Deck to hull joint leak

Hi,

I bought my 1971 E29 about two months ago and I've been poking through the site finding tons of useful information. The first thing I had to do after getting the boat home from a sopping wet 3 day cruise was to rebed all the hardware as it leaked like a sieve. After doing the windows, stantions, jib tracks and chainplates I still had water coming in from about 6 of the screws that hold the rub rail moulding on. This kind of scared me as I thought it would be a difficult job. Today I went at it and to my suprise it took less than an hour to remove, clean, caulk (5200), and replace the screws on the starboard side. The worst part is reinstalling the rubrail. Here is a picture of the rubrail half removed and of the hull to deck joint.

Thanks Cam

This is great news. I have a leak in the quarter berth of my 1978 E27 that has evaded me for some time. I have re-bedded all of the deck hardware and the head port hole, rebuilt the hatches and still the leak persists. i have come to the conclusion that this must be the hull/deck joint that i will tackle after she comes out next week.
I have attached a pic of the leak area. When it rains there is a constant bead of water down the interior wall about halfway back in the quarter berth. The top cap is dry so I assume the leak is coming in at the joint. Was your leak in a similar area?

Hi CamD, not sure if you ever got around to addressing your leak ~ my 1978 E27 has the exact same leak as yours. Top cap dry, leak coming in from that very location in your picture. I plan on removing the rubrail within a week or two to see if the leak's coming in from one of the screws.

I have several leaks that I can't get rid of. I have a couple points that leak along the stern berth and another is above the galley. I also have one window that persists even though I have pulled it and reset it several times. The ones on the rubrail are particularily difficult as I can't get them to seal. The problem is that the rail was originally screwed into the hull/deck joint flange. The idea seems to have been that they wouldn't penetrate all the way through. On mine many of them have penetrated through and I can't seem to seal them. I have taken the rails right off and cleaned up the seam and then epoxied up all of the holes and then redrilled them, being careful not to penetrate the hull. The problem is that the screws are just long enough to break through in spots where the fiberglass is slightly thinner. Since the rail doesn't fit tight against the flange there isn't a good seal created around the area when the screw is tightened and thus some of them leak. I'm thinking of finding the worst culprits and through bolting them. I also have suspicions about the jib sheet track but haven't been able to find conclusive evidence. For now I have it tarped which keeps it down to small drips.

Hi CamD,

I had a leak over the quarter-berth that came through the front cockpit scupper (E27 W/wheel). I chased it around for quite a while, replaced scuppers, added a sealing access panel to the steering quadrant etc. Turned out it was the portside lazarette lid. $4 for some weatherstripping and 5 minutes applying it to the underside of the lid and not a drop in 2 years. I wish they were all that simple!

E27 Hull Deck Seam leaks

Great post. After a two year re-fit on my E27 and after reading about and actually inspecting the glass covered hull/deck seam from the inside I was convinced that they would never leak. Well, 3 years at Lake Dillon never made them leak but a week in the Channel islands in late June did the trick and all my clothes up in the forward vee-berth shelves were soaked. When we got to San Diego I peeled off the rub-rail, the backing too and then spent a day cleaning out the joint, letting it dry and then applying 5200 to it. I swear that whoever cut the excess material from the hull deck joint, it must have been done after one of those real fun Friday lunches at a wild Mexican restaurant as there were quite a few wild cuts into the hull material. After the repair, it never leaked for the rest of the trip via San Miguel Island back to Ventura.

Thanks!

Hi everyone!

I just purchased a 1971 E29, and I moved up from a Morgan 27. She has been out of the water for a few years! Overall she is in great shape, But I am looking forward to getting her in the water. I will certainly check out these rub rail points, it looks like great information!

I will miss the morgan but look forward to cruising the E29!


regards


Thom Mason
71 E29
"unnamed at this point"
thomthod@bellsouth.net

Japerra, I have the same leak in my 27.
Im getting ready in a couple weeks to redo the joint, I just hope thats it.
Let me know about yours.

During the rains in California a couple weeks ago i noticed the same leak as well as 4 of the portlights looks like i will have a great project ahead of me.

Me Too!

Add my E27 to the list. I always thought that the leak was coming from my forward/starboard scupper until I read this post and looked at it closer and noticed a trail along the interior starboard wall of the aft quarter berth.

Is it too late for a manufacturer defect case!!

(Thats a rhetorical question by the way)

Todd

You might talk to Seth about manufacturer defects, he was the customer service manager for Ericson.