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Best sealant for leaks

Jay Sauls

Member I
Hey Folks,

Last year I rescued a mostly abandoned 74 E29 and have slowly brought her back to life. Cabin had several feet of water in it (thankfully the keel was sitting on the bottom and kept the boat from sinking!) cushions are toast, mold/mildew like you can't believe! I've scrubbed, scrapped and wiped down the interior to get the boat presentable. But she leaks EVERYWHERE...around the windows, around the places the rails used to be, around the mast...you name it. I'm going to start to try and plug these leaks, but was wondering what the best sealant is for this. Any ideas/thoughts would be great!
 

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Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Congrats on the project.

The windows (portlights) need to be removed and replaced with a new bed of caulk. Sealing them from the outside doesn't work.

That's also true of any leaking fittings, deck gear, grab rails and such. It is just not possible to stop leaks with exterior sealers.

The job has been done by almost all of us, since our boats are all past the lifespan of the original bedding compounds. Usually there's repair of the interior surfaces, too, which can be a quick cosmetic fix (paint) or elaborate rebuilding of the Ericson joinery.

Here's one of many threads on the topic of portlights, and no issue you face is as well documented here. Just ask.

 

Jay Sauls

Member I
Thanks for the tips! Boat was a Hurricane Katrina salvage that was fixed up, then left to rot. Eventually it 'washed' up on my dock where it's been sitting for years. I finally convinced the prior owner to let me have it and I've been working on it the past few months. It's a massive change from my MacGregor 24!
 

gabriel

Live free or die hard
Look into butyl tape, works very well around screws that go through the deck (rails, winches, cleats, stsnchions etc).

someone mentioned something called VHB tape by 3M that supersedes butyl but I haven’t gotten a chance to use it yet. Definitely look into that as well.

for port lights I would use caulk as mentioned above, I used butyl tape on my port lights and don’t recommend it, it’s kind of too thick and oozy (though it did seal very well).
 

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Jay Sauls

Member I
Thanks! Where would I find the butyl tape? What about on the decking? I have some really large cracks that run the top of the deck near the mast (I'll try to get pictures) that I believe are from weak points under the fiberglass.
 

gabriel

Live free or die hard

The bigger cracks around the mast sound structural, if that's the case I would do a structural repair with epoxy mixed with fiberglass hairs (west system #403), fiberglass tape/cloth followed by sanding/fairing and painting.

some pictures would be nice I would love to“sea”
 

Jay Sauls

Member I
Here you go! These cracks are fairly large and I believe they have been sealed before.
 

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frick

Member III
Wonderful Project. I am the owner of a 1971 E29.
I took me two summers to get it all down, but I eliminated all my leaks.
1: Re-bed all your port lights. I used plain old 3M Silicon which when squeezed forms a great flexible seal)
2: I found that the rubber gaskets around the glass was leaking too. I used Capt Tolly's Creeping Crack Cure to seal those leaks
3: Re-bed every deck fitting
4: Discoved the bigest leaks were the chain plates. My have those little SS covers screwed on, lifted those, cleaned and caulked, and replaced
5: Also leaking were some of the SS Bolts that hold down the Jib Tracks.
 

Jay Sauls

Member I
Thanks! I'm going to attack everything I can. What about large cracks in the decking? I have some serious cracks around the mast.
 

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Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Yes, need to talk about that. Not sure about the '74 decks, but they are probably cored, meaning a top and bottom layer of glass separated by balsa or possibly plywood. The separation of the layers by a core gives strength and keeps the deck from flexing when we walk on it. Water incursion into the core turns it to mush over time and defeats the construction design. A few questions to get us started:

Can you lift part of the crack with a screwdriver or similar lever? What's inside, and is it wet.

Is the deck spongy under the cracks?

What's underneath, inside the boat. Evidence of leakage in that area, or perhaps of earlier repair?

By the way, no old boat is perfect, and many old boats can be sailed as they are, for the fun of it and with glorious results.
 

Jay Sauls

Member I
Definitely has soft spots on the deck. I've heard there is a concoction you can squeeze in that hardens the deck. I would never take this boat off-shore, but it's a fine boat for inland lakes! I knew that boat was in so-so shape. When you pay $1800, you get what you pay for!
 

Jay Sauls

Member I
Compared to my last boat (70 Macgreggor 24) this is a a fine sailing vessel! Just got to stop the seepage. Tired of everything being damp and soggy.
 

Canopus

1989 35-3
Good luck with the leaks. I'm slowly tracking down and sealing all of mine.

For the mold and smell I did a chlorine dioxide vapor treatment (https://resetchlorinedioxide.com/) and now keep a dehumidifier in the boat with the drain hose running into the bilge. The ClO2 worked really well, it killed all the mildew and the mold smell was pretty much eliminated. It also helped a lot with lingering old holding tank smell.

The dehumidifier has kept any new mold and mildew from growing and even with still having some drippy ports keeps the cabin very dry.
 

markvone

Sustaining Member
Jay,
If you can locate the dehumidifier near the galley or head sink so that the drain can gravity flow directly overboard (and not into the bilge) you will get another step ahead of the moisture. Having no residual water in the bilge will lower your moisture levels. It also lets you see any new water and alert you to track down any remaining leak sources. I use a turkey baster and a sponge to completely dry the bilge when I first arrive at the boat. My boat (now) does not leak at all except water down the inside of the keel stepped mast after a rain.

Mark
 

Gaviate

Member III
So cracks in fiberglass most probably means a problem with the wood core, also indicated by "soft spots" when walking on it. Here are a couple of shots to present a visual to the description. This all started with my decision to change single lifeline set up to double lifelines which necessitated the changing of stanchions and pulpit.....all were leaking as well so re-bedding with butyl was already planned, so while your at it.....
I used 3/8 plywood blocks for core, cut to fit however needed, there is a camber to the deck surface so a single piece cannot work. The original core is pieced as well so I just followed suit. All properly cleaned for a good bond with new epoxy, the blocks were bedded into West Epoxy with silica filler, mashed and squished and prodded until absolutely no air pockets remained, then when ready, top skin of deck re-installed again with bed of West and silica filler, then more cloth, more epoxy, sanding, fairing, sanding, fairing, priming and finally top coat paint, I will eventually do gelcoat but I'm not quite ready for that...much learning to go..
 

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