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Repairing holes in aft cabin trunk / deck
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Kevin Fox
Greetings All. My family and I are excited to be the new owners of Rascal. I've been following this forum for over a year and am impressed by, and appreciative of, all the knowledge that Amel owners are willing to share. I hope to get up to speed quickly and do my part to help others.
Rascal has a life raft mounted in a rack on the cabin trunk immediately aft of the mizzen mast. We’re not big fans of this location and plan to move it. One of the issues is that there are leaks around some of the bolts. There are twelve total, in groups of three. We can see the screw heads in the aft head and in the passageway just outside the aft head. If we remove the rack we’ll need to fill the holes. I’ve seen information on how to clean out holes in fiberglass decks, including trying to remove some of the coring around the hole if wet, in preparation for filling them with thickened epoxy. Are there any tricks or special procedures for this type of repair on an Amel?
I don’t think we’ll be able to access the bottom of the fiberglass from inside the boat, so I’m guessing that we’ll need to use high viscosity (well-thickened) epoxy. Am I correct that there is space between the cabin ceiling and the fiberglass?
Another approach might be to put new, low-profile bolts in these holes and re-bed them well. Replacement bolts might also solve the issue of what to do with the holes left in the cabin ceiling.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you!
   ---- Kevin and Elise Fox SM2k #404 Rascal Charleston, SC |
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Germain Jean-Pierre
Congratulations! Rascal is a good vessel. In my opinion, I’d leave well enough alone because the LR is easily accessible ans easily deployed from this location. Try repealing the bolts with the appropriate product from 3M or Sikaflex.. Enjoy her! Jean-Pierre Germain, SY Eleuthera, SM 007, New Zealand On 15 Jan 2020, at 11:11, Kevin Fox via Groups.Io <foxkm@...> wrote:
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Congrats on your new Amel. I looked at the listing for Rascal and it appeared to be a fine boat.
One of the best pieces of advice given to me at the time we purchased our boat was not to change anything for a year. If the bolts are leaking, I would just use a bedding compound to fix the leak but leave the raft setup the way it is, for now.
With best regards,
Mark
Skipper Sailing Vessel - Cream Puff - SM2K - #275 Currently cruising - Vista Mar, Panama www.creampuff.us
From:
main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io [mailto:main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io] On
Behalf Of Kevin Fox via Groups.Io
Greetings All. My family and I are excited to be the
new owners of Rascal. I've been following this forum for over a
year and am impressed by, and appreciative of, all the knowledge that Amel
owners are willing to share. I hope to get up to speed quickly and do my
part to help others.
If we remove the rack we’ll need to fill the holes. I’ve seen information on how to clean out holes in fiberglass decks, including trying to remove some of the coring around the hole if wet, in preparation for filling them with thickened epoxy. Are there any tricks or special procedures for this type of repair on an Amel?
I don’t think we’ll be able to access the bottom of the fiberglass from inside the boat, so I’m guessing that we’ll need to use high viscosity (well-thickened) epoxy. Am I correct that there is space between the cabin ceiling and the fiberglass?
Another approach might be to put new, low-profile bolts in these holes and re-bed them well. Replacement bolts might also solve the issue of what to do with the holes left in the cabin ceiling.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you!
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Stephen Davis
Hi Kevin,
Congratulations on your new boat. I’ve spent a lot of time on Rascal, and she is a very good boat. With regards to the life raft cradle behind the mizzenmast, I would remove it. With the life raft in the current position, you would no t be able to rig and use the emergency tiller should the need ever arise. Unless you are very good with fiberglass and gel coat work, I’d hire someone who is to fill the holes. It is not going to be easy to match the repair to the current deck, and it will require someone talented in this type of work to make that happen. Best of luck with your new boat. Steve Davis Aloha SM72 Hawaii |
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Hi Kevin,
If you decide to remove the rack from the boat and need someone to do the gelcoat in the Charleston area I would recommend to get in touch with Luke at Carolina Custom Restorations. I have seen a bunch of his work and he does top notch stuff and her is a really nice guy too. I like your idea of using low profile bolts to fill the holes, I would say to use butyl tape to seal the heads to the deck since the stuff is so effective. Just be sure not to let the heads move if you use the butyl, movement of the head will break the seal. |
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James Cromie <jamescromie@...>
Congratulations Elise and Kevin. Looks like a nice boat you’ve got yourselves! For the reason you’ve described, I strive to avoid putting any new holes in the boat because of the risk of eventual water intrusion. Amels are incredibly dry yachts in their original design.
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I had a solar arch made to replace smaller davits already in place on the stern. These left holes in the stern that communicated with the stern lazarette. To fill the holes, I redrilled them and chamfered inside and outside. After carefully cleaning with acetone, I filled the holes with West System epoxy, using the UV and water protectant high density filler. This filler allows you to achieve a peanut butter consistency. Using a syringe, it can be inserted into the holes which have already been masked with tape. The epoxy is easily workable and a putty knife is used to trim away any excess. Before fully curing, remove tape. Lightly sand when fully cured and re apply gel coat to the areas. I like to use way less gelcoat so that I can apply multiple coats to count our it better. You can feather it and color match by trial and error and it works out well. Getting the same surface texture is difficult and I don’t have any tricks on that yet! I would not keep hardware in place because it will eventually leak and corrosion will eventually set in. Best, James Sv Soteria #347 Las perlas, Panama On Jan 14, 2020, at 5:11 PM, Kevin Fox via Groups.Io <foxkm@...> wrote:
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James Cromie <jamescromie@...>
Correction: I like to use “waxless”... not “way less” gelcoat!
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Color matching is not difficult if you have patience. The texturing might be best accomplished by someone being paid $75//hr. I agree with removing the life raft personally - For reasons mentioned. I prefer to keep my life raft in the cockpit port lazarette. This is the most protected place to remove it, though requires a bit of strength for raising it out which is the main drawback... but for my wife or myself, it is not an issue. Having it out on the life rail or deck leaves it exposed to tons of water washing over your boat, and exposes crew to the greater risk of being swept off. Also, I imagine the lifespan of the life raft is likely to be longer in a place protected from the elements. I think having the deck as clear as possible improves overall safety and security. James Sv Soteria On Jan 15, 2020, at 6:11 PM, James Cromie via Groups.Io <jamescromie@...> wrote:
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Kevin Fox
Thank you all for your helpful responses and guidance!
Rascal is a fine boat indeed. We're lucky to have her. We'll have a closer look at the lifeboat rack mounting this weekend and then decide what to do next. ---- Kevin and Elise Fox SM2k #404 Rascal Charleston, SC |
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