tophatyachts.com

Hey guys,
After a successful passage from Port Stephens to Port Jackson I have my TopHat 25 MK III just a few minutes from where I live.
We’ve noticed that we’ve taken in a bit of water along the way and when we were at anchor at Lake Macquarie the bilge Pump kicked in 2-3 times and we noted a constant dribble coming out of the little pipe that’s pointing into the bilge.

In general the boat is very wet inside - the quarter berth on the starboard side is soaked and everything in it is wet. We’ve also noticed a lot of black mouldy looking stuff which can be wiped off the fibreglass.

The V-berth is also quite wet with water coming in from the anchor locker and also both shelve rails above the lockers are having water in it. The wood of the forward hatch with the rope under the anchor locker is also completely wet and a fair bit mouldy. The hatch in the top of the v-berth is obviously leaning too but not getting much water generally...

Now - is like to get on top of it. Is a dry TopHat achievable at all or fairly unrealistic? Has anyone dried their boat up already?

The questions I have are:
- What are the typical spots to look out for?
- Any particular recommendations in going about it?
- How to deal with the mould?
- Active ventilation system? Any thoughts on that?
- Relining the anchor locker with glass or just sika for the fittings inside?

Any hints are greatly appreciated.

Greetings
Dnaiel

Daniel,

Welcome to some years chasing small leaks from the deck.

You will be able to have a completely dry boat eventually, the secrete is to don't give up, it is achievable!

Good luck in finding your leaks as I'm sure we have all got different ones.

PS, Seaka is dry except for condensation.

In The Narrows QLD.

Thank you Phillip,

That sounds promising. I’ll go and start the leak-hunt.
Hopefully making some progress.

Greetings
Daniel

With my old boat, Windchaser, I had a variety of leaks most of which came from deck fittings and windows. With the windows, it was extremely hard to trace where the water was coming from. Being inside when on a mooring and raining, I was able to see water droplets forming inside under the general area of the windows but still had troubles sourcing the actual leaks. The drops may or may not be directly under the window where the leak is. Turns out, water can flow in a very thin film in strange directions which are extra hard to see before finding an edge to form drops. Still, you get them in the end.

With the fittings, they were easy enough to find leaks. Like the jib track, during rain I could touch bits of the track bolts in the cabin and feel some moisture building up.

Eventually I got Windchaser really dry and cozy during even heavy monsoon rain. A good feeling. However, water still came in sometimes . . . like when I was motoring down the river and hit a patch of strong wind gusts against the tide and chop was thrown up and blew in through the open front hatch onto my bedding.

All the best with your leak hunting and fixing.

troppo

Hi guys,

I went out to my boat today for a couple of hours looking for leaks.... (it's so good to have the boat just 10min down the road)

To start the process I've decided to do it in sections and start with everything in and around the v-berth as I've got most problems in that area and literally everything is wet.
There are 2 stanchions and 4 fittings for the standing rigging. Surprisingly they are all good an nothing is leaking there.
But the four screws that hold the bow pulpit are all leaking like no tomorrow. I even noticed an arrow and "leak" written with a sharpy on the inside of the hull by one of the previous owners. Well, they didn't fix it - its still leaking.

Now I want to tackle that with a matter of high priority. How should I go about it.

I am considering to take the pulpit off, fill and glass over all wholes and glass some 'platforms'. Then I would make some triangular shaped stainless plates with three holes each and weld them on the pulpit feet. Then drilling new holes though the deck where the plates fit the platforms and fitting them with butyl tape.

Does that sound like a good idea? Or is it overkill to glass platforms and weld plates on the feet?

In the same run I'd like to deal with the cracks in the gelcoat and the hinges of the anchor locker and some other issues in the gel-coat.

Do you have any suggestions?

Greetings
Daniel

Hi Daniel,

You are right to weld new, larger, feet onto your pulpit.

The pulpits of the style you have are made from tubes with thin walls. Their geometry allows them to be made for thin wall tube and still accept the tension of the lifelines but they are quite flexible and the flexing makes it difficult to prevent leaks where the fixings penetrate the deck.

Rather than welding the new feet to the old feet, it would be better to cut off the old ones. Some pulpits (mine included) have failed where the foot is attached to the tube, presumably due to corrosion within the tube. The same failure has occurred at some pushpits, but so far mine has been all right.

Whether you need fiberglass platforms will depend on how closely the new feet align with the curvature of the deck. I suggest that you get the feet welded on first, then make platforms from epoxy filler and sit the pulpit on them before the filler sets (with polythene sheet between the filler and the feet so they don't stick together). When the epoxy is set, remove the pulpit and then refit it with butyl tape or other sealant.

For the two forward feet, rather than have a separate foot on each, I had a strap (about 40 x 6 mm) welded between them, with fixing bolts through the strap. The strap needs to be bent before welding so that it follows the curvature of the deck. This brings the fixing bolts further inboard than the original, and maybe easier to fit the nuts and backing plates below the deck.

For the aft feet, I suggest that the feet should not extend outboard beyond the original, to avoid having to position the legs further inboard than originally. If using three fixings for each, you should consider where the nuts and backing plates will be installed in case they clash with anything below the deck. Three fixings for each sounds excellent, but I only used one and have had no leaks during the fifteen years since I did it.

Steve

Hi Steve,

Thank you very much for the great tip with the continuous footplate between the forward feet. Great idea. I’ll get some stainless and bend it to the shape of the deck and get them welded on. I’m probably cutting the existing feet off a d in the same instance replace the wiring and nav lights.

Would you have any advice on the thickness. 1mm / 2mm or even 3mm?

Which method and materials did you use to seal it all up?

Greetings
Dan

Hi Dan,

I'm pretty sure the feet on the aft legs and the strap on the forward legs are all 6mm. I wanted them stiff to make the whole pulpit less flexible, although this might have been a mistake as it might concentrate loads at the bottom of the legs.

I used a sealant, probably Sikaflex. I have never used butyl tape but other people say it is good

Steve

Hi Dan,
I was on my boat today so I took a couple of photos of the feet. The aft feet have two bolts each, not just one as I previously said. The strap which forms the feet on the forward legs is held in place by the two bolts you can see. The shackle is there just because I find it useful to have an extra point to attach lines to.
Steve