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GH31 bad leak: quarter berth, from cockpit...somewhere

Posted: Sat March 26th, 2016, 7:16 pm
by sniffyjenkins
Hello all

We have been hunting a persistent leak on Marschallin, GH31, 1981 GRP, which we launched last Saturday. Despite thinking we've found the source on many occasions, and 'fixing' it, it's no better. It seems to have been a long-standing problem in the boat from before we bought her, and I wondered whether it's something known to other GH31 owners.

Water is coming into the forward end of the quarter berth next to the chart table from the cockpit somewhere. We think it's to do with gaps around the teak cockpit seats, with the water running forward over the top of the fibreglass. No amount of sealing has worked there yet.

Has anyone encountered this before? Has anyone managed to fix it?

Any advice is very gratefully received.

Thanks!

Re: GH31 bad leak: quarter berth, from cockpit...somewhere

Posted: Sat August 19th, 2017, 11:52 am
by Eventide Owners Group
See you never had any response to this plea and I have to say I have not heard of any other GH owners suffering from a leak here.

As she is GRP you would not expect any leaks!

However I have heard of cockpit locker lid drains bunging up and wonder if there is a blocked drain somewhere.

Hope by now you may have traced the leak, if so can you let us know what the remedy was.

Regards,
john
Eventiders

Re: GH31 bad leak: quarter berth, from cockpit...somewhere

Posted: Tue September 25th, 2018, 6:52 pm
by JFJ
This is an older post, and it may not be of much help but

I have a persistant leak on the deck to bulkhead joint. This eventually led to s little rotspot beside the chart table.

I think I have got to the bottom of it.

Water appears to be getting between the teak joints. The caulking has dozed. I tried to re-joint, but I could not get to the bottom of it without removing the teak trim round the companionway. When I probed the bottom of the joint I discovered mushy plywood substrate -which is likely the same as yours. I plan to lift the teak (I have 50 plugs ordered), and replace the plywood underneath. There is fiberglass under the ply. I think rain water gets under the teak, and has nowhere to go - so it wicks along the timber - rotting it out. I do not know how deep the ply is - but its not thick.

I spoke to Alastair Duffin (local wooden boatbuilder, and my local guru!) and he suggested that I don't re-screw the teak back down - rather glue down with epoxy. The plugs are put down for show, and will be filled behind them.
If I am careful, the original wood goes back down. I plan to scarf in a piece of iroko to replace the bit of soft bulkhead (I will do it right across the boat), and I will use iroko strips instead of ply to replace the removed ply. The bulkhead will be stronger than before, and the iroko strips will be laid so that the water can escape. Iroko wont rot - even with rainwater - but it will be painted in epoxy anyway.

I needed a wee job on Iris for the winter!

JFJ

Re: GH31 bad leak: quarter berth, from cockpit...somewhere

Posted: Tue September 25th, 2018, 10:37 pm
by Eventide Owners Group
I agree with your local guru!

I have just stripped a couple of hatches off a friends Eventide, they had strips of teak and Sikaflex, but screwed down! i have stripped the lot off and tossed it, repaired the water damage to the timber underneath with epoxy and then epoxied a Treadmaster mat on top, no place for water to get in now!!

Water will penetrate the smallest crack and fresh water will cause galloping rot.

One has to be on the alert for any signs of water ingress with our boats, if we want them to survive!

Good luck with Iris over winter! You will need a warm dry shed!

John
Eventiders

Re: GH31 bad leak: quarter berth, from cockpit...somewhere

Posted: Thu September 27th, 2018, 12:16 pm
by JFJ
I should be so lucky as to have a barn!

No, a large tent (made from the side of an articulated lorry, cut into sections, a couple of joists, lashed to where the boom would be, and perhaps a small blow heater is all I can get access to. At least I can get power and water.

Regards
JFJ

Re: GH31 bad leak: quarter berth, from cockpit...somewhere

Posted: Thu September 27th, 2018, 1:24 pm
by Eventide Owners Group
I built my Eventide under such a tent! It was 30 x 15 and all made from scrap floorboards into frames and the frames lashed together with string and spaced apart with battens, lasted 5 years. Several layers of tarp, as they rotted through!

Got so hot inside I had to cut vents in it!

Good luck drying everything out in readiness for epoxy!

John

Re: GH31 bad leak: quarter berth, from cockpit...somewhere

Posted: Sat November 17th, 2018, 11:15 pm
by JFJ
Well..... a wee update (I cant seem to upload pictures for some reason)

The deck is off, down to the fiberglass. There is some crazing, as large screws were driven in, with no pre-drilling (I think).

The glass was mostly fine, though, so I have over drilled the original holes (by about 50%) and filled with a blend of epoxy, micro-balloons and talc with a little silica). That went fine...

However. The saloon ply was badly rotted, and near enough the whole width of it to inside the cockpit about 1 inch up and down. The ply seems sound after that in both directions and the outer extremes. I removed as much as I can (down behind the chart table, and round the galley - without removing either. To get the wood out, I used this :https://www.amazon.co.uk/AEG-OMNI-MTX-M ... +multitool
(available in Homebase for much cheaper)
I used an inch blade. I

There is some rot in the cross piece (2X2 inch - runs across the boat at the edge of the cockpit step)- its white-wood, and was panted, which just held the water. The rot ran along the grain and was in patches. I cut out the rot, and have left the rest to dry. It wast too bad (I think), and was easy to cut out with the tool above, and a chisel. I stripped the paint off the entire piece (careful not to melt the wires nailed to it. I was shocked to see a rough hole drilled in it before to carry the light from the compass - with no sealer - likely one of the causes of the rot in the first place.

I routed down a few strips of iroko to just under 1/4 inch, painted in epoxy and swathed in the goop above. Hammered these under the Teak edge (I had left it for reference on height and then taken another 2 X 1/2 inch high piece of iroko on the saloon bulkhead, gooped and screwed in tight. This is now flush with the existing bulkhead (well, I have done the starboard (chart table) side. A similar spacer had gone in below the teak base of the washboard groove.

Note that the bulkhead is still sound round the outer aft deck - this problem was with the cockpit glass part only.

The galley (port) gap is a wider -and needs more drying as does with the white-wood crosspiece. This will, however be treated the same way - when the wood is a bit drier.

I forgot to mention that I painted the ply edges of the bulkhead with a very wet epoxy- multiple coats- which seem to have been absorbed by the end piece.

I have taken photos of each bit - I will post later.

The cross piece has the rot ripped out and then some- none of it spans the wood - it follows the grain instead. I intend to pack the hole with small pieces of iroko and the same goop above - and likely sister it with a few pieces of glassed in iroko, laminated together

While I had the rot on my mind - (there isn't THAT much, but a wee bit is too much!), I went round the rest of the ply on the boat with a soft hammer and started tapping.

I have found another small spot - in a fairly awkward place. I haven't started this bit yet - but may as well do it now. Iris has a small winch on the coach roof. This sits on a (cracked) piece of mahogany, and bolted through to the inside. Well, AGAIN!, no sealer appears to have been used on the through bolts. You guessed it. Soft. the Mahogany was flat faced - and the coach has a lovely curved. A 'slap of sika' held it down - and, of course, retained the water too (I recon). The rot appears to be localized to about 4X6 inches. I consulted Alastair Duffern, my local boat builder, and he suggests the following: remove the winch, and the cracked mahogany. Rout out the rot + a few percent. Alistair is giving me a few pieces of light ply. A (4MM) piece of ply inside the boat - I will span between the two roof beams and significantly larger than the hole. Screwed and epoxied in place. If the ply doesn't bend enough, steam.
The edges of the hole will be routed at 45% . 2 more light ply pieces epoxied and screwed into the deck + new ply - till about level with the deck and matching the curve (hopefully!). My final piece this time though is a nice piece of teak I have - strips approximately 1 inch - larger than the hole. No finish - but as I have already bought the caulking to replace the teak on the cockpit deck when thats ready, I think I should be ok.

Lots of text, when a few pictures would have done it easier!

Tally Ho
John

Re: GH31 bad leak: quarter berth, from cockpit...somewhere

Posted: Sun November 18th, 2018, 10:07 pm
by Eventide Owners Group
Great to hear you are on top of it and yes the time to repair rot is of course as soon as you find it! I always advise cutting out a few inches further than you think it has travelled, to be sure.

Epoxy and decent ply and hardwoods every time, this is a job you just do not want to be doing again!

Well done so far!

To post piuctures they have to be already on the net somewhere, then you can place a link to them... Or you can send the text and the photos to us at the EOG and I can add a bit on the 'Hints and Tips' page or if you really want to let everyone have a blow by blow account, I can start a page off on the 'Builders and Restorers' section... if you promise to keep sending stuff in to keep the page valid!! Sadly so many send a couple of bits in then tail off.....

Regards,
John

Re: GH31 bad leak: quarter berth, from cockpit...somewhere

Posted: Wed December 5th, 2018, 11:50 am
by mattward74
Hi I have PM'd you about this JFJ.
JFJ wrote:This is an older post, and it may not be of much help but

I have a persistant leak on the deck to bulkhead joint. This eventually led to s little rotspot beside the chart table.

I think I have got to the bottom of it.

Water appears to be getting between the teak joints. The caulking has dozed. I tried to re-joint, but I could not get to the bottom of it without removing the teak trim round the companionway. When I probed the bottom of the joint I discovered mushy plywood substrate -which is likely the same as yours. I plan to lift the teak (I have 50 plugs ordered), and replace the plywood underneath. There is fiberglass under the ply. I think rain water gets under the teak, and has nowhere to go - so it wicks along the timber - rotting it out. I do not know how deep the ply is - but its not thick.

I spoke to Alastair Duffin (local wooden boatbuilder, and my local guru!) and he suggested that I don't re-screw the teak back down - rather glue down with epoxy. The plugs are put down for show, and will be filled behind them.
If I am careful, the original wood goes back down. I plan to scarf in a piece of iroko to replace the bit of soft bulkhead (I will do it right across the boat), and I will use iroko strips instead of ply to replace the removed ply. The bulkhead will be stronger than before, and the iroko strips will be laid so that the water can escape. Iroko wont rot - even with rainwater - but it will be painted in epoxy anyway.

I needed a wee job on Iris for the winter!

JFJ