I have recently removed a lot of fittings from the balsa cored deck of one of my boats. I am presently coating the deck with kiwigrip. In a couple of days I will have to reinstall the deck fittings using the technique of removing core in the fastening area and redrilling. I may use butyl rubber around the beveled top of the screw holes. My question is: What have listees found to be the best sealant for fasteners in a cored deck? Richard P.

Richard, The way I was taught years ago is that the best way to insure that you don't get leaks at screw holes is to drill out the screw holes to oversize, then fill them with fiberglass resin or another suitable permanent resin. Let the resin cure and then drill a new hole in the resin being careful not to go past the resin either in diameter or depth and then screw your attachment screws into the resin. In this manner the screw is surrounded by resin and does not come into contact with the core material, such as balsa, thus even if water penetrates along the screw threads it never gets to the core material and thus does not cause future rot or damage. Just my two cents worth. Good luck, George MV-Valhalla "And the sea will grant each man new hope, as sleep brings dreams of home." George@MV-Valhalla.Com -----Original Message----- From: Trawlers-and-Trawlering [mailto:trawlers-bounces@lists.trawlering.com] On Behalf Of Richard P via Trawlers-and-Trawlering Sent: Tuesday, February 2, 2021 9:48 PM To: trawlers@lists.trawlering.com trawlers@lists.trawlering.com Subject: T&T: best sealant for deck fastenings I have recently removed a lot of fittings from the balsa cored deck of one of my boats. I am presently coating the deck with kiwigrip. In a couple of days I will have to reinstall the deck fittings using the technique of removing core in the fastening area and redrilling. I may use butyl rubber around the beveled top of the screw holes. My question is: What have listees found to be the best sealant for fasteners in a cored deck? Richard P. _______________________________________________ http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/listinfo/trawlers_lists.trawlering.com To unsubscribe or modify your subscription options (get password, change email address, etc) go to: http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/listinfo/trawlers_lists.trawlering.com Trawlers & Trawlering and T&T are trademarks of Water World Productions. Unauthorized use is prohibited.

George's idea to 'pot' the fasteners is one that should be followed on any cored deck. If your fasteners go all the way through-"through bolted'- that's okay, too, as any leaking, as long as the resin hadn't been compromised when re-drilled, will force the water to exit out the bottom, thus providing a red flag that indicates that the fitting needs to be rebedded. The second advantage of potting fasteners in a cored deck is that the resin also fulfills the function of a compression post. *Rudy & Jill Sechez * *BRINEY BUG-a 34' Sail-Assisted Trawler * *850-832-7748* *www.trawlertrainingabc.com <http://www.trawlertrainingabc.com>* Cocoa FL On Wed, Feb 3, 2021 at 3:07 AM DieselTrawlerGuy via Trawlers-and-Trawlering <trawlers@lists.trawlering.com> wrote: > Richard, > > The way I was taught years ago is that the best way to insure that you > don't > get leaks at screw holes is to drill out the screw holes to oversize, then > fill them with fiberglass resin or another suitable permanent resin. Let > the resin cure and then drill a new hole in the resin being careful not to > go past the resin either in diameter or depth and then screw your > attachment > screws into the resin. In this manner the screw is surrounded by resin and > does not come into contact with the core material, such as balsa, thus even > if water penetrates along the screw threads it never gets to the core > material and thus does not cause future rot or damage. > > Just my two cents worth. > > Good luck, > George > > MV-Valhalla > > "And the sea will grant each man new hope, as sleep brings dreams of home." > > George@MV-Valhalla.Com > > -----Original Message----- > From: Trawlers-and-Trawlering [mailto: > trawlers-bounces@lists.trawlering.com] > On Behalf Of Richard P via Trawlers-and-Trawlering > Sent: Tuesday, February 2, 2021 9:48 PM > To: trawlers@lists.trawlering.com trawlers@lists.trawlering.com > Subject: T&T: best sealant for deck fastenings > > I have recently removed a lot of fittings from the balsa cored deck of one > of my boats. I am presently coating the deck with kiwigrip. In a couple > of days I will have to reinstall the deck fittings using the technique of > removing core in the fastening area and redrilling. I may use butyl rubber > around the beveled top of the screw holes. My question is: > > What have listees found to be the best sealant for fasteners in a cored > deck? > > Richard P. > _______________________________________________ > http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/listinfo/trawlers_lists.trawlering.com > > To unsubscribe or modify your subscription options (get password, change > email address, etc) go to: > http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/listinfo/trawlers_lists.trawlering.com > Trawlers & Trawlering and T&T are trademarks of Water World > Productions. Unauthorized use is prohibited. > > > _______________________________________________ > http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/listinfo/trawlers_lists.trawlering.com > > To unsubscribe or modify your subscription options (get password, change > email address, etc) go to: > http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/listinfo/trawlers_lists.trawlering.com > Trawlers & Trawlering and T&T are trademarks of Water World > Productions. Unauthorized use is prohibited. >

In the current issue of Professional Boatbuilder (mine came two days ago) there is an entire article dedicated to fastening to a deck. The author basically uses the method George suggests, but with the addition of gouging out a bit of core material between the deck and the bottom layers of fiberglass (if that's the type of construction you're dealing with) around the edges of the hole before adding the resin and letting it cure. That helps to prevent any water intrusion as well as strengthens the deck structure immediately adjacent to the hole you'll eventually drill. There are various methods of gouging out the core material; the author suggested a Dremel tool, or chucking a hex wrench into a drill. <><><><><><><><><><><><>Mozilla Thunderbird<><><><><><><><><><> Bob McLeran and Judy Young Manatee Cove Marina, Patrick AFB Florida Formerly cruising in MV Sanderling, a DeFever 41 Trawler which has been sold Blog: http://mvsanderling.net/Blog On 2/3/2021 03:06 AM, DieselTrawlerGuy via Trawlers-and-Trawlering wrote: > Richard, > > The way I was taught years ago is that the best way to insure that you don't > get leaks at screw holes is to drill out the screw holes to oversize, then > fill them with fiberglass resin or another suitable permanent resin. Let > the resin cure and then drill a new hole in the resin being careful not to > go past the resin either in diameter or depth and then screw your attachment > screws into the resin. In this manner the screw is surrounded by resin and > does not come into contact with the core material, such as balsa, thus even > if water penetrates along the screw threads it never gets to the core >