Sticky Goo!

[hcpookie]

My E27 is seeping goo. It would appear I have an epoxy problem around my handrails. This is the syrupy goo that has a vinegar smell. I'm fairly certain that is the water-diluted epoxy glue stuff. This was noticed just after the 12-inches of Ernesto water. Conincidence, or leakage?

There is a very small amount of goo that weeps from the crack, only a drop.

The goo is weeping through a spider crack in the cabin roof that is directly below the front screw of my port handrail (I'm going to snap a pic this weekend). The spider cracks appear to be a direct result of a PO (not you, David) attemping to "fix" the loose handrail problem by torquing the screws down tighter.

I recently rebedded the handrails and replaced the ferrules that were loose. This particular screw was one of those that did not need a new ferrule. At $5.00 each, this was a good thing The handrails are now *SOLID* and have a bed of 4000UV to keep them waterproof. New bungs, new varnish. Overall, a pretty darned good job if I do say so myself. Only cost me one screwdriver over the side!

OK. Now to my question: How best to address this?

The location of the goo worries me - perhaps I'm too worried? It is directly to the port side of my front vent. Obviously, the mast area is "uphill" of that as well. I cannot detect any "squishy" deck, so I am fairly confident that the deck wood is not spongy. Since the handrails were very loose (as in only held on by 2 screws on that side!!!) there has been quite a few seasons of water ingress at the handrail screw holes.

I'm thinking a moisture meter would be a good investment.... This is perhaps the best way I can think of to identify if the deck is really OK.

It would be logical to "probe" the extent of the goo by drilling some small holes in the cabin roof, but I'm not sure, other than a moisture meter, where and how many to drill.

The concern I have is deck de-lamination.

Thoughts?

 

[Emerald]

Hi Jerry,


Sorry to hear of the issues around the handrails. As you have correctly figured out, I didn't mess with them. They were on the list when I blew the 3 discs out the back of my neck, then Emerald found me, and as you know, that shifted my focus . So, with that as a background, what I can say for your history etc., is that when I had her surveyed at my time of purchase, the moisture meter didn't turn up any issues in the coach roof. I believe your surveyor also checked her out for moisture in the coach roof, and I don't recall any issues at that time either. I'd hate to think that you've got delamination started in the past several years. I am inclined to think that with the quantity of rain, you've had moisture (and nasty old goo, perhaps even ucured polyester resin akin to the contents of a blister) move through, but while wet, the core is hopefully not delaminated. Get a hold of a nylon or hard rubber mallet and do some thumping around. You should very quickly get a feel for solid versus not. Sharp rap is solid versus dull lackluster thud which would indicate some delamination. Remember that around stanchions, mast foot etc., Ericson used plywood instead of balsa core, so the sound should "sharpen" in these areas compared to the balsa cored (read rest of coach roof) parts. Don't let these sharper sounding areas make you think everything else is bad. Also, don't try tapping from below because the headliner isn't tight against the underside of the deck, and will be misleading in sound.

OK, so where does this leave you? I think you have done the most important start, which is to stop the leaking around the handrails. If you don't have flex, and it taps out reasonably solid, I think I would just keep an eye on it for change and make sure that any other sources of water ingress are taken care off (can't think what they may be, but look around). Do go after any gel coat cracks you have. As you know, Captain Tolley's Creeping Crack cure is good on the hairline cracks. If you have bigger stuff going on, you will probably have to grind it out with something like a dremel and fill with thickened epoxy. Even though you'll have to do some finish work to blend them in (either with gelcoat or paint), I would go after any that could let more water in.

Given the molded headliner etc., if you find you have some delamination, I would be tempted to try injecting resin before cutting it all open. The hard part is figuring out how to dry it, and this is where time might be the only answer. Get her sealed, possibly drill some holes from below for air/drainage, and wait a very long time...., which is what leads me back to saying if it's not soft and flexing, seal her up against more intrusion, and focus on sailing fun.

I hope some of these thoughts are helpful and this will turn out to be more of a nuisance than a structural problem.


-David
Independence 31
Emerald