I fixed it...I think?

My 77 H 16 has always taken a disconcerting amount of water into the port hull. I could not figure out exactly where it was coming in...a mystifying mystery. Then, after a heavy weather day (3 hrs) in the 5 foot rollers of Flathead Lake, Montana, the hull immediately began to pour water out upon removal of the drain plug. With the boat sitting near level on the trailer, a "level line" from the drain seemed to indicate that the hull was almost half full of water!!! I freaked out and brought it to the wood shop for some investigation. After drying it out, I used a raft pump and a buddy, no water and bubbles for this problem. A couple of pumps and i could hear hsssss. More pumps and HSSSSSsssss!. I quickly discovered a seam leak where the top deck laminates to the "V" of the hull. It ran 5 inches to either side of the standing rigging (stay) where it through bolts to a 3 inch stainless rod ("barrel bolt") under the lip of the top deck.
I did some repairs...the right thing? not sure...but some constructive crit would be nice. I disassembled the connection to the barrel bolt under the deck's lip. The applied a piece of tape across the bottom of the hole on the underside. Where the top deck rolls over, 2 inches to either side of the stay position, I drilled a 1/8 hole through the first layer (top deck) and into the delaminated area, being sure not to go clean through. Next I mixed a half cup of west system epoxy using some micro fibers to thicken it. I filled the hole where the stay penetrates the side (now shut with tape from the bottom) as well as the two holes I drilled from the top on either side. Next, I flipped the function of the raft pump to "suck" as apposed to "blow". Several pumps and some gurgling and my filled and once full points of epoxy had lowered and presumably sucked into the separated area. I followed this procedure until nearly 1/2 cup of epoxy was swallowed up. I finished by putting two padded ratchet straps around the hull over the troubled spot. The next day, I re-drilled the through rod position with the same diameter bit and put the whole lot back together. I'm sure I got enough epoxy in there to run down the inside of the hull! It seems fixed as the last 4 outings have only dripped the standard table spoons of moisture from the drain plug.
I've seen a picture of a hull opened up like a cooler and I think I was closer to that scenario than I was aware of! The reverse pump seemed like a ingenious idea. Is that an excepted way to draw glue into a wound? Could I fabricate a 8 in or longer barrel bold with the properly tapped threads and size so as to displace the load or tension on the side rail? Its a long story and some silly questions, but thanks community.

The shroud anchor is a major stress point. I should think water ingress is the least of your worries. Check out the earlier post "has anyone seen this break before?" for what may be in store for you.

Sounds like you solved the problem for now. I tend to agree with Sunvista on the deck separation happening in the future. Before you injected the resin mixture did you attempt to open the seam and allow it to completely dry out? If you've seen a cross section of a 16 hull you'll know the bonding area surface of the deck to hull isn't much more than an inch. So, given the seam separation went 5" to either side of the barrel you'd have about 10 square inches to re-bond. With the deck seam being a compression type of joint you should have gotten by with using 2-3 liquid ounces of resin max (not a full cup). All the extra resin which was sucked in by using the vacuum may have just run down the inside wall of the hull which won't add any strength to the lip area. Question I have for you is ..was the hull in its normal up-right position when you did the fix, or did you tilt it to the side?

The two small holes that I drilled on either side of the stay were inside the one inch lamination area. The seam or delam was more like 6 inches in length, 3 in either direction from the stay through connection. I tried to wedge it open but to no avail. It looked like a hair line fracture between the layers. However, when under windward stress while under sail, I think it flexed or gasped a bit more. I did not tip it on its side. The repair was done on the trailer after it sat in the hot sun for 5 days. Does a longer barrel bolt sound like a silly option? It couldn't hurt could it? Seems it would displace the load tension over a larger area. thanks

I share Rick's concern about making the area to be repaired was thoroughly dry before repair, and also, as he alluded, I think it would have been better to turn the boat nearly turtle during this repair to ensure the resin stayed in the desired area. Using suction was a good idea to draw the resin into the opening, however it will flow in the direction of least resistance, so a combination of using a wedge and suction might have been better. Also, if you had done the repair with the boat upside down, you could have followed the suction with a pressure cycle to force some of the resin back through the delaminated area. I would also consider using some small SS machine screws to hold this area together. You could countersink the heads and nuts slightly and cover them with gelcoat repair resin.

p.s. check the other hull too!

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Alan
'86 H16, Sail #89057

I think this is a real good idea in your case. I would at least double the length of the shroud anchor. As old as your boat is I would go ahead and have two fabricated.

I think making a longer anchor bar is not a bad idea. The previous owner of my old 17 had made one. If memory serves me, the stock anchor bars are about 4 or 5 inches long, so going out to 6 or 8" would probably be good. You need to make sure you drill the bar dead on center. It may be easier to just get a machinist to do the work. Also, on the 17, the deck line in the area of the shround anchor is very straight. The 16 has a much more curved deck. There's no point making the bar longer than the straight section since it will lose contact with the deck.

As far as getting resin into the repair, I did a somewhat similar repair on the lip of my 18. I wanted to get a fillet of resin in the inside joint between the deck and the hull. So I took the hulls off and flipped them so the seam was the low point. Then I poured thickend resin into the joint - worked perfect. You would of course need an access port to do this.

sm

Thanks for the info folks. I've been out nearly 30 times this summer and now the snow has touched the peak tops and the nights are getting cooler. Over the winter, I'll machine longer barrel bolts. Like checking the oil on an old Chevy, I give the boat a quick "once over" before shoving off. She's like an old classic car; I need to take care of her and keep an eye out for the problems. I think I could catch the problem again before the hull looks like the open cooler lid and perhaps save it with some more extensive repairs. thanks again!