Deck Hull Joint, What Is This?

[Slamjunk]

It's like a straw? I'm guessing it's a drain but every time it rains I get water coming into my boat from it. What's the fix? I'm guessing remove the toerail and resell, it's a lot of screws to remove for this one man crew.


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[Schooner Chandlery]

So, um, hook up a hose to it and get the water headed somewhere? LOL maybe the previous owner of your boat could enlighten you, too.

Hopefully someone will come along with a more direct answer.
Fair winds,
Brenda

[the_alpine]

Looks like a rivet.


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[Slamjunk]

A rivet. They would have riveted the deck and hull together and then drilled all the holes for the bolts, makes sense. Should I seal it or remove the toe rail and redo everything? It seems there is a leak every 12" on average.


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[Cuttyhunk]

I had leaks on a previous boat. We removed the toe rail and drilled out about a million rivets (conservative estimate). Redid everything, rebedded with 3M 4200. No more leaks for at least the remaining 5 years we owned the boat. Well, some stanchions did leak later on, but much easier to rebed those!

It was a total PIA, but we felt it was well worth it in the end.

[Greenhand]

Originally Posted by Slamjunk

A rivet. They would have riveted the deck and hull together and then drilled all the holes for the bolts, makes sense. Should I seal it or remove the toe rail and redo everything? It seems there is a leak every 12" on average.


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Since water is coming through, there is a chance that it is spreading, as well. Especially if you the core goes all the way to the joint. Your best bet is going to be to rebed everything.

Ours was so bad that we figured out we needed to redo the toe rail because we were doing the stanchions and we couldn't get one of the voids to dry out - it actually filled with water after a light drizzle, so we knew we had to be looking close by. Since it would be almost impossible to reglass the edge properly, we chose to dig out what we could of the core and fill it back in with epoxy. And when I say "what we could..." I spent the most of the summer digging at it every day with a wire hanger. The outer edge of our boat is now mostly structural epoxy, but if we had it to do over again, I would take another look at using expanding foam, which is then overdrilled and sealed like any core material when you bed hardware.

Oh, and we went with PlastTeak for the toe rails because even though the bolts were not bedded at all, the bungs were epoxied in place and nearly impossible to get out without chipping the rail itself.

[reed1v]

O'Day, Cals, and Rangers have this situation. Rivets to hold the deck and hull together(maintain shape) before toe rail bolted on. If you do it over, put larger backing plates behind the toe rail nuts to add strength to the joint. Big job. Big expense if you have a yard do the job.

[Cheechako]

That's a pop rivet used to hold the deck in place before they bolt it on.

[Slamjunk]

Ok, I think what I'll do is remove a toe rail this summer and see how it goes. If it goes well I'll do the other three sections. Stanchions can wait until next summer, already enough work lined up for summer time. Thanks for the help.


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[CdS2 Roland]

It's common on serial boats, epoxy glue hull and deck together, rivets to maintain them.
After they drill holes and use bolts for the toe rail.
Only way to do it right is remove the toe rail to get an access to the rivet Under it...
Big job. I think you could let it dry put a patch of expoxy or sealant. Other solution, drill out the rivet from Inside (it will not change the strengh, you have a bolt just beside) and fill the hole with epoxy, maintain it with a piece of tape until it dryes.
Have a good day.

[Lokiyawl]

Originally Posted by Slamjunk

Attachment 114281

It's like a straw? I'm guessing it's a drain but every time it rains I get water coming into my boat from it. What's the fix? I'm guessing remove the toerail and resell, it's a lot of screws to remove for this one man crew.


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The hull and deck laminate will be solid at the hull deck joint so no worries about bad core. Removing the toerail drilling out the rivets and replacing with bolts would be the best solution. You might however be able to seal from the bottom if the rivet heads are still sealed on top. Maybe lightly dremel the inside of the rivet to roughen then adapt a tube thin enough to slide into the rivet to a fresh tube of 5200. Try to fill the rivet from the bottom of the hole to prevent a bubble. A dab right over the bottom exposed portion of the rivet for good measure. If it doesn't work you haven't lost much. Good luck. James

[Greenhand]

Originally Posted by Lokiyawl

The hull and deck laminate will be solid at the hull deck joint so no worries about bad core.

How does one know this ahead of time? The type of joint we see in the photo? The use of rivets? Information about the actual boat?

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Greenhand

How does one know this ahead of time? The type of joint we see in the photo? The use of rivets? Information about the actual boat?

in your picture, the hull laminate turns in, you can see the edge of the glass layup. Also, look at the deck, do you see the part away from the hull attachment bolts where it drops down and looks thicker? That is where the cored part ends. It's thicker there due to the core. Most boats are this way but not all.
What is that black line in the pic running fore and aft? Is that a crack?

[Schooner Chandlery]

So this is every foot or so? Wow. I thought it was a single. I know nothing about the fiberglass boat construction process, so this is all foreign to me. But, as usual, there are many knowledgeable folks here to chime in.

[barnakiel]

It is a hole.

Seal FROM THE TOP.

b.