Hull/Deck joint

[crazycarl]

I've been in the process of updating our 19 when I decided, against my better judgement, to paint the deck and hull. After removing the rubrail, I noticed the hull/deck joint had come apart from the bow back about 18". I have no way of telling how long she's been like this. I can only imagine the stress on the forestay and how lucky we have been that nothing gave way. I'm sharing this because It may be a could idea to inspect the hull/deck joint every other year or so. I know I will make it part of my spring inspection from now on.

[crazycarl]

I used wedges to open the joint between the hull and deck in order to clean it out. After filing away all the loose gelcoat. Yes gelcoat. It appears, on my 19 anyway, that the interior headliner and bilge was sprayed with gelcoat before the deck was attached to the hull. The gelcoat was apparently applied long after the fiberglass resin had set, and thus did not adhere properly to it. My bilge was filled with "potato chip" like pieces when we aquired her. At the bow where the deck and hull seperated, these chips fell out quite easily. The joint between the hull and deck was weak from the get go because the bond between the gelcoat and the resin was weak. I injected 5200 into the joint and clamped it together while installing an aluminum fastener I found at Ace Hardware. The joint is smooth and looks to be once again comlpete.

Here is a link to some pictures of the completed repair.

http://home.comcast.net/~vic-sitter/site/