J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Leaks!!

I constantly accumulate an alarming amount of water in the bilge, even when on dry land! I am fairly certain that this is from rainwater comming in the mast, and replacing the boot didn't help at all. The water is always a problem, in cold weather because of freezing, and in warm because of what it grows! I am thinking of installing an automatic bilge pump, but would much rathar solve the problem. Any one know how to stop it?

I had this same problem when I bought my boat. I solved it by rebedding all of my deck fittings. Yes. All of them. I stopped all of the leaks, repaired a good bit of rot and put on new backing plates. It was the best thing I have done for my boat, but, not one that I would wish upon anyone.
I still got water down my mast and had the rot in the bilge problem. The following season I installed an automatic bilge pump. Bilge rot solved.
This year I am tackling the mast leak. The blocks on my mast are only about 1.5" above the top of the deck leavingno room for a proper boot. Any ideas?

You'll never be able to completely stop the rainwater running down the mast without stepping the mast. You can greatly reduce it through several methods. One is to use spartight in place of the wedges and boot. Another is to install your boot as best you can and seal it with silicon sealant. Squirt a bunch up into the mast track from below. Unfortunately, there's no real good way to stop the rainwater from entering the various holes in the mast (halyard, topping left exits, etc). Atleast, when the mast is well sealed at the deck, the rainwater is greatly reduced.

David,

I'd love to hear "tips, tricks, and advice" on your rebedding and rot repair. I'm in the process of trying to stabolize and polish up a '79 J30 that spent too many years hard racing. There are no outward signs on my deck but I've been working on the chainplate regions and it is obvious that there can be rot without any surface indication, so I am suspicious of a few other places. She's made it through 22 years and I like to get her ready for the next 44!

Thanks,

Mark

Mark,

Regarding "tips, tricks, and advice", there really are only two types of caulk that should be used on a boat: polysulfide or polyurethane.

Polyurethane should be used to bond two surfaces together that will probably NEVER have to come apart again. Polyurethane is strong, and will not let go. Once two surfaces are caulked with polyurethane caulk, it will be really hard to get the two objects apart.

Polysulfide should be used everywhere else. Chain plates, stantion bases, under hardware, etc.

IMHOP, Silicone should NEVER be used on a boat. Silicone goes on easy enough, but looses it's grip in a few months, and attracts dirt. If you have any silicon caulk on your boat, rub it with your thumb and watch how easy it comes up. If you have any leaks, 9 times out of 10 silicon caulk will be present near where the leak is. The stuff just has very little use on a boat.

Use either either polyurethane for permanent bonds, or polysulfide for everything else.

I was planning to go beyond caulk. The is a description in a West System publication of setting hardwear in epoxy. I was planning to do that but was thinking of using a wood based epoxy instead of West (I have seen West crack). I was also planning to seal off the deck from the chainplates with epoxy while not epoxying in the chainplates (I'll still need to caulk them). I am amazed at the quantity of water in my deck within a few feet of the cainplates, very little rot but a lot of water. TO my knowledge they had always been seeled with 3M 5200. It did not work! I want to dry it out and make it so it virtually can not get wet again. It seems like caulking is a system waiting to fail.

The earlier tip about polyurethane, polysulfide and silicone is absolutley correct.
I found that the best way to rebed a fitting is to remove it completely. Clean the bottom of the fitting and the deck carefully. It is best to use laquer thinner, mineral spirits and some other solvents will leave a residue. Then tape over the entire area with blue painters tape. Place the fitting on over the tape dry with the bolts. Cut the tape around the perimeter with a knife. Remove the fitting and then remove the tape under the fitting. Put the compound that you are using on the bottom of the fitting with the bolts already through it. This will minimize the amount of compound that ends up on the threads of the bolts, the inside of the cabin and yourself. Use rubber gloves when working with either polyurethane or polysulfide and bolt the fitting down. Smear a bead of the compound around the base of the fitting after you have tightened it down. Clean up with the laquer thinner and remove the rest of the tape. Use paper towels to clean up and throw them away immediately.
Be careful when working with the bedding compounds, they have a way of very quickly speading all over your tools, boat, clean up rags, glasses, everything. Maybe I am exceptionally clumsy, but, if I did not work like a surgeon I ended up covered head to toe in the stuff.
Some people use the bedding compound on the underside of the backer plates or washers. I do not believe in this practise. If the fitting is going to leak you should be able to see it leak for two reasons. First, so you can fix it. Second, if the water is not traveling out of the deck it is soaking up you core and rotting it.
Good luck!

Hi Mark, my partners and I just had an 81 J30 surveyed yesterday and found it had some water in the core but no delamination. We are going ahead with the deal and plan to start work as soon as we get some warm weather on LI. There was water in the rudder, in the transom at the exhaust and grudgeons, around the knot meter and at the bow pulpit and fore cleat and at the chain plates and bulkhead. Another sore spot was the windows. I am going to make new acrylic windows but which sealant should I use. Also do you just remove the old sealant and push the window out? If anyone has any suggestion s as how to tackle each of these areas I would welcome the advice. Thanks, Paul..

I changed the windows in Chinook (hull 447) last winter. It was relatively easy to remove the old windows with a putty knife to cut the old sealant. I used the old windows as templates for the cutting new ones. The most difficult part was scraping all the old bedding compound off the boat to prep for the new windows. I then bedded the new windows with 5200. One thing to be aware of, is the sides of the house have a little curve to them. If you try to just put a flat window in, either the front or back will not seal. I used a few 2x4's to leverage some weight against the new windows to press them into the curve of the boat.

My only advice beyond Ed's comment is not to use 5200. The portlights need to be replaced every once and a while due to the acrylic getting cloudy, and 5200 is virtually impossible to remove. Use a more easily removed (i.e. polysulfide)caulk instead