The previous owner of my 32-3 had inadequately tied her when a major storm came through and pounding against pylon split the mid-portions of the hull-deck seam under the rub-rails. Quite ugly but I have some background in working with fiberglass so it's why I got her for a low price.
This needs to be fixed from the outside because the seam between deck and hull has a couple of plies of glass on the interior. You can not get to the joint from the interior. Be aware that those added coarse layers were sloppy from the factory and are NOT water-tight. There's a pretty good gap in spots between them and the seams. Below is what the joint looks like in cross section and the photo on the right shows why these boats are so stout. Even where rubbing a pylon had worn the flanged of the joint nearly to the contour of the hull, there's still a good half-inch of material with the interior plies spanning across the joint to hold the deck to the hull.
To repair:
1. Remove the old rub rail, then the silicone sealer beneath it. Notice how the silicone was not completely sealed to the boat, allowing the seam to probably leak even where there was no damage.
2. Lightly sand the crud to the surface of the paint because sanding is about the only way to really get anything new to stick where silicone had been. For sanding both the surface and in the radius, a finger belt worked best:
https://www.amazon.com/WEN-6307-Variable-Detailing-Sander/dp/B072Q2FTLY/ref=asc_df_B072Q2FTLY/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309802506143&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5348097485406991147&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007798&hvtargid=pla-588003624477&psc=1
I use plenty of mineral spirits to wipe down the area regularly.
3. Dig out the loose stuff then grind to clean glass.
The tool on the Multimax is sold at Lowes and Home Depot for removal of tile grout. Imagine being a dentist and getting an old loose filling out of a tooth.
Clean it out with a vacuum & more mineral spirit wipes.
4. Stick blue tape only along the bottom of the seam with the top half not pressed in place. Use the wide tape, not the 3/4" like I used because I had to lay three rows horizontally. (See photo below) The top half of the tape laying out gives something to guide the new epoxy and hold it in the seam when the top of the tape gets pressed in place. Go slow and work in as much epoxy as possible, using a piece of wire or something to help the epoxy really fill the joint.
After the epoxy is in for several feet adhere the top half of the tape and add vertical strips because this isn't precise brain surgery and the epoxy may be where the tape is trying to adhere. I used the TotalBoat flexible epoxy and it set fast enough that the tape wetting or losing adhesion was not a problem. The epoxy sets fast enough that this whole operation is done with lots of fresh little Dixie cups and it helps to have an assistant mixing the next couple of ounces as you work epoxy into the joint.
This is what it looked like the next day when the tape was pulled off. The missing paint above the seam is from the finger sander cleaning out the dirt and silicone.
btw - Notice how clean the tape looks where it'd been stuck to the boat. That's because the sanding and mineral spirits had been used to clean everything repeatedly.
5. There were some gaps to add thickened epoxy into like below, but very few. This is where the epoxy had drained through the back side of the joint.
5. Sand smooth, fill the surface imperfections like the sanded areas seen above, prime, paint, and add new rub rail.
This needs to be fixed from the outside because the seam between deck and hull has a couple of plies of glass on the interior. You can not get to the joint from the interior. Be aware that those added coarse layers were sloppy from the factory and are NOT water-tight. There's a pretty good gap in spots between them and the seams. Below is what the joint looks like in cross section and the photo on the right shows why these boats are so stout. Even where rubbing a pylon had worn the flanged of the joint nearly to the contour of the hull, there's still a good half-inch of material with the interior plies spanning across the joint to hold the deck to the hull.
To repair:
1. Remove the old rub rail, then the silicone sealer beneath it. Notice how the silicone was not completely sealed to the boat, allowing the seam to probably leak even where there was no damage.
2. Lightly sand the crud to the surface of the paint because sanding is about the only way to really get anything new to stick where silicone had been. For sanding both the surface and in the radius, a finger belt worked best:
https://www.amazon.com/WEN-6307-Variable-Detailing-Sander/dp/B072Q2FTLY/ref=asc_df_B072Q2FTLY/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309802506143&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5348097485406991147&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007798&hvtargid=pla-588003624477&psc=1
I use plenty of mineral spirits to wipe down the area regularly.
3. Dig out the loose stuff then grind to clean glass.
The tool on the Multimax is sold at Lowes and Home Depot for removal of tile grout. Imagine being a dentist and getting an old loose filling out of a tooth.
Clean it out with a vacuum & more mineral spirit wipes.
4. Stick blue tape only along the bottom of the seam with the top half not pressed in place. Use the wide tape, not the 3/4" like I used because I had to lay three rows horizontally. (See photo below) The top half of the tape laying out gives something to guide the new epoxy and hold it in the seam when the top of the tape gets pressed in place. Go slow and work in as much epoxy as possible, using a piece of wire or something to help the epoxy really fill the joint.
After the epoxy is in for several feet adhere the top half of the tape and add vertical strips because this isn't precise brain surgery and the epoxy may be where the tape is trying to adhere. I used the TotalBoat flexible epoxy and it set fast enough that the tape wetting or losing adhesion was not a problem. The epoxy sets fast enough that this whole operation is done with lots of fresh little Dixie cups and it helps to have an assistant mixing the next couple of ounces as you work epoxy into the joint.
This is what it looked like the next day when the tape was pulled off. The missing paint above the seam is from the finger sander cleaning out the dirt and silicone.
btw - Notice how clean the tape looks where it'd been stuck to the boat. That's because the sanding and mineral spirits had been used to clean everything repeatedly.
5. There were some gaps to add thickened epoxy into like below, but very few. This is where the epoxy had drained through the back side of the joint.
5. Sand smooth, fill the surface imperfections like the sanded areas seen above, prime, paint, and add new rub rail.
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