How We Noticed the Issue
Throughout the wet winter, one of our starboard chainplates showed a small leak. The water was unfortunately seeping into my cold weather clothing, but there was no permanent damage to the clothes or the boat. The rain would not let up for long enough to address it, but it seemed to only intrude when the wind was easterly, so the water intrusion was rare enough to let us wait until spring.
Project Process
Tools included: sealant, scraper, hardware gloves, masking tape, screwdrivers of different lengths and widths, razor blade, acetone & rag, putty knife
- Removed the chainplate cover by removing the screws and breaking the very loose seal from the old sealant. We quickly saw the gaps in the old sealant allowing water to flow towards the interior.
- Took apart the interior chainplate cover to determine if we wanted to remove it all the way and seal under it. This involved removing the lovely teak plugs and removing the lovely teak covers. Our initial determination was that we would prefer to remove it, but frankly the way the cover is mounted made it really challenging to do without dismantling half of the starboard cabinetry, so we decided against it.
- Scraped (and scraped and scraped and dug and dug), the old sealant out from the deck side.
- Used acetone and a rag, and a razor blade, to clean the existing surfaces as much as possible
- Used the new sealant, filled existing gaps as much as possible
- Pressed the chainplate cover over the sealant, lining up the holes but not replacing the screws immediately
- Waited overnight, then replaced the screws & tightened fully into place
- Replace the teak plugs
Resources
- Don Casey’s Bedding Deck Hardware
- Don Casey’s What Sealant Do You Need?
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