Hi, and thanks for all the responses so far... Based on many of the responses in the several places I posed this question, I see that I wasn't sufficiently clear in my questions...
In hope of clarifying: We are on a Morgan 461 built 33 years ago this month. The through-bolted teak toe rail was bedded with whatever they used at the time, and to my knowledge most likely has never been removed, other than a portion of the starboard bow which was damaged in our wreck - which was replaced. In its lifetime, the toe rail outer bottom(s), meeting the hull and deck, has been caulked at least twice. I know that because we took out the old caulk (easily removed, very old) when we did our initial refit, recaulking with 3m 101, no longer available, and have now removed that 101 caulk we applied during that refit, 7 years later. We're recaulking because there are some leaks we presume to be coming through that area. That's because our application (both deck and hull-side exterior caulk lines) of Captain Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure, applied along that line(s), MOSTLY (only - not completely) stopped them. Thus the recaulk in hopes of killing those remaining leaks. We will NOT be removing the toe rail, a massive disruption to our already torn-up boat. My vendor has suggested we use Bostik 940FS for our recaulk. I have some concerns about it. Though I hope I won't have to, I had to remove both the earlier, and, now, this caulk, so I'm anticipating a potential removal of whatever I put down this time in the long-distance future. So, my question(s) was/were: 1) Has anyone used Bostik 940FS over any extended period, including having to remove it, and, if so, what were the experiences with it as to sealing and removing. (Like 5200, it's an adhesive, not "just" a caulk. Knowing how challenging 5200 is to remove has me thinking I'd not better use this stuff. It's also sandable and paintable, which makes me wonder about how flexible the stuff is after cure.) 2) If not Bostik, what else, and with what results, were used long term? 4200 is a less permanent adhesive with about half the adhesion strength of 5200, and similar to the Bostik. It seems to be the replacement of choice (now that 101 is no longer made) for many, though there are also a variety of folks who are adamant against it. Sikaflex, Lifecaulk and Boatlife products seem to have their followings and detractors. One responder likes Dupont 795, the product we used to rebed our aft hatch glass, but I believe it would be pretty messy to try to use it for this particular application. Other research suggests silicone based products are not appropriate for sealing edges - but make fine gasket material. This is a silicone-based product, another strike against it, so far... If I were removing the toe rail, and for future deck beddings, I'd use Butyl Tape, for its superior water-blocking and ease of use and cleanup, along with virtually NO aging characteristics. Butyl caulk was mentioned, but research (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-butyl-caulk.htm) suggests it's not a good application for this in many ways. Butyl tape doesn't seem as though it could be used for caulking, as nice as that might be However, I'm all ears as to how one would get it into the crack, tool it, and have it cure to the level that bumps and other potential disruptions to the seal would be of no event. So, back to the questions, relating strictly to recaulking: 1) Has anyone used Bostik 940FS over any extended period, including having to remove it, and, if so, what were the experiences with it as to sealing and removing. 2) If not Bostik 940FS (or the non-fast-set), what else, and with what results (application hints/cautions and ease of removal), were used long term? Thanks! L8R Skip Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog and/or http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog "Believe me, my young friend, there is *nothing*-absolutely nothing-half so much worth doing as simply messing, messing-about-in-boats; messing about in boats-or *with* boats. In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not."
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