Rear skeg water leaks

scgunner · June 02, 2019, 07:41:18 AM

Mine didn't look that nice, along with the foul water there were chunks of partially glassed in scummy rags and pieces of overlaid fiberglass that had to be cut free to gain full access to the compartment. After a thorough clean out I filled the void with a combination of teak blocks and West Systems finishing with a smooth top layer of West Systems. Now where ever the water comes from it's free to continue it's journey unimpeded to the main bilge.

kh3412 · June 02, 2019, 04:56:31 PM

Yes it was disgusting back there that's after cleaning out. Put 5 layers of Biaxial and a layer of roving. Will fill next weekend with expanding foam and cover with glass.

scgunner · June 03, 2019, 07:03:12 AM

Wow, expanding foam as the filler, what a great idea, I wish I would have thought of that. Easier and cheaper.

kh3412 · June 09, 2019, 03:48:02 PM

Just a note, filled the areas in the rear of the boat used expanding epoxy foam. Put five layers of glass over and tested works great. Would highly recommended this for anybody who has a boat that will see freezing weather.

mdidomenico · June 09, 2019, 04:26:48 PM

Quote from: kh3412 on June 09, 2019, 03:48:02 PM
Just a note, filled the areas in the rear of the boat used expanding epoxy foam. Put five layers of glass over and tested works great. Would highly recommended this for anybody who has a boat that will see freezing weather.

can you provide a link to the epoxy foam product you used? i'll probably do mine as well, i looked in there yesterday to retrieve a dropped fitting, ick...

kh3412 · June 09, 2019, 05:43:20 PM

http://www.uscomposites.com/foam.html

Noah · June 09, 2019, 05:57:29 PM

KH- You said you used epoxy foam? I believe there is a difference between urethane foam and epoxy expanding foam.

scgunner · June 10, 2019, 07:30:15 AM

I don't really think it makes a difference what type of foam you use the idea is just to fill the void so you can put a layer of epoxy over it to smooth and seal the area so no water is trapped and runs down to the bilge. If I had it to do over again I'd just use an expanding, insulating foam from a spray can then finish with a layer of West Systems, a lot easier and quicker than what I did.

mdidomenico · June 10, 2019, 07:54:50 AM

if that's the case is there even a reason to fill the void? could you not put small piece of masonite over the hole and just lay epoxy/fiberglass overtop (ie like how you would fix a hole in the hull). i'd be concerned about regular expanding foam being a moisture (stink) trap.

kh3412 · June 10, 2019, 02:33:30 PM

Noah I assumed since it was two part it was epoxy based sorry if I was wrong. Midiomenico this is foam that is used for floatation so should be okay for this purpose.

scgunner · June 12, 2019, 08:41:30 AM

mdidomenico,

The Masonite idea is just another way to skin this particular cat, I'm sure it would work fine, although you'll still have a void in the hull which you may or may not care to live with. However you decide to achieve it the idea(at least for me)was to eliminate any unwanted standing water in the hull.

RV61 · June 18, 2019, 08:47:30 AM

Had this issue about twelve years ago and in the cold winter climate of Lake Erie cracked the skeg from expansion of water to Ice. Drilled into skeg and about a gallon of water or so came out. Found it when I launched as had a small fountain coming thru just forward pedestal. Fixed it with foam epoxy method and glass over top as described in previous posts above. Happy to report no issue on it since then.