It's very common to have spider web cracking in the gelcoat (and maybe into the fiberglass) on old boats around the stanchions. It doesn't necessarily mean water is getting into the core, but it's good to investigate, which it sounds like you're doing.
Many surveyors will say they found voids (air pockets in the layup) or even wet core, without really explaining the meaning of that (to a new boat owner) or the severity. Have you asked the surveyor how he determined the deck was wet and approximately what size area it was? A good surveyor would be able to tell you that (and would've already included it in the written report ideally). If you can send some pictures that would help. Hard to speculate too much without seeing it. You're right that the deck within a few inches of the hull-deck joint is solid fiberglass, so you don't need to worry about deck penetrations there. I did a writeup on cored/non-cored sections of the deck for the LF38 (caveat: every boat is different, not guaranteed to be the same for all) here: https://svviolethour.com/2016/01/26/rebedding-on-a-cc-landfall-38/ Those things may be obvious to many here, but as a new boat owner, identifying every cored vs non-cored area on the boat and which ones to worry about was not obvious at all and took me about a year. Not sure what to think of the creaking while jumping fore/aft of the chainplates. Depends on how hard you're jumping. :) It could mean any of a number of things. -Patrick 1984 LF38 On Tue, Aug 15, 2017 at 8:54 AM, <cnc-list-requ...@cnc-list.com> wrote: > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Chris Hobson <ch...@hobsonbuildsco.com> > To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com > Cc: > Bcc: > Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2017 08:43:50 -0700 > Subject: Stus-List Deck creaking mystery + spider cracking at stanchions > The surveyor found what he said was wet deck near a stanchion aft of the > shrouds, at the base are spider-cracks. I’ve sounded that area of the deck > myself, measured with a moisture meter and found nothing notable - but I’m > no expert. > > I even drilled a pilot hole down below to see if water was in the core > from the underside and it's dry as a bone. Which tells me the spider > cracking around the base of the stanchion is compromising the integrity of > the top layer. And if you put pressure on it it flexes. But so do other > stanchions. Also there’s about 4-5” of solid fibreglass from the hull/deck > joint around the entire perimeter of the boat which takes up about 60% of > the area where the spider cracks emanate out from. I might grind it out and > re-epoxy. > > Also when I jump up and down forward/aft of the chainplates there’s > creaking. The only thing I can connect it with is the teak woodwork down > below where it meets the deck is perhaps rubbing. Otherwise it’s pretty > sound and there’s no obvious flexing on the deck other than at the > stanchion. > > Anyone else have a squeaky deck? And I assume that any and all of this is > pretty much on par with a boat of this vintage. I just like the idea that > it’s something I can resolve. > > Chris Hobson > S/V Going > 1980 C&C MKI > Hull 615 > >
_______________________________________________ This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you wish to make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to: https://www.paypal.me/stumurray All Contributions are greatly appreciated!
