Hull to Deck Separation - How common and how to repair?

wurzner

wurzner

Member III
Anothe fellow in my marina purchased a 1989 Ericson 38-200 and has found what may be a fairly significant issue. During the process of decommisioning the boat, the straps from the hoist made a portion of the rubrail come loose and sag. After removing it to inspect how to repair, it became evident that the hull to deck seam is opened up for approximately a 10 foot section. To fill this area, there is a fair amount of caulking that is now old suggesting this is an old repair.

The questions I said I'd ask for him is how do you determine if the separation continues to the inside since this is an inward seam. I can't imaging what would cause the inner layers of glass to separate suggesting this may just be at the exterior and that the interior seem is still in place.

Is there a risk of significant core damage due to the ingress of water?

How does one pursue doing a repair of this nature?

Can this just be caulked up and the rubrail reattached? This condition is not noticable when the rub rail is in place.

Does this pose a structural issue the a TAFG system? If all the loads are transferred to the keel and TAFG, I wouldn't think too much load is applied to the hull to deck seam. The area we are talking about is from about the mast going 10 feet back or so.

thanks for any input. I believe he is planning on just caulking for the immediate time being, using the boat, and developing a strategy to address this going forward. I'm interested in replies since I also heard about a 1981 38 that had the same issue. My rubrail is dented in a few localized places and am curioius to see if removing it and rebedding the entire hull to deck seam is a good idea.

thanks
shaun
 
Loren Beach

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
The finishing of this joint is discussed somewhere in an earlier thread...
First thing to do is inspect the inside of the joint, inconvenient an operation as that might be.
If the inside overlay of roving is undisturbed, then a decision must be made as to whether the outside of this seam just needs caulk or needs some glass applied.

My .02 worth,

Loren
 
EGregerson

EGregerson

Member III
hull deck joint

The key question here i think is: what made the rub rail pop. I doubt the straps pulled the rub rail off. Rather i suspect the hull deck joint was previously separated (and poorly repaired; caulked from the outside) and when the straps put pressure from below, forced the hull out and away from the deck, popping the rubrail loose. I have I think a similar problem on my e34 (created by bashing the boat next to me during TS ernesto). the hopeful approach is to band-aid it; the surveyor said to get in there and repair it properly. If the 38 has teak slats like the 34 does, they can be removed by drilling the plugs and removing the screws. this gains access to the damaged area. I also had to pull the staples from the liner. Grind out the separated roving and cloth laminate; re- do. The proprietor at the marina doing the work on mine wants to glass in additional layers; make it stronger than it was originally. I tended to want to talk myself into a band-aid job initially; the mast is keel stepped, what forces could there be on the deck? but i realized that in a blow, the shrouds will pull up from their mounting points in the lower hull, and what will keep the hull in place is the deck (if securely joined). Bite the bullet.
 
wurzner

wurzner

Member III
Valinor,

I agree with your thread, he does believe this was existing damage and the rail was held in place by securing it to the caulking. Also, he also stated that shipping it put force on the rail causing it to fail...this was not discovered during a survey.

I believe his intent is to determine the scope of the project and likely band aid it initially and address the repair when he is better prepared and the prime sailing season has passed.

Good points..thank you for the posting.
 
D

Dan Callen

Contributing Member III
Hull to deck joint

I own a 1989 Ericson 32-3 and I know of a 32-200 that was delivered that had multiple problems. The boat was returned to the Ericson factory and the deck was actually removed from the hull and then the factory shut down. The owner had to fly from Tennessee to Irvine to arrange to have the boat put back together and then shipped. I do not know where this boat ended up but I do know he eventually sold it. Just wondered if this could be the same boat. Dan Callen Ericson32-3 Andiamo
 
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