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It looks like I have one of the last of the MK 1 models, the one with the walk-through transom.  I also have that half round wood at the threshold, but it's not varnished.  Just the boards that fit in the slots are.  I think I am going to go with ewengstrom's advice and rebed all the wood.  Then I'll varnish the threshold really well.

Thanks for all the help!

Chris : When you ask a question, best let us know if you have a MK I or II C34!???  You've gotten a bunch of MK I answers!!   

A thought

Thanks.  I am not sure if I have an MK I or II.  My boat was advertised as a 1993 C34.  I had always thought (since I started reading this site) it was a 2, but I am not so sure now.  How do I know for certain?

I have a leak at my companionway.  When it rains, water pools at the base of where the two boards slide in.  The water finds its way somehow to the inside of the cabin and lands on the cover over the engine.  That cover is rotted on the two back corners.

Have any of you had this problem?  Any ideas how to fix it?

Figured it out.  You don't have to take out all the shelving.  You only have to remove the overlapping wood strips, and then there is a wooden veneer. The veneer isn't attached to anything, just sits there in front of the hull and the bolts.

I don't know but it might help if you add your year/model and hull numbers to your signature.

It's not letting me edit my profile.  My hull number I believe is 1191.  It's a 1992 model.

Does anybody know how to access the nuts on the deck to hull bolts that are mid ship between the v berth and the galley?  There appears to be wood covering them up.  The only way I see to get to them is to remove the entire shelving.  Has anybody had to deal with this?

Chris

Did check to see if the nut(s) had loosened?
https://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,10335.msg79870/topicseen.html#msg79870

-k

That particular nut wasn't loose, but since you mentioned it, I am finding some other ones that are definitely loose.  I wonder if that's all it is.  Thanks.

I found what looks like a leak in my hull to deck joint.  Please see the attached pictures.  That bolt in the pictures is in the port side in the V berth.

Does anybody have any ideas on what would cause this and/or how to fix it?  Thanks.

Lazybone,

Unless you've got something nefarious in mind I don't understand the need to conceal the identity and location of the boat.

Chris,

It's unlikely that everything on deck is going to need a rebed. Stanchions, due to their location, are notorious leakers, I've probably rebedded half a dozen on my boat. The leakers like yours(and mine) are usually mid boat, or the lowest part of the deck. The leak is probably localized to one stanchion, but I'd check the opposite side as well. You can check for other leaks below deck, there are usually telltales such as rusty bolts, drip tracks, etc..

Noah is right, find and stop the leak otherwise any mitigation is a waste of time. Once the leak is stopped then you can figure out the best repair. As far as wicking the moisture you might try starting fluid instead of acetone, it evaporates much faster and comes in a spray can making it easier to apply.

Thanks to you and the posters above as well.  I recognized this one stanchion because of the drip tracks.  The same spot for the port side one is hidden so that's a good idea to remove some panelling to inspect it.

To help with your first question- my understanding is where the deck is cored it's a plywood core not balsa. The plywood core is a critical piece of the deck/boats structural integrity.

Defining "dry" can get over complicated. When fixing a leak, I verify the wood is hard, looks and feels dry. So far I've been fortunate and it has been. I would not fill the void with epoxy knowing the wood core is wet.

Before saying anymore, how large is the wet area, and are you getting to the wood through a bolt hole or ?

I'm not sure how large the area is.  I've been meaning to get a moisture meter.  Nobody around here seems to have one.  The holes are bolt holes. 

There is the non-skid deck surface on top, maybe a thin layer underneath of something I don't know.  Then there is thick wood.  Below that is a layer of what I would just call wood pulp, and it's wet/damp.  It's very easy to dig out.  Below that is the final layer that sits just above where the nuts and washers attach.  That final layer is not very thick at all.

CW
You didn't say - did you use heat for 6?
What's your climate?
If you've gotten out all the rot that you can get to, what's your measurement of it still being wet?
Need more detail to say much specific.

Are you in a situation where you can vacuum bag it - that's how to dry out core.

Epoxy cures by chemical reaction and temp - not by drying/evaporation so moisture doesn't affect it much. But yes, you won't get much infusion into the rotted core.

I don't know how well acetone entrains moisture - who said to use that. I'd use Rubbing alcohol.

Forgot to mention that I'm on the Gulf Coast.

CW
You didn't say - did you use heat for 6?
What's your climate?
If you've gotten out all the rot that you can get to, what's your measurement of it still being wet?
Need more detail to say much specific.

Are you in a situation where you can vacuum bag it - that's how to dry out core.

Epoxy cures by chemical reaction and temp - not by drying/evaporation so moisture doesn't affect it much. But yes, you won't get much infusion into the rotted core.

I don't know how well acetone entrains moisture - who said to use that. I'd use Rubbing alcohol.

Not sure what heat for 6 is.  True, I didn't exactly say how wet is wet.  After about a month I'd say the wood fibers that I digged out of the through-bolt holes was somewhat damp, but not dripping wet like when I first dug it out.  Another thing is, the wood didn't really come across to me as rotten, just fiberous and wet.  I did apply a shop vac to the area, but only once.

NO. time (i.e. six weeks) is irrelevant. May solve in a couple of weeks/weekends (?)
1. Stop the leak
2. Dry it out
3. Remove bad (wet or rotten) wood
4. Fill with pieces of wood/fiberglass filler/thickened epoxy
5. Reinstall stanchion (with backing plate) using butyl tape   

Got it.  But how dry is dry?  I'm in a very humid, wet part of the country. I would say exactly where but I've been admonished not to help id my boat by a previous poster.  Is a little dampness OK?  I suspect that there are more places where there is water intrusion.  I might need to rebed literally everything.  I've already rebedded all portlights and chainplates. I might also need to do: traveller, winches, genoa track, handrails, cleats, clutches, the rest of the stanchions, etc.  It's hard for me to know exactly what could possibly be leaking.

Don't identify your boat here and no one will be the wiser.

I have the feeling it is going to be a whole year before I can sail again.

Somethings are not adding up for me. If the deck is still wet after six weeks of your efforts to dry it out makes me think that you have not sealed off the source(s) of water intrusion(s). Two surveyors have said your decks are ok but still wet???

If it were my boat, I would remove all bad/rotten wood, dry out area. Then fill all voids with as much dry wood pieces as you can fit along with milled fiberglass fibers and epoxy. When reinstalling stanchion, use big aluminum backing plates.

So six weeks should be enough?  I have no idea.  Could be that there is another source of leak somewhere and/or I didn't seal well enough after removal of stanchion.  The surveyors didn't use moisture meters.