Forecastle or fo’c’sle is the term for the forward most raised portion of the deck on a boat. On the 30+ this area is heavily built to support the loads of the forestay and provide a flat surface for the bronze anchor roller/jib tack fitting, and is designed to match the toe rail profile forward of the cleats.
When I bought the boat in 2016 there was a small crack in the gelcoat on either side of the fo’c’sle. There was subtle evidence of significant damage to the hull and deck in the distant past (mismatched gelcoat, Awlgripped hull with some slight waviness, a few gelcoat cracks in some interior corners and a new stern rail). I assumed the cracks had resulted from that episode. I ground them out and found they extended further than expected. Since I was just days from launching I slapped some fiberglass tape over them, faired and painted and forgot about them.
In 2021 I was surprised to see that my repair was failing and brown water was dripping out of the port side crack. Clearly water was getting in there but was the boat also pulling itself apart?
ericsonyachts.org
Since I couldn’t do any dust-creating messy work at my marina I decided to wait until I was going to to haul the boat out to make the repair. The haulout was supposed to happen in the summer of 2021, then last summer, but life got in the way and it didn’t happen. In the meantime the cracks grew considerably larger and extended to parts of the fo’c’sle that I had not repaired.
I am scheduled to be hauled out in a month at a DIY yard so in an attempt to minimize the time spent in the yard I decided to get started on what I could now, mainly removing the anchor roller assembly.
I first removed the old forward water tank fill fitting that had never been connected to a tank and will eventually be glassed over. I was pleasantly surprised to find a previous owner had bedded the deck fill with butyl rubber and it came off easily, with a perfectly dry core underneath. I was mentally thanking this PO for his foresight when I remembered I was actually the one who had rebedded the fitting 5 years ago since I didn’t have time to do a proper fiberglass repair. Genius!
Unfortunately the 7 massive bolts holding the anchor fitting to the f’oc’sle were not as cooperative. There was hardly any sealant on them but reaching the nuts below was challenging. I had to take the anchor lid off and do a long reach with a socket or box wrench. Luckily the nuts came off relatively easily except for one that had been glassed over.
Removing the bolts was difficult and time consuming. Some of them could be hammered up about an inch from below but then had to be painstakingly unscrewed through the wood and sealant. A regular screwdriver was too tall and hit the furler/forestay. Luckily the pry bar in my tool bag fit the slot perfectly and angled away from the furler. I was able to remove 6 of the 7 bolts by 1/4 or 1/2 turns this way. The final bolt with the encapsulated nut had to be drilled out.
After 2.5 hours of agony the fitting finally popped off. It was clear that water had been getting in through the poorly bedded holes and had been freezing the plywood, expanding it and causing the cracks. I plan to cut the entire thing flush to the deck, dig out all the plywood, and rebuild the deck and fo’c’sle structure with G10 or some other dense waterproof material. I’ll add another blog entry when that gets done in a month or so.
For now this was a great reintroduction to the world of boat yoga, punctured and bruised fingers, and the stubborn resolve needed to outsmart the hunks of metal that are perfectly content to remain exactly where they have been for the last 39 years.
When I bought the boat in 2016 there was a small crack in the gelcoat on either side of the fo’c’sle. There was subtle evidence of significant damage to the hull and deck in the distant past (mismatched gelcoat, Awlgripped hull with some slight waviness, a few gelcoat cracks in some interior corners and a new stern rail). I assumed the cracks had resulted from that episode. I ground them out and found they extended further than expected. Since I was just days from launching I slapped some fiberglass tape over them, faired and painted and forgot about them.
In 2021 I was surprised to see that my repair was failing and brown water was dripping out of the port side crack. Clearly water was getting in there but was the boat also pulling itself apart?
Help, Crack on Bow!
Today we noticed a new crack in the bow area that I had previously repaired. When we bought the boat the surveyor thought it was just some gelcoat flaking, nothing to worry about. Once I got more familiar with the boat I started piecing together that it had been in some kind of an accident...
Since I couldn’t do any dust-creating messy work at my marina I decided to wait until I was going to to haul the boat out to make the repair. The haulout was supposed to happen in the summer of 2021, then last summer, but life got in the way and it didn’t happen. In the meantime the cracks grew considerably larger and extended to parts of the fo’c’sle that I had not repaired.
I am scheduled to be hauled out in a month at a DIY yard so in an attempt to minimize the time spent in the yard I decided to get started on what I could now, mainly removing the anchor roller assembly.
I first removed the old forward water tank fill fitting that had never been connected to a tank and will eventually be glassed over. I was pleasantly surprised to find a previous owner had bedded the deck fill with butyl rubber and it came off easily, with a perfectly dry core underneath. I was mentally thanking this PO for his foresight when I remembered I was actually the one who had rebedded the fitting 5 years ago since I didn’t have time to do a proper fiberglass repair. Genius!
Unfortunately the 7 massive bolts holding the anchor fitting to the f’oc’sle were not as cooperative. There was hardly any sealant on them but reaching the nuts below was challenging. I had to take the anchor lid off and do a long reach with a socket or box wrench. Luckily the nuts came off relatively easily except for one that had been glassed over.
Removing the bolts was difficult and time consuming. Some of them could be hammered up about an inch from below but then had to be painstakingly unscrewed through the wood and sealant. A regular screwdriver was too tall and hit the furler/forestay. Luckily the pry bar in my tool bag fit the slot perfectly and angled away from the furler. I was able to remove 6 of the 7 bolts by 1/4 or 1/2 turns this way. The final bolt with the encapsulated nut had to be drilled out.
After 2.5 hours of agony the fitting finally popped off. It was clear that water had been getting in through the poorly bedded holes and had been freezing the plywood, expanding it and causing the cracks. I plan to cut the entire thing flush to the deck, dig out all the plywood, and rebuild the deck and fo’c’sle structure with G10 or some other dense waterproof material. I’ll add another blog entry when that gets done in a month or so.
For now this was a great reintroduction to the world of boat yoga, punctured and bruised fingers, and the stubborn resolve needed to outsmart the hunks of metal that are perfectly content to remain exactly where they have been for the last 39 years.
