Bristol 32 compression post

[Brimikeg]

Good afternoon everyone,
I have had my bristol 32 for a while now (a little over a year and a half) and most of my ownership has been repairing the engine. Recently I've been working on some of the interior of the boat when I'm not rebuilding the engine. I noticed a leak from the screws that hold the tow rail in and upon further investigation found my port aft bulkhead to be rotting right in front of the tabbing with the hull. So if course I plan to fix the leak and replace the bulkhead before continuing the interior rebuild. What I noticed however that worries me is the framing on the headliner above the head door seems to be blowing downward, as if there is a large weight placed on top of it. However I can clearly see the mas comes down on the deck directly forward of that piece and there is no bend on the deck above. I wanted to see if I could find a reason for this before further disassembly to avoid an unexpected disaster. From what I can tell there should be no weight above that piece, the post that is connected to the rotting bulkhead is the aft connection point (while the compression post is the forward connection point) and that bulkhead seems to have pulled away from the hull but only on the head interior, the setee side of the bulkhead seems normal, with the exception of the rot. And furthermore that post (once again NOT the compression post) stops at the floor and doesn't continue down like the compression post does. This all tells me there should be no structural load on this bending cross member and headliner correct?
I will post photos the next time I am out at my boat as I understand that will provide a far better understanding than what I just described.

[Brimikeg]

I actually found an older photo from my previous thread regarding the rotting bulkhead itself.

the thing post on the left is the aft one attached to the rotting bulkhead and the post on the right is the compression post for the mast. that bending piece of wood attached to the headliner is what is concerning me.

[Bill O]

How does the deck look around the mast base? Is it sunken or depressed slightly from the adjacent cabin top?

It is possible some water may have gotten in around the mast base. If you don't have a moisture meter, try to do some light tapping with a mallet to see if it sounds like a dull thud vs. a sharper return when you tap a known solid part of the deck.

An article from a CF member about moisture meters I thought was helpful. Moisture Meter Mythology and Flir thermal imager

[Brimikeg]

Originally Posted by Bill O

How does the deck look around the mast base? Is it sunken or depressed slightly from the adjacent cabin top?

It is possible some water may have gotten in around the mast base. If you don't have a moisture meter, try to do some light tapping with a mallet to see if it sounds like a dull thud vs. a sharper return when you tap a known solid part of the deck.

An article from a CF member about moisture meters I thought was helpful. Moisture Meter Mythology and Flir thermal imager

I have not noticed any depressions or soft spots around the base of the mast, in fact there isn't even cracking in the paint around the mast. I do stand around there quite often, however I wasn't looking for soft spots either.

I won't be out at the boat until the weekend so I'm gonna make a list of things to look at based on suggestions here and I'll check them all out while I'm on the boat.

[Bill O]

Did you check in with any of the Bristol groups to ask them what they think may be happening?

[Celestialsailor]

On my Westsail 28, the factory did a cob job on the support under the sole to the hull for a mast support. To add insult to injury, the used Red Oak rather than White Oak kinda wrapped with some f/g cloth.
Water had got into it as did the general installation of not properly bridging it from the bottom of the sole to the hull. I replaced it with laminating White oak, fitted carefully and smooing it in with thickened epoxy and then encapsulated with epoxy glass.

[Rumrace]

I think you have damage at the mast base and have water migration taking the easy route. You can use the food dye trick to find it but it will wreck the liner.
I found similar damage on a SeaRay starboard window frame leak was glass decay from some previous owner changing factory horns and drilling new holes. The wood shelf in the kitchen was delaminating.
Systems west and some waxy gel coat.
Two types of Gel coat. One is tacky and takes a poly alcohol to cure fresh out of the mould. The other gel is what you need. As it cures it pushes paraffin wax to the surface to protect the cure process. Air can ruin gel so no hurry.

[Brimikeg]

Originally Posted by Bill O

Did you check in with any of the Bristol groups to ask them what they think may be happening?

Where can I find the Bristol groups, I did a lot of googling before posting here to see about similar problems, but I had a hard time finding any examples or precidents. If you could shoot me a link that would be much appreciated!

[Brimikeg]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

On my Westsail 28, the factory did a cob job on the support under the sole to the hull for a mast support. To add insult to injury, the used Red Oak rather than White Oak kinda wrapped with some f/g cloth.
Water had got into it as did the general installation of not properly bridging it from the bottom of the sole to the hull. I replaced it with laminating White oak, fitted carefully and smooing it in with thickened epoxy and then encapsulated with epoxy glass.

I will add this to the list of what to check out, I have to replace part of the sole anyway because it's cracking at some weak points because the PO decided to cut new holes out in it without reinforcement in the weak spots. Also I wanted to pull it out to remove that bulkhead.

[Brimikeg]

Originally Posted by Rumrace

I think you have damage at the mast base and have water migration taking the easy route. You can use the food dye trick to find it but it will wreck the liner.
I found similar damage on a SeaRay starboard window frame leak was glass decay from some previous owner changing factory horns and drilling new holes. The wood shelf in the kitchen was delaminating.
Systems west and some waxy gel coat.
Two types of Gel coat. One is tacky and takes a poly alcohol to cure fresh out of the mould. The other gel is what you need. As it cures it pushes paraffin wax to the surface to protect the cure process. Air can ruin gel so no hurry.

To check this out I might be able to look at underside of the mast base from the inside of the head, that headliner is separate from the rest of the boat and it is split at the compression post. So I'll pop that out first to try an inspection before tracing the leak with dye. If I see no evidence of leaks then I'll move onto the dye to confirm.

[Bill O]

Found these quickly, there may be more:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/52017206405/
https://groups.google.com/g/bristol-yachts
https://forums.sailboatowners.com/forums/bristol.94/

[Brimikeg]

Originally Posted by Bill O

Found these quickly, there may be more:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/52017206405/
https://groups.google.com/g/bristol-yachts
https://forums.sailboatowners.com/forums/bristol.94/

Thank you! I'll check them out.

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by Rumrace

I think you have damage at the mast base and have water migration taking the easy route. You can use the food dye trick to find it but it will wreck the liner.
I found similar damage on a SeaRay starboard window frame leak was glass decay from some previous owner changing factory horns and drilling new holes. The wood shelf in the kitchen was delaminating.
Systems west and some waxy gel coat.
Two types of Gel coat. One is tacky and takes a poly alcohol to cure fresh out of the mould. The other gel is what you need. As it cures it pushes paraffin wax to the surface to protect the cure process. Air can ruin gel so no hurry.

Finish gelcoat has wax already in it.
Normal gel coat does not.
Use finish gelcoat.
BYD

[Rumrace]

Gel coat used outside a mould has parrifin wax. They all do or the gel coat will not cure. So topical gel - wax migrated to surface.
The gel coat used in a mould pops out sticky and is sprayed with a poly alcohol to cure.

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by Rumrace

Gel coat used outside a mould has parrifin wax. They all do or the gel coat will not cure. So topical gel - wax migrated to surface.
The gel coat used in a mould pops out sticky and is sprayed with a poly alcohol to cure.

"The gel coat used in a mould pops out sticky and is sprayed with a poly alcohol to cure."
Sorry Rumrace that is not correct.

https://decoalert.com/answer-should-...r-without-wax/
ISO resin is different than poly resin.

Finish Gelcoat, has wax added, so you will not need PVA.

Standard gelcoat( AKA poly resin, with pigment) will cure, but painfully slow)

Also know as (Air Inhibitive) it needs PVA to cure faster, without a waxed mold.

And, the Mold is prepped with Wax, the gelcoat is pigmented or another pigment.

What’s the difference between waxed and unwaxed gelcoat?
The wax is paraffin like used for sealing the tops of mason jars full of home made jam. It is dissolved in styrene and added to the polyester resin. Unwaxed gel coat cures with a sticky outer surface (called air inhibited).

Should I use gelcoat with or without wax?
Gel coats are often the exterior coating for composites parts, providing both the color and texture of the part. … The non-wax gelcoat will remain sticky untill the wax is added. The reason to use a non-wax is for putting on multiple coats without having to sand in between coats.
Boatyarddog