Core Moisture

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

A couple of iff here, but if you could plug the water intrusion areas and if you could hole saw a few say 1" holes in the bottom, wouldn't it eventually dry out? May take a long time maybe even months, but wouldn't it dry out? Having to re-core a deck is one of the few things that make me pass on a boat, I've never done it, and don't want to learn

Persactly... Heat is your friend... Space heater... couple weeks...

No... You don't want to learn re-coring...

[a64pilot]

I'd also bet lunch on that disconnected tanks leaks.
By flexible, I think you mean a bladder tank, that's essentially a thick rubber bag, think big hot water bottle. Everything has drawbacks, but I like bladders as usually they are pretty easy to replace, most people don't like them, I think because they have a definite life expectancy, so you pay for easy to replace by having to replace

[Woodsmaster59]

I will (unless I am really comfortable with what I find crawling around on this thing ) have a survey done if a conditional offer is accepted.

[Woodsmaster59]

Given its an 86 Jenne would it be difficult to find the appropriate bladder replacement on that water tank?

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by Woodsmaster59

I will (unless I am really comfortable with what I find crawling around on this thing ) have a survey done if a conditional offer is accepted.

Unless you are nearer the low end of "free".... You can ask a surveyor if he will give you a "disaster - run away" look over instead of a full survey for a couple to three hundred... It would be worth it...

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Woodsmaster59

Given its an 86 Jenne would it be difficult to find the appropriate bladder replacement on that water tank?

I know absolutely noting about this boat, but if there were many made, and if many of those made were still sailing and they had bladder tanks, I'd bet they are readily available, as by now pretty much all of them would have had them replaced by now, I would think. Flexible may have been a way of describing a thin walled fiberglass tank for all I know

[Cheechako]

I would assume the tank is leaking. Are the teak strips screwed down? I didnt think they were on the Jeanneau? If screwed down do you see any screw tips that have actually penetrated the inner skin? Seems that would be unusual. Maybe the water is coming from somewhere else? Where is the boat? closed up and humid? or cold outside and heated? could be condensation.

[Stevens 47]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

I would assume the tank is leaking. Are the teak strips screwed down? I dint think they were on the Jeanneau? If screwed down do you see any screw tips that have actually penetrated the inner skin? Seems that would be unusual. Maybe teh water is coming from somewhere else? Where is the boat? closed up and humid? or cold outside and heated? could be condensation.

Good points.

[Woodsmaster59]

The boat is in the water and uncovered in the Keys.

[Woodsmaster59]

Great point. I think they we screwed down in an attempt to secure them better by the previous owner. I will look inside and see if I can find any penetrations. Overall the boat is very dry and clean in the nooks and crannies.

[Woodsmaster59]

The "run away" survey is what I am planning on doing. The guy is being pretty cooperative letting me get on board and poke and prod. I am taking fresh batteries, aux fuel tank set up, and tools with me. If that provides suitable results consult the opinion of a professional.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Stupid question, but we "fix" voids in aircraft honeycomb by drilling holes and injecting a resin of some sort into the void, adds weight of course but does return structural integrity. In a case like this, couldn't you drill a couple of holes and inject epoxy until it ran from the other holes?

This only works if you are looking at a void and it is dry. This is rarely the case for balsa core. On our own boat I used a hole saw from the inside to remove 3" diameter plugs of the inner skin. I then dug out the wet balsa. Let dry for a few days. Apply new inner skin. Pump the empty core cavity with epoxy & microballoon slurry (syntactic foam). This is both strong and permanent. You could park the vessel in the Sahara for years and water trapped in the core will not dry out unless you expose it to dry by cutting away the skin. If you get to this point and you want to see the photo-essay and materials used drop me a PM.

[a64pilot]

I understand, truly it's one thing that has me looking at Island Packets, the use some sort or micro ballon slurry for their decks, and I assume are therefore immune to the wet deck syndrome

[Tim_H]

I have a few wet areas in my Cape Dory 30 deck core. I wish I could get to it from the inside but the liner prevents access to the deck itself. Makes it difficult to rebed and refasten all the hardware. Plan it to re-core the worst areas and kiwi deck the top.

Here is an excellent article documenting a core repair project on a CD27
Northern Yacht Restoration |

[Nicholson58]

- Cruisers & Sailing Photo Gallery

Please check my wet deck repair here. I did it from the inside. No exterior damage to deal with. Solid repair.