Deck / Shroud Leakage

[Danny_Labrador]

Looking at a yacht at the moment that has one or two "issues".

One that I feel sure is relatively minor - but one that I would like your expert opinion on, (to put my mind at rest) - is a leak into the cabin through the deck where the forward shroud meets the deck.

Rain water enters through the joint with the deck.

I'm guessing that the solution is - more silicone ? Doesn't suggest a bigger problem does it ?

 

[30boat]

It should be addressed as soon as possible because of the danger of crevice corrosion.Stainless stell will corrode if kep wet in an oxygenless environment.

 

[Tranona]

Definitely not silicone - no place on a boat. However, that does need attention, which will depend on how the shroud attachment goes through the deck. It needs taking apart and resealing, but the big concern will be if the deck is cored in that area as the leak could mean water has got into the core. Water may also have got into the teak or between the teak and the deck. If the area around the fitting is slow to dry after rain this may indicate dampness in the deck from the leak. Lift the cover over the rigging screw to see what the attachment is like on the deck.

 

[jimbaerselman]

Oyster 406 had that problem with all shrouds. The shroud attachment tangs cut through a balsa core deck, then the teak deck. The hole through the deck was about 5mm larger than the tang. The original design was for this to be filled with sikaflex, then capped with a resin plate (which had a slot in it to let the tang through) bedded into sikaflex on to the teak deck.

But by the end of each season, slight movement of the tang caused the sikaflex to detach from tang surface, allowing a very slow drip through. So it was a seasonal job to replace the sikaflex - usually a good day's work to detach shrouds, scrape out all the old stuff completely, re-seal the surfaces, apply sealant, put the bedding plate in, re-attach shrouds. The good news was that the sikaflex remained bonded with the balsa core, which therefore did not get wet and rot.

The labour saving cure was to replace the resin plate with a stainless plate, welded to the tang, bedded directly on to the teak deck with sikaflex.

Incidentally, the sikaflex used was the type used for deck seams, and the surfaces were all sealed to ensure adhesion. Don't even think of silicone!

 

[macd]

Definitely not silicone - no place on a boat. However, that does need attention, which will depend on how the shroud attachment goes through the deck. It needs taking apart and resealing, but the big concern will be if the deck is cored in that area as the leak could mean water has got into the core. Water may also have got into the teak or between the teak and the deck. If the area around the fitting is slow to dry after rain this may indicate dampness in the deck from the leak. Lift the cover over the rigging screw to see what the attachment is like on the deck.

+1 to all that, with special emphasis to no place on a boat for silicone. Horrible, useless stuff.

 

[Vara]

I had a similar problem with one of my shroud bases, breakdown of sealant and water pouring in.

Raked out as much sealant as I could and used Fernox LS-X, as it was all I had that was even vaguely suitable, 3 years on still watertight.

http://www.fernox.com/files/Fernox/Content/PDF/English/LS-X.pdf

 

[auditdata]

As JimB says "Oyster 406 had that problem with all shrouds" and I bought one of the most leaky examples!
Here is a link to the solution.
http://www.sephina.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50&Itemid=57
If you click on the photo on the right of the article you will see the photos of the fix. It can be fixed.