Hi Matthew Interesting. I had a void behind the mast step, not in front of it. In front and under was totally filled with some sort of high density foam filler.
Graham Collins Secret Plans C&C 35-III #11 On 2018-06-26 3:37 PM, Matthew Schlanger via CnC-List wrote: > Hello CnC list, > > I purchased The Office a couple years ago and was told by my surveyor that > all the mast step needed was a 3/8” piece of fiberglass added to raise it up > to make the flooring match. He didn’t feel the 3/8” depression was a > structural problem. > > Of course my first year on the hard the mast step was looked at and all > others insisted it needed a total rebuild. My first estimate was 8K. I put > this off a season and then found someone who did it for 6K. I am happy I > didn’t try to do it myself, I hate creating in fiberglass and epoxy, and > structurally this was way beyond my skill set. When doing the work Joe, my > fiberglass guy, noticed that there is a void in front of the mast step and it > was filled with very old stinking water. Though I leaned toward filling it > in, I didn’t see how this was ever intended to be part of the bilge system, > instead, Joe added a PVC pipe, about 1” in diameter, in the center of the > mast step to allow for this forward area to drain. > > Splash the boat and I start to notice my bilge is working really hard. After > a race my crew noticed the boat was sinking, add a newly broken wire on my > bilge pump, I finally studied the situation and found a constant flow of > water from the tube that was added to mast step. After discussion with Joe we > realized that a small crack that I thought I saw, then decided was nothing, > must have been in play. > > I pulled the boat out that week and what looked like a tiny tiny crack before > was now a good sized rip in the hull. This is at the forward corner, just > before, and at, where the hull curves down to form the fin that the keel > attaches too. Obviously the void in front of the mast step was still filling > up and now draining through the new tube we added. If he didn’t add this tube > it would have filled up and we would have not even noticed, as before. And > obviously, this is why the mast step was rotted - the water that was being > carried just forward of the mast step, and it would have rotted again. > > In making the second repair, Joe said he found an old sub-par repair, with > foam, etc. He cleaned out the old repair, ground it down and built up the > fiber glass layers. Put on some barrier coat, I added some ablative and The > Office is in the water again. I was lucky this didn’t kill a month of the > season. > > Now I have to say I am still suspicious, why did this crack appear after > rebuilding my mast step? My theory is that the heat from setting the epoxy > did something to the old repair, though on the other hand, the fact that this > area was filled with water would have you think it was never done right at > all and was in play even if not very visible. I didn’t notice it before. My > surveyor didn’t see it, I doubt the previous owner was aware of it. > > Here is my question. Are people filling in this area in front of the mast > step? It seems to me to serve no purpose. The forward bilge seems to run over > this spot, and if water does get in there, as per the original design there’s > no way for it to get out. Sounds dumb to me. And filled in it seems it would > add something to the structure. Of course I’m not going back and doing this > now. > > Second question, it seems a rip in this area of the boat would indicate > someone had a hard hit at some point. Should I be concerned? I am not seeing > other issues. > > > Matthew Schlanger > The Office > 1983 C&C 35 mk3 > Nyack NY > _______________________________________________ > > Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and > every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use > PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray > _______________________________________________ Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray
