• Untitled Document

    Join us on March 29rd, 7pm EST

    for the CBEC Virtual Meeting

    All EYO members and followers are welcome to join the fun and get to know the guest speaker!

    See the link below for login credentials and join us!

    March Meeting Info

    (dismiss this notice by hitting 'X', upper right)

moisture around the turnbuckle

Gary Bice

New Member
First boat and first forum post. I bought a 1986 30+ in Sept 2018 at the end of the season. I keep the boat in heated storage im Michigan. The initial survey suggested some high moisture levels on the deck around the mast turnbuckle. I did sail it last summer but now in storage the crew noticed the same high moisture levels and suggested a Dryboat System repair. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of this repair system? And could the high moisture level be a false positive or is this common enough that the repair is neccessary?
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Welcome aboard. Yep, we are warned that moisture meters require experience to interpret correctly. Generally, though, wet core makes the deck spongy and some sort of leak is already suspected or apparent. Tell us more about symptoms.

I'd never heard of Dryboat. Core repair is one of the common challenges here. My reaction to Dryboat is nefarious, as the system looks easy to steal and jury rig Rube Goldberg -style for the purpose of drying out a section of deck. ( We live in immoral times and I am just a resident).

 

Nick J

Sustaining Member
Moderator
Blogs Author
I haven't seen the chainplate on an ericson 30+, but on my 25+ the deck is solid glass around most of the deck fittings including the chainplates. I wonder how the moisture got in around that area if the 30+ is constructed the same way.
 

garryh

Member III
the chainplates on the 35-2 protrude through the cored deck with no protection or proper sealing (as is the case with all perforations through the decks). On mine and many, the core is soaked and over years the moisture (actually more just soakishness) has crept through large sections of the sidedecks and all the way back into the 'floors' of the cubbies, which are exposed plywood (just a bad design) and actually extensions of the plywood deck core (it changes from balsa to plywood just before the turn of the cockpit coamings). When I removed the chainplate from the bulkead on the stbd side and looked up, there was simply air where the core should have been. Spent last summer recoring and it is an extremely ugly job. I have installed solid glass at the chainplate areas and wherever any hardware is to be mounted.
Did I mention the bulkhead below was rotten as well? that comes out this Spring.
If your deck is moist around the chainplates, it is critical to have the bulkheads below examined for rot. A very serious structural issue.
 

garryh

Member III
and regarding the DryBoat thingy... looks like hocus pocus to me, having been through this. If core has been wet a long time, there is no structural value even when dried out. As mentioned, the balsa core was simply missing in several areas and the plywood was completely sauturated and 'slimey'.
If you are really lucky, the wet might be localized and you might possibly be able to repair from underneath so you don't need to mess with the non skid. Access often difficult though.
 

frick

Member III
My "dryboat system" Put the hose of the shopvac over the hole and turn it on...
My method of getting out wet balsa coring.... a bent nail in electric screwdriver.... Then Tape the Bottom of the hole and fill with epoxy.
Rick
 

garryh

Member III
the bent nail thing works well if just a little bit of moisture around a bolt hole. It should be standard procedure when anything is through bolted from the deck surface. But a large area has to be excavated and recored.
 
Top