I'm too old to be a gymnast!

Well, after spending a lot of time removing and plugging the leaky deck fills, putting new gaskets on the galley/dinette ports, and rebedding stanchions, I was confronted with the biggest offender in the leak department.  Cowardly hiding behind his lesser associates, the godfather of leaks was caught when he had nowhere to hide.

Yes, it was the failure of and/or complete lack of caulking between the caprail and the hull/deck joint on the bulwark.  Not that this wouldn't have been suspected after some 35 years of weather, but it was not as obvious as one would expect.  Anyway, the major culprit had been caught red handed during a rare visit of mine during a rain storm.

So, what to do?  I mulled over several options:  (1) remove all of the caprails and glass over the joint and re-install the caprail; (2) inject epoxy resin between the caprail and hull/deck joint and let the epoxy naturally flow to the holes and seal them; (3) inject epoxy caulking into the gap between the caprail and the hull/deck joint.  After rejecting (1) outright, I consulting both West Systems and System3 technical support to get some expert advice.

Both companies rejected option (2) because the fluid epoxy wouldn't flow enough before it cured, or, if it did, the dripping uncured epoxy would be more of a mess than a solution.  So, option (3) was the best method.  System3 offered the best response and their support folks were more than helpful.  I ordered their relatively new epoxy caulk and gave it a go.

The Caprail runs down both sides of the boat

I spent a couple of days scraping and vacuuming out whatever old caulking was present.  I chose a nice dry and sunny day to attack the caprail.  I washed the area with acetone and got started.  I had both inboard and outboard sides of the caprail to caulk:  roughly 4 x 45 feet of a caulk seam.  I should be done by lunch!  Hmmm, we'll see.

Outboard side of caprail on port side

The outboard side was relatively easy since all I had to do was move the ladder after each pass.  I did about 12 to 18 inches at a time:  inject caulk, smooth out the bead, wipe up any excess, move on.  My thought of being done by lunch was blown away as the outboard seam took until 1:00.

Inboard side of caprail at the stern

The inboard seam would not require moving the ladder, but it presented other challenges!  The caulking gun and caulk tube was about 20 inches long which made getting the tip into the seam a gymnastic event.  I had to contort my old body in ways I didn't think I could.  Imagine caulking 25 bathtubs while standing on your head and you'll be close!

Inboard side of caprail near cockpit where the bulwark changes height

Well, I finished at about 6:00 pm.  It was a long day filled with exercises I would regret for a few days!  However, the entire caprail was now caulked and sealed.  After a 24 hour cure period, it looked great.  The System3 product worked great!  It rained a few days later and we had a leak free vessel!  I guess even as an old gymnast, I stuck the landing!

Fair Winds and Following Seas!