Lazarette vibration and water seal

[Wayne]

Anybody have a picture or description of how you sealed off the stern lazarettes from water and vibration?

[Stu Jackson]

Simple weather stripping.  I used 3/8 inch, it's a tad small and would use larger next time.  For a "REAL SEAL deal"   go to an auto window place and get some heavy duty rubber sealant like they use for windows or car trunks.  I think that'd be overkill.

I put the weather stripping on the cockpit side, not the movable lids.

I read about this in old Mainsheet magazines from the early 90s or late 80s.  Did it on the port locker, too.

I also stopped the port locker latch from making noise by putting a small strip of weather strip on the latch so when it drops it doesn't rub against the vertical surface of the cockpit fiberglass.  I still have to do that with the lazarette, but I rarely even bother taking the lock off that, never do for daysails.

There is an entire section on LEAKS on the Knowledgebase:  go to C34 Tech Notes, download and read the Knowledgebase.

[Wayne]

Stu, is it the 'peel and stick' foam stuff that you used?
Thanks for the reply!

[Stu Jackson]

Yes.

[tommyt]

Wayne,

Not sure if the MK1's have the same lazerette design as our MKII. I solved the vibration problem with rubber caps mounted on wood plugs with threads bolted into them for adjustment. Similar to what you have on the bottom of appliances to adjust the balance. I don't think that there are enough surfaces that contact on our lazerettes to get them waterproof. The channels are supposed to move most of the water away.
How do I know what touches...one of my many embarrassing moments as a boat owner.

When the boat was new (Hull #1697 in 2004) I began to commission it. The rattling of the lazerettes in the cockpit and the fact that the latch on the lazerettes never just fell over its stud drove me nuts. So, after looking at the surfaces and not being able to figure out where the vibration was coming from I decided to become a sleuth. Took everything out of my pockets that would bother me when laying down, grabbed a flashlight, and crawled into the still empty lazerette and closed the lid. With the flashlight I could look around, see where the contacts and vibrations were, make marks with the pencil I had, and thought I could solve the problem. Did not know that I had just created one new problem.

Now this is a brand new boat with fresh glass and still the new smell of that glass. It is mid April in northern Michigan, the docks are pretty much empty except for a few workers, and as it is noon they have left for lunch. Remember that latch that NEVER falls over its stud? Make that ALMOST NEVER falls over the stud! I attempt to lift the lid and I am now locked into the lazerette of my brand new boat and there is no way, even with the tools that I don't have, to get out. Yes, one of the things that I took out of my pocket was my cell phone.

I started a series of 3 hard pounds on that vibrating lazertte following by a yell of HELP. I did that every 30 seconds for a half hour before someone from the next marina over heard me and walked over to investigate. He finally called out "I can hear you but have no idea where you are". He was standing next to my boat! Of course, when I told him where I was his first question, before he let me out, was " Why would you go in there?"

Bottom line, I don't think that you can seal the lazerette in a MKII without going to a very large commercial seal, and even that may not be enough in some places to make contact. If you decide to go in and check it out, make sure you tape that latch open and take your cell phone just in case.

Good Luck.

[Mike and Joanne Stimmler]

Tommyt,
WOW! I remember reading one of the sailing mags about a single hander stuck in a similar situation while under sail and heading toward a rocky coast. I think he was finally able to get out by banging on the inside of the hasp while putting pressure upwards in the lid until he was able to get the hasp to swing out far enough to get it open just in the nick of time.

Some of our boats must be different because on mine, the hinged part of the hasp is on the bottom and the padeye part is on the top so that this scenario could not happen.

So far, I've never noticed any water leak issues from the laserette or the port locker but then maybe it's happening and I just don't know it and it's just winding up in the bilge. I'll have to talk someone into climbing in there while I hose it down.

Glad you got through it safely.

Are you sure that someone didn't talk YOU into climbing in there?

And was there by any chance a padlock on that hasp when you were found

[Wayne]

Wow, getting trapped in there is kind of funny . . . but also could be a really, really ugly situation.  Glad (as I'm sure you were) that somebody heard you . . .
I don't get water in with normal rain; just when cleaning/hosing down the cockpit.