370 Sundancer cockpit surprise....

[370Dancer]

Here's a question. When was the last time you were in the coaming lockers behind the U shape settee?
I have always wanted to put an access panel in the rear locker to make it easier to change the plugs on the genset, and to finally be able to see down the back side.

Well, I opened the locker, noticed that the carpet was wet, and proceeded to push my finger through the wood part of the floor..... It appears that Sea Ray glassed the floor, just not all of it, so when water leaked into this locker, rot.

So, maybe a blessing in disguise, as long as this isn't structural. It appears to not be. The flooring is sitting on what appears to be a stringer (fore and aft) on the outboard side.

What I would hope to be able to do is to cut back the glass where the wood is now missing to make the opening to the engine room almost as large as the floor of that locker, and then find something to encapsulate the edges so no more water gets in and undermines the cockpit floor, or the coaming. Then, make a drop in hatch to keep the area reasonably closed up, but airtight is not necessary, as there are other openings from the engine room to the side coaming.

Suggestions? Experiences?

 

[mjmiron]

Sorry to see that kinds of rot.
That doesn't look good, I'll be checking mine out tonight. I will also be interested to hear some suggestions of repair.

 

[330DA]

Check out how water is getting into the locker and fix that too. I'll have to check this out on my boat this weekend. Glad you caught this before even more damage occurred.

 

[Pseudomind]

Note to self, come back to this thread

 

[J Levine]

It took me quite some time to figure out how water was getting in these lockers on my boat. Turned out to be rain water leaking in between the radar arch and the gunnel. If you remove the stereo speakers in the arch you can access the bolts that hold the arch to the gunnel. I loosened the bolts and then squished as much 4200 as I could in between the arch and the gunnel. I then tightened down the bolts and removed the excess. Finally the lockers are totally dry. I actually cleaned the carpet inside the lockers and it has remained dry and fresh ever since. They used to get so wet that anything you kept in there got totally covered with mildew. Who ever thought lining these things with carpet should have been shot, especially the one with the fresh water connection and hose bib... how are you susposed to keep that carpet dry? Good luck with the repairs.

 

[mrsrobinson]

The locker behind the starboard stern step on our 330 (the side step that folds down) will be wet from time to time. I leave the step down to allow more air to get in. I'll check the radar arch connection this weekend.

 

[osd9]

......I'll check the radar arch connection this weekend.

On a neighbors 330DA he had water coming in the radar arch and then finding its way into the mid cabin. The water was getting in from around where the protruding Sea Ray emplem is attached on the side of the arch. A fresh coat of caulk around the emblem solved his issues..

 

[mrsrobinson]

Yup, some of our caulk in these areas does not look so good...it just got moved up on my boat to do list.

 

[tobnpr]

Wow-
That looks like plywood that's just been resin-coated, and not glassed. Should have been fully glassed, and gelcoated for quality construction.
That's really cheesy, without glass the plywood will "check", the resin coating will crack, water will get in and so it goes...
I'd expect that type of quality (or lack thereof) on a Bayliner. I'm really disappointed in SR for that one. If that were my boat, and there are other areas like that, I'd glass them over with epoxy resin to prevent it from happening anywhere else. You also need to check the bottom side of the same areas, as the same checking/rot can also occur from underneath.

 

[370Dancer]

Got out the roto zip today to try and square up the hole. The wood rot extends in all directions as far as I can probe, including into the next locker forward (which is probably where the water is coming from. There's just a carpet covered wood divider between the two. I suspect that this is going to be a job for get rot moving forward and towards the engine hatch of the deck. Sure don't want that going soft on me.

The upside is that I have a clear shot at the spark plugs for the Westerbeke now, along with a pretty good view of the manifold and hoses side. It is time to replace the starter solenoid, and I think that now I may be able to do it without removing the genny. More pics as I get this cleaned up, and come up with even a better setup than original.

 

[sbw1]

Looks to me like there may be something going on in the vertical sections of the hull in the background. Is that dry? How do you plan to keep sea water out of the engine room and running down and rusting the genny?

 

[tobnpr]

Hate to tell you, but forget about "git-rot" for a repair like this if you want to do it "right".
I've had more experience with rot than I like to think about from restoring my 1972 Chris-Craft. One thing I can assure you- if you don't get EVERY last little bit out, it's going to keep coming back, and back, and back...and you'll end up ripping out repairs that you just made.
The affected areas need to be cut out to COMPLETELY dry, solid wood.

Looking forward to more pics- but it looks to me like this is going to be a major project...

 

[370Dancer]

Looks to me like there may be something going on in the vertical sections of the hull in the background. Is that dry? How do you plan to keep sea water out of the engine room and running down and rusting the genny?

If you are talking about the pic with the vertical sections covered with carpet, yes that is bone dry. The water is coming from a bit forward, and I suspect the radar arch as Jon Levine has suggested. That's my next day project. And fortunately for me, it's raining cats and dogs this week, so it should be easy to spot, as long as Fay doesn't blow me into a parking lot next week.

BTW, none of this is sea water. It's rain water.

 

[370Dancer]

Hate to tell you, but forget about "git-rot" for a repair like this if you want to do it "right".
I've had more experience with rot than I like to think about from restoring my 1972 Chris-Craft. One thing I can assure you- if you don't get EVERY last little bit out, it's going to keep coming back, and back, and back...and you'll end up ripping out repairs that you just made.
The affected areas need to be cut out to COMPLETELY dry, solid wood.

Looking forward to more pics- but it looks to me like this is going to be a major project...

I was using Git Rot as a general statement of having to rebuild the area, but I'm curious. every last bit of what? wet wood? If I dry the wood, and leave it there, then my understanding is that git rot would re-permeate the wood, and seal it. If you don't leave any wood, it doesn't work. I haven't used it extensively.

 

[tobnpr]

Git-Rot or other penetrating epoxies are more for small, isolated repairs rather than a large deck area like you're looking at IMO.

Sorry, when I said every last bit out, I meant moisture and rotted, crumbling wood.

If the seating module(s) is able to be removed, I'd do that and then cut out and replace the affected deck area, rather than trying to dry it out and use penetrating epoxy. I've just had very mixed experience with the "dry-out" and inject epoxy method, I often had rot resurface months later when I'd swear the area had been dried out completely.

Does the rotted area extend forward into the finished,gelcoated deck areas?

 

[keokie]

Tobnpr, Your experiences with rot match mine. Years ago, I did major repairs on a 21 ft Sea Ray. The rot quickly returned even to the areas of new wood we repaired. We were meticulous at removing rotted and wet wood, and glassed in the repairs with great care. We only left very tiny spots of old wood that we dried thoroughly, but couldn't remove. That was enough.

Since that time, I have gotten to know people who work with rot. They refer to it as cancer that you chase around a boat forever.

 

[RobF300]

if you replaced wooden parts of your boat and they got wet AGAIN its because you did not eliminate the source of the water to begin with.

Its not like rust on a car where it can keep coming back, once you cut it out and replace it if you dont do a few inches here and there it WONT spread to the new sections.

When you replace these things you need to find the source of the water, if you dont your wasting your time.

 

[370Dancer]

Hi, I'm back.
The water intrusion was from the #$%%$&$&&#%^ rod holders!! Who the H E double hocky sticks would put rod holders on a chick magnet like this?
So, how did that happen? Easy. Fla heat shrinks the tubing on the bottom of the rod holder, which disconnects from the drain outlet, and proceeds to dump all rainwater into the aft cockpit lockers. If you don't use em a bunch (me, never), then 4 hurricanes in 2004, and a few more in 2008 will dump plenty of unchecked fresh water into those spots. Shame on Sea Ray for not completely glassing that floor in, but I'm pretty sure the boat's out of warranty.
2008 turned into a couple of years of extensive travel, which has landed me in Huntsville, Alabama, along with Beach House. The flooring has eventually voided out all around the aft locker. Good news, is this hunk of wood is not connected to the transom in any harmfull way. Bad news, don't walk on the aft section if you are over 100 lbs.
So, this fall/winter project is to shore that up, and, of course make it better than new, like all of my other projects.

My current theory is to cut the bottom out of the decking, and figure out how to glass in new flooring. It would sure be easier if I could turn the boat upside down, but I don't think that's going to happen (at least on purpose). That pains me, as I have a good top, and a good bottom. There's just nothing left in between them. Any ideas on what modern stuff I might be able to inject from the bottom, or top to fill the void without blowing the thing apart from expansion?
Failing that, how the heck do you glass in wood upside down?