Re: Problem with Gel coat repair
Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 6:22 am
Did you ever work this one out Paul?
Hi Paul, thanks for asking. I've given up on doing it myself and taken it to a local boatyard. My feeling, after taking out most of the cover plugs under the deck hardware bolts and lying under the hull liner in the rain and watching the water dripping down, is that the joint is dry, the hardware is dry, including the chainplates, but that there are leaks through the window sealant or maybe through the screw holes. I think the two lower port side windows are leaking and just to compound things the front port deck window sealant is cracked and letting in water. This water then hits the liner and runs to wherever the line of least resistance is, before dripping down onto the inside of the boat. This isn't necessarily under the window or even anywhere obvious which is why it was so difficult to trace the leak.
So, taking out these three windows and re-seating them is a job I would rather leave to someone who has done it before, and if it still leaks, they will have to do it again for nothing 'till it's watertight. I'm hoping to get the boat back in a week or twos time. Sadly the yard is at its busiest right now, and I'm at the back of the queue. Never mind, it's not been much of a spring in the UK this year, so I've missed no sailing.
I'll post further when I get the boat back.