[C38] Leaking Chain Plates

[Phil Gay]

This has turned out to be the year for removing chainplates.  You may
remember that the bulkhead/knee in the aft cockpit locker (aft chainplate
attachment) was rotten on Que Linda and that I completely removed and
replaced it with a fiberglass one.  That was a really hideous job, but the
new chainplate seems solid.

The next chainplate to be addressed was the aft lowers, which had an obvious
leak on the port side.  These are massive chainplates that are held in place
by the deck as well as the fiberglass hull liner under the cabinet using the
cabinet divider to transfer the load.  I think I drilled out about 20 screw
plugs in order to get the cabinet face frames off.  As I mentioned
previously, I noticed a narrow vertical void in the deck core that looked
like where the edges of the plywood core pieces were butted together.  We
were using a water hose to check for leaks starting at the toe rail and
working our way up to the window cut outs.  I was curious about the voids so
I put duct tape on the underside of the chainplate cut out and flooded it
with water.  Why would I wet the core like that - curiosity I guess.  The
result was that a little water poured out around the one of nuts that holds
the genoa track on above the dinette and a bunch of water came at the deck
liner to deck interface outboard in the cabinet behind the stove. 

You may have noticed that the fiberglass liner that you see on the cabin
ceiling follows the contour of the deck until about 2 inches of the hull
where it turns 90 degrees downward and ends about 1 1/2 inches below the
ceiling.  There is room to place your finger between the ceiling liner and
the hull where the ceiling liner turns downward.  This is actually where the
mid and upper shroud chainplate is leaking just aft and outboard of the
chainplate.  There is also a similar void in this location on the starboard
side.

A related issue is water that comes in when beating through large waves.  I
have noticed a puddle of water on the floor inboard of the starboard hanging
locker when punching through waves.  Someone said this is caused by water
entering the boat at the anchor locker and working its way back between the
hull and the hull liner.  I can't quite imagine the pathway it would take.
It was suggested that sealing around the anchor locker to hull joint would
solve the problem.  I haven't worked my way that far forward yet.

One interesting discovery is why I have a small rainwater leak above the
starboard cabinet in the v berth.  There is a bolt that was used to hold the
hull and deck together before the toe rail was installed.  The head of this
bolt is covered by the toe rail and can't be removed without removing the
toe rail.  I am guessing that water enters between the deck and the toe rail
and comes into the cabin through the hole for this fastener.  The toe rail
has sealant between it and the hull but not the deck.  I plan to put sealant
there as well.

I hope this help understand what we are working with.

Phil Gay
C38 049 Que Linda
Everett, WA

-----Original Message-----
From: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org
[mailto:listserve-bounces at catalina38.org] On Behalf Of Charles
Sent: Monday, August 25, 2008 7:31 AM
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Subject: Re: [C38] Leaking Chain Plates

Phil,
Wow! I never have completely disassembled my chain plates. I did not 
know this was something folks did? Did you notice the lower end was 
"working" somewhat like we have seen with the backstay?

Charles Finn
Mighty Quinn #114
Great Lakes

Phil Gay wrote:
>
> Steve,
>
> I can relate to what you are saying since I too sail our C38 in the 
> Northwest.
>
> I removed my aft lower chainplates in July and rebedded them. Removing 
> them was a major operation since you have to remove the cabinet faces 
> and remove both the shelves and vertical dividers in the cabinets to 
> get the chainplates out. When I removed the chainplates I found a void 
> on the port side where the plywood was butted together. The 1/8" void 
> ran fore and aft. I also found that the void channeled water all the 
> way back along the overhead deck liner and dumped it into the storage 
> space (a small cabinet on my boat) outboard of the stove. I filled 
> around the edges of the cutout for the chainplate with thickened epoxy 
> and rebedded the chainplates with 3M 4000 sealant. The silicone that I 
> had removed easily pulled out with no effort.
>
> Now I am tackling the mid and upper chainplate. It looked like a 
> simple task to unbolt the chainplate on the back side of the main 
> bulkhead from the lower part in the head and opposite cabinet. 
> Unfortunately the lower nut is encased in fiberglass which anchors the 
> lower part of the chainplate to the hull of the boat. I was able to 
> wrestle the starboard screw out of the fiberglass, but am going to 
> have to cut the head off the lower screw on the port side to remove 
> the aft upper part of the chainplate. After removing the starboard 
> chainplate, I again notice the slim vertical void where the plywood 
> was butted together. I plan to fill it with epoxy also. Again the 
> shallow silicone bedding easily pulled loose from the deck of the boat.
>
> It is abundantly obvious that Catalina did not intend these 
> chainplates to be removed, even though everything I have read says to 
> do it periodically and check for corrosion. Fortunately, I haven't 
> found any serious corrosion yet. I do wonder if it is possible to get 
> good adhesion with new sealant without pulling the chainplates.
>
> Good luck and let us know if you discover any secrets.
>
> Phil Gay
>
> C38 049 Que Linda
>
> Everett, WA
>
> *From:* listserve-bounces at catalina38.org 
> [mailto:listserve-bounces at catalina38.org] *On Behalf Of *Steve Smolinske
> *Sent:* Sunday, August 24, 2008 10:25 PM
> *To:* Catalina 38 Listserve
> *Subject:* [C38] Leaking Chain Plates
>
> Hello All,
>
> I thought I had the problem fixed when I had the mast down, I took off 
> all the chain plate covers dug out all of the silicone and rebed the 
> openings with 4200, made sure the air pockets were out, then filled up 
> openings with excess and slowly screwed down the cover plates. I 
> cleaned up all the excess that squeezed out around the covers. The 
> last few days we have had some serious rain. Both port and starboard 
> chain plates for the uppers and lowers are leaking, the port like a 
> hose and the strbd slightly less. Inspecting the deck work I can't 
> imagine that much water is getting in if any at all, the seal all 
> around looks great. Since doing the repair we have had little rain, 
> now that it is back it looks as if no repair was done at all. Any 
> suggestions?
>
> Steve
>
> Peregrine #312
>
> Seattle
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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>   


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