Summary
(please click on any of the pictures for a larger one - use the BACK button to come back)
This is the catch-all page for attaching things to the deck. I have some info on how I sealed up the deck core, bedded windows and hatches, and made some backing plates for deck hardware.
This was one of those times when I said, "Since I am going through all of this trouble, I might as well do it correctly!". (and not have to worry about it for the next 20 years.....)
Here is a drawing of what the finished holes looked like for nearly everything I bedded into the cored deck on my boat.
The steps (painstakingly long) are as follows:
1) Drill out hole 1/8 to 3/16 larger than the through-bolt fastener used.
2) Route out core with screwdriver, nail in drill, etc. between the two fiberglass skins.
3) Tape up bottom of hole and fill cavity with lightly-thickened epoxy insuring that it makes its way into the core section that you removed.
4) Once set, re-drill hole with correct size for fastener, insuring you center the hole in the new epoxy.
5) [IMPORTANT] Using drill bit or manual tool, grind a bevel on the top edge of the hole. This creates a sealing washer out of the bedding compound coming up next.
6) Now seal with bedding compound and hand-tighted fastener(s).
7) When bedding is dry, tighten fastener the rest of the way.
NOW I know why it took so long to put all the hardware back on.....
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Here is my first cut at all of the holes I had to re-do. I was trying to standardize on bolt sizes, etc. to make things go quicker.
I quickly gave up on trying to keep this up to date as some of the deck hardware moved around, but the sheer number of holes is about right. |
Here are some of the epoxy-filled oversized holes before re-drilling them out to the correct size. |
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For all of the hatches and the side windows, I sealed up the core edge with thickened epoxy in addition to the screw hole treatment.
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Most of the original through-bolted hardware on mounted on deck just went through the pilothouse top, core and all, and then to a washer/nut on the underside of the liner.
The problem with this arrangement is that after some time the core will "squeeze" in (it's foam, after all) and the fastener becomes loose. You tighten it up, and then the foam gives some more and it happens again. Pretty soon you have even created a "dent" in the headliner on the inside.
To help with this, I cut out the core and inner lining (headliner) in the areas that had deck hardware. I sealed off the core edges with epoxy and fiberglass. I put six new layers of glass in, bonded to the outer skin.
Then I made some hefty backing plates with 1/4" aluminum for each of the hardware pieces. Here is the winch location from underneath.
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For some of the non-critical hardware, I didn't do the glass reinforcement.
Here, I just drilled out the liner and core and sealed/bolted the hardware to the outer skin only with large fender washers.
This is the triple deck organizer. The three middle bolts are the load-carrying sheaves. The end ones are the cover screws. |
I used a similar process to bed the new cockpit drains. The wood around the old ones was already beginning to rot.
I glassed and filled the holes with thickened epoxy to insure that when re-cut, there was no exposed wood for any water intrusion.
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This is the bottom side of the hull-to-deck joint forward. I found these MAMBO 316 stainless washers that had the same diameter as the bow rail bases I added. I drilled 3 corresponding holes, and VOILA! - a backing plate!
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Here are a few more shots of the headliner just because I had them!
(yes, the triple rope clutch is at an angle)
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Lessons Learned
Putting holes in a boat takes a LONG time to do right.
This was by far one of the most agonizingly slow processes I did on the exterior.
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