first boat and i do most of the work myself so i freak out. thanks
becki
Sorry, I was out of touch and unable to answer you.
There's NO reason to freak out. nearly every owner of a "good old boat" goes thru the same level or worse problems as you encounter. just take it as it comes and you will survive them all. the best way to survive is to understand
WHY you are facing what you are and
WHY you are repairing something HOW you do it.
I would avoid doing things "because s/he said so." You have been down that route before (not from on this forum) and it's not necessarily worked out so well.
Ken, did you take the traveler completely off?
Yes, you have to, to create the "compression spots" to seal around the fasteners.
thanks Ken,i have his butyl (and lots of it) so i'll use that
I encourage you to understand what RC is doing and why, when he explains how to prevent leaks from fasteners. It doesn't matter what the fastener is holding down (like a traveler.) His is the same principle as what you are facing. And his method is not to use LOTS of butyl to compensate for doing it the best way.
You have been advised to do it two different ways. It's YBYC, but what I described per RC's method isn't "theory" -- it is straight from RC's YEARS of practical experience repairing and preventing such leaks and how to prevent water from getting down around fasteners.
Jeremy's critique here using butyl (or really any sealant):
https://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,8928.msg71678.html#msg71678and applying RC's method to the traveler situation explains why simply putting butyl underneath ANY fitting, be it a deck fitting, stanchion, (or the traveler) isn't
necessarily the best way to prevent a leak.
YBYC