, so it always matches perfect.

Bad news is FP have now stopped supplying the tin of match gel coat with the boat. So you now have to try and match it yourself. For small jobs the one supplied by Whitworths here in Australia called "Boat White Brush" seems a very close match.

[Seastream]

I am the second owner.

[Seastream]

In other news, what's the word on the reliability of the plastic thru hull fittings installed by FP? I was told recently that they could crack/fail easily, thus were junk and should be replaced by either bronze or marelon fittings. Thoughts?

[Cotemar]

Never been a problem

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Seastream

In other news, what's the word on the reliability of the plastic thru hull fittings installed by FP? I was told recently that they could crack/fail easily, thus were junk and should be replaced by either bronze or marelon fittings. Thoughts?

If they are not glass filled type like Marelon they are definitely at risk. They cold go for years but when they do fail, they fail badly.

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

Never been a problem

Ditto