Rebedding deck fittings and railing?

[Walz]

When I had the survey done on the 98 290SD that I just purchased, the surveyor made a big deal about having all the deck hardware, railings, etc. rebedded at least every five years. I had never heard of this being something that should be done on a recurring basis. My feeling is that if it don't leak, don't fool with it. Any thoughts on this?

 

[StressAweigh]

Can't say I have every head that. I'm kind of leaning toward the if it don't leak don't mess with it

 

[sbw1]

The thing you need to know about bedding is that it can be bad and you will not see leaks. If you have guests who sit on rails or grab them and do a lot of pulling on them during docking you might well develop voids in the seal that allow water into the core which is not good. I did rebed my deck rigging on my last two Sea Rays after about 5 years. Both of those boats were sold five or six years after that so I only did it once. Some boats are also prone to high moisture readings around the windlass. This is caused by owners who use their windlass improperly to pull the boat to the anchor. This stresses both the windlass and the bedding. At the very least, you should pay attention to moisture levels as core damage is expensive to repair.