Due to the stress from the halyard my deck has pulled up and created a crack about two inches down inside the mast step . The crack is about 1/4" wide and goes around the entire opening and it is leaking. I first put some marine tex in the crack and then put a weight on the deck to close the crack so the marine tex would ooze out and then smoothed it out. Looked good and closed the crack but after I sailed for the first time the deck pulled up and opened the crack. Someone suggested I use epoxy. So I cleaned out the crack and filled it with epoxy and put more weight on the deck to close the crack and let the epoxy ooze out. I smoothed it out, let it dry..Looked good and closed the crack just like the marine tex. Sailed today and after I got back...the crack re-opened and leaked. Not sure what to do at this point. The guy at West Marine suggested sanding everything down...put more epoxy in the crack..put weight on the deck to close the crack but this time cut some fiberglass cloth and put it around the inside of the mast step on top of the epoxy..then cover the cloth with more epoxy until saturated. I am more concerned with the leaking than the crack. Will the cloth with epoxy stop the leaking? Any suggestions wouldbe appreciated.
Deck Separation from mast step
- Thread starter altair
- Start date
If I had this problem, that would be my next attempt (before cutting a hole in the deck to REALLY do it right). I do think I'd grind off some glass in the mast hole before so the new glass would not reduce the diameter to the point where the mast wouldn't fit. Also, I'd do probably at least two layers. Good luck, sounds frustrating.
minifish
New Member
Do you have any inspection ports?
If so, you could redo the epoxy in the crack, put weight on the deck to close the crack, then go inside the boat and do several layers of glass and get a good large area for the resin to bond to without it looking ugly from the outside. After it cures, use marine tex as a filler to just finish it.
Next, move the halyard cleat onto the mast (use bolts all the way through the mast) and use the existing deck cleat to tie off the loose end of the halyard to prevent the mast coming out in a capsize. This will get the stress off the deck.
This was suggested to me as a repair for my deck cleat being pulled out. It also helps prevent the mast from grinding through the mast step.
If so, you could redo the epoxy in the crack, put weight on the deck to close the crack, then go inside the boat and do several layers of glass and get a good large area for the resin to bond to without it looking ugly from the outside. After it cures, use marine tex as a filler to just finish it.
Next, move the halyard cleat onto the mast (use bolts all the way through the mast) and use the existing deck cleat to tie off the loose end of the halyard to prevent the mast coming out in a capsize. This will get the stress off the deck.
This was suggested to me as a repair for my deck cleat being pulled out. It also helps prevent the mast from grinding through the mast step.
Cindy Taylor
Member
I have had this issue two times. The first time it was fixed similar to the above method and the fix lasted about a year before it separated again.
Here is one thread that also talks about it:
http://www.sunfishforum.com/showthread.php?t=25706
The second time it got fixed by the method that sfox suggested. It has only been a few months now but this fix is much stronger than the first fix. Now all I need is a mast that won't leak
.I'll post pictures of my husband's handy work.