Dory Daggerboard trunk...slight leak

Noticed a slight oozing of water from the forward bottom part of the daggerboard trunk on my dory.  I've only taken the boat a total of 5 or 6 times so far so its possible that I didn't notice since day 1 because of the water sloshing up from the open trunk.  I mainly noticed it since I was sailing and there was no water coming in from anywhere else.  There has been no damage to my boat so far.

So I guess my question is, how did I screw up the installation of said trunk? And, what is the best way to fix it?

I'm guessing a bead of thickened epoxy but wanted opinions.

 

Thanks!

 

E


5 replies:

« Previous Post       List of Posts       Next Post »

RE: Dory Daggerboard trunk...slight leak

Eric,

It's more important to fix the leak from the outside of the boat rater than the inside. If you put a fillet around the inside front of the trunk you have only stopped the water from coming in the boat, not stopped it from leaking thru from the outside and getting into the plywood causing slow damage. So flip hte boat over and try to find the hairline crack in the trunk that's letting water in. Force epoxy into the crack. If you don't see a crack just spread a couple coats of epoxy on the trunk/hull joint. That should take care of it.

George

RE: Dory Daggerboard trunk...slight leak

Erik,

How is easy - applying the epoxy for the fillet or gluing up the sides of the trunk left a small gap. It happens, not a big deal since you noticed it.

If you built from plans, look  on the inside corners of the trunk for the gap. Hand cut wood doesn't always have a nice square edge unless builders have joinery experience. Otherwise, look where the trunlk meets the bottom.

Fixing it is easy to do, too. You already have the right idea, but a couple of details - first, let the boat thoroughly dry out. Give it at least a week before you fix it. Next, fix it from outside in. That is, apply the bead(s) to prevent the water from coming in at all, rather than just keeping it from the inside of the boat.

So 2 beads, one on the inside, one on the outside. FWIW, this is the way the old-timers built boats - with a deliberate gap to give the wood room to swell when the wood got wet. Otherwise the boat would have split apart.

Laszlo

 

RE: Dory Daggerboard trunk...slight leak

George got in there while I was typing. Good morning George.

RE: Dory Daggerboard trunk...slight leak

So I should be looking for an actual crack inside the trunk along the bottom or would it be more like beading the entire inside?  Also, since I'm basically out of MAS, would there be any compatibility issues with using West System since I can just go out to West Marine and buy what I need there?  

 

Thanks for helping me out, I'm happy to hear that it is fixable...though a little bummed to be out of sailing for a week.  And I was just learning how to handle a lug too! 

RE: Dory Daggerboard trunk...slight leak

My Chesapeake 17LT is a blend of MAS and West, with the West being stuck to the MAS after I ran out of MAS due to profliagte use of the MAS and repeatedly sanding down to the weave. No problems in 5 years.

« Previous Post     List of Posts     Next Post »


Please login or register to post a reply.