Rebedding Deck Hatches not going as planned...

[turbotadd]

I had all intentions on using butyl tape to re-bed the hatches, but during removal, some of the gelcoat pulled up. What is the best way to deal with this situation? Do I need to patch this with something before attempting to re-bed? Should I just use caulk style and try to get a good bead around the outside? Also, it looks like a couple of the corners have very minimal contact area on the deck. Any tips on how to ensure a good seal?

Boat is '96 Sundancer 330.
Thanks in advance.

 

[cdog]

1st and foremost... seal all the exposed wood with epoxy, even that part on top that pulled away, thenI would think your safe enough to use a caulk, I prefer the UV 3M caulk. Others will be along shortly. It looks like your timing is good.

 

[douglee25]

Use Boatlife Life Seal. As mentioned seal the wood with epoxy first. Don't use butyl tape... It's not a '57 Chevy

 

[JC3]

It looks like you have some wood rot? If it were me I would go to Youtube "Sail Life" video's and watch his restoration of Hatches. Mads is excellent. I would dig out as much rot as possible and use a heavy epoxy mixture to help fill in. Another CSR member just did a very similar project using pieces of wood and epoxy, it appeared to be a very nice and suitable fix. There are a lot of nice video's on you tube that show how to handle that hatch problem. It looks worse than it is (probably). Good luck and GOD bless. JC

 

[tc410]

You definitely have rot in the coring. See all that black ply? Rot. Sealing over that with epoxy as suggested in previous posts is not good advice - nor will the epoxy cure properly. As JC3 mentioned, dig/dremel/router back to clean wood, and then fill with thickened epoxy.

Or.... put it all back together with a few tubes of hardware store caulk and sell the boat - hoping no one hits it with a moisture meter during survey.

 

[douglee25]

You definitely have rot in the coring. See all that black ply? Rot. Sealing over that with epoxy as suggested in previous posts is not good advice - nor will the epoxy cure properly. As JC3 mentioned, dig/dremel/router back to clean wood, and then fill with thickened epoxy.

Or.... put it all back together with a few tubes of hardware store caulk and sell the boat - hoping no one hits it with a moisture meter during survey.

I'm talking about sealing the top where the wood delaminated from the gelcoat, not the coring.

I can't zoom in to see the core, but if it's rotten, it has to be removed before the hatch is installed.

 

[gmacd81]

Agree with most of the previous.
Most importantly, remove deleterious material back to good wood/core. Go as far as necessary. Patching over bad stuff isn't a repair, it's a band aid until you pass it on to the next owner. No one should be OK with that.
Then replace material, epoxy and gelcoat to original dimensions. Then rebed properly using butyl tape. If you're going to do it, do it right. While simply using caulk, whatever the brand, is easier, it is not the best (or right) way to rebed deck hardware.

 

[turbotadd]

Thanks for the responses gents. Sounds like I've got a little bit of work ahead of me... I'll update as I go.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Good info above. To explain a little more so you understand why the gelcoat peeled away, there are two main reasons.

1) Someone, previously, used something like 3M5200 to seal the hatch. According to many forums out there in interland, 5200 is like the magical cure-all for sealing. Except that it bonds to gelcoat stronger than the gelcoat is bonded to the fiberglass.

2) Water intrusion. If not sealed well, water can migrate between the gelcoat and the fiberglass causing delamination.

 

[BillK2632]

+1 on all of the above. 5200 is way overused by DIYers on boats, truth is there are very few places that it should be used on a boat. There are other much better products for general sealing of hardware, hatches etc. In many decades of owning boats I have yet to use 5200 anywhere - just never felt I was working on something that I wanted to be truly permanent. Think about it, how many things have you attached and needed to use some sort of sealant and thought I will never EVER need to remove this again. I guess if you are sure it will never rust, corrode, break or leak use 5200 (I can't think of many things on a boat that will never rust, corrode, break or leak).

 

[turbotadd]

With a previous boat I made the mistake of using it everywhere.... I think the only place it was maybe properly used was installing the drain plug tube through the new transom...

 

[Golfman25]

Ditto on the previous responses. Fix the spots where the gel coat was removed with expoxy resin or marine tex or something. Sand smooth so you get a good seal. Good luck.

 

[Lazy Daze]

I forgot to add my 2 cents regarding your question about fixing the gelcoat lifting spots. Use a polyester or epoxy resin to 'paint' the bar fiberglass and keep any further moisture from working it's way in there. Then you can make your final seal of hatch to deck with either a good caulk/sealant or butyl rubber. If it was me, given that a hatch isn't secured by heavy hardware which may make properly squashing the butyl enough to make good contact all the way around, I would probably go with sealant. BoatLife LifeSeal is my go-to for this, but others can work just as well.

 

[turbotadd]

Ok,
Started the ugly process of removing core. So far, I've only found wet stuff going back from the edges that were black. I've probed the other areas and they seem solid. I took the drill and dug out all that I could, now need to go back and clean up with another tool. On the starboard side hatch, when drilling towards the starboard side, I hit a void.
Could this be due to the construction (like an area with no core), or is the core continuous underneath the deck? This would be in the area that transitions from the main deck to and starts to roll down to the outer lower area with bowrail (not sure what its called).
I've got the top of the openings covered with shrink wrap and Gorilla tape, and I vented the underside of my catch basin into the cabin & have the AC running to aid in drying. Any idea how long drying might take? How will I know when its dry enough? I think I'll peel the top back on days that I'm down at the boat, and it's not too muggy.

My plan is to let it dry out, then fashion some core inserts out of marine plywood. I picked up a gallon of epoxy resin, some various fillers/thickeners, and a can of Adtech P-14 Ultra Filler to buildup the missing gelcoat. I've used the P-14 before to make repairs on previous boats, it rocks.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Void... if you're talking about what I think you are, yes, as you get towards the edge it would be expected to not have any coring there. Coring doesn't need to be "wall to wall" to be effective. Plus, when you get to an edge and it starts to change shape, the top layer of glass (deck) and the bottom layer (ceiling)... the area between the two will start to diminish.

It's hard to say how long it will take to dry out. Too many variables, unfortunately, to say.