We took a big step to completing some structural issues in mid August. Over a ten day stretch, we started removing and re-bedding the stanchions that hold the life lines. The four that are over our bunks all leak, go figure. I wanted to fix all of them and be done with it. The stanchions are through bolted through the deck, with a fiberglass backing plate below. The decks themselves are two layers of fiberglass around a 1/2 inch thick core of end grain balsa. This is a common production technique, the core adding stiffness without adding much weight. Problems arise if water gets to the core, turning it to mush. Over time, the stanchion bolts leaked, got over torqued, and smeared with acky-poo (generic term for any mystery sealing goop) in a half-assed attempt to fix it. The proper way to mount any hardware on a cored deck is to drill the mounting holes. Then take an allen wrench, or a nail with a 90 degree bend at the tip, and undercut the opening to about twice the diameter of the hole. I used a drill and some vice grips to do the digging out, and had to pick out the scrap with tweezers. A vacuum wouldn't get all of it. After opening up the area, tape is used to seal the hole from the bottom, and epoxy is poured into the void, making a solid plug. After it sets, re-drill the holes for the mounting hardware, and coat the bases with bedding compound to make things water tight again. The hardware is tightened just enough to let the bedding compound ooze out, and then left to cure overnight. Next day, the bolts can be tightened up properly. This process prevents water from getting to the balsa core, and provides a solid structure to hold the unit securely.
One thing to watch out for is properly sealing the bottom of the holes before pouring in the epoxy. The bolt holes over Jana's bunk seemed to be taking a lot of epoxy, so I stopped and checked down below. I had used the blue painter's tape to seal the holes. and the epoxy was moving through it and dripping on her bunk. Rats!! A quick wipe down with acetone cleaned up the epoxy, but she says she'll always have a rough spot on the mattress cover. I replaced the blue tape with regular masking tape, and everything moved along fine. Got over to the stanchions above my bunk, and again, it seemed like an awful lot of epoxy was flowing. Back down to the stateroom, only to discover the epoxy had found a way to overflow my cut out area and drip down along side of my bunk. I built a dam out of more masking tape, and then mixed some thickening compound into the epoxy to slow it down. All was well. When we left a few days later, I had trouble stripping the mattress cover off of the mattress. Hell, I couldn’t even move the mattress! The epoxy had soaked into the fabric on the underside of the mattress and glued itself to the plywood bunk. I had to use a wide putty knife and a hammer and chop out the glued up area. The cover got ripped beyond repair, and the mattress fabric was torn in several places. Egads!!! Guess I need to sew some patches on the mattress. At least we shouldn’t have any more leaks to mess with.
Our next trip will involve moving the stanchions that have the opening to get to the hatch.
Stay tuned for further adventures!