seam between hull and foredeck

[sharffj]

Seems like the seam between the hull and foredeck is leaking in one spot on my 2004 31' TE. This is under the rub rail about at the small porthole window. I remember talking to another Albin owner who had the same problem, but can't specifically recall what he did. Choices are to remove ru rail and rubber and recalk or temporize without removing rub rail until next winter layup. Have been told that if rub rail is put on with sheet metal screws then it will come off easy and I,m good to go. If not and the screws are hard to back out I should quit right there, and temporize as this becomes a much bigger job potentially redoing the rub rails etc. Any experience out there with this problem. Boat is now in the NW so a wet climate.
Jeff S

[JackK]

Here's a photo from the factory in '03 ...



You can see all holes where the screws attaching the rubrail go. I believe they used a bed of 3M adhesive along with the screws to secure the rubrail.

Jack

[NJRobert]

Funny you should mention this. I sometimes find water on the ledge under the middle porthole on the port side. Right near where they put the GFI electrical outlet. Could not figure out where it was coming from. You gave me an idea in that I might try a super-thin bead of clear silicone both top and bottom of the rub rail, if it persists.

Robert
'07 28 TE Newport

[sharffj]

my leak also seems to be right where you describe, on the port side about under the second small foreward porthole window, and it runs down onto the shelf below the micowave and toaster oven and then onto the bed beneath the stairs.
What I have done is has follows:
I have removed the entire chrome strip and the rubber rubrail on the port side. Each was screwed in with sheet metal screws of varying length. Many had little or no caulk. Under the rubrail was a jelly like material about 1/2 inch by 1 and 1/2 inches (the entire width of the rub rail. This material was not applied totally uniformally. There were skip areas which left pockets of little or no material. This material was also holding water which I believe was finding its way into the screwholes or up under the seam of the foredeck and hull. I would almost think it was acting like a wick. I therefore removed the jelly like caulk from the entire port side of the boat. It came off rather easily with a sharp knife and paint scraper. When I was down to just pretty much glass I took a sander and slighty roughed the glass so my new caulk would adhere well. (on the advice of the Yard owner who builds high end sailboats) I then caulked over all the screws attaching the foredeck to the hull and over every screw hole where the rub rail and chrome strip had come off. I used 4200 caulk (again on the advice of the yard owner) in case I have to go back at a later date.
After each screw and screwhole had been caulked , I ran a bead of 4200 along the joining seam of the foredeck and hull ( which is about the lower edge of the rub rail and then also ran a bead of 4200 along the glass just where the upper edge of the rub rail would be. We then replaced the rub rail which is a 2 persons job making sure each screw that was replaced was individually caulked. Following that we ran a third bead of 4200 along the top edge of the rub rail and made sure we had a good seal. We then replaced the chrome again individually caulking each screw.
Since this has been done we've had a couple day of heavy rain and wind (downpours) and the port side is into the wind. There has been no further leaks I'm happy to report and after these last two days (in Portland Or) hopefully I'm ok for a while.
I'm disappointed in what I saw when I got in there as the initial caulking appears to have been shoddy. I would guess it varies from boat to boat. Also I got the boat out of San Diego where rain is not as much a concern, but there were tell tale signs of clear silicone on the rub rail to which I should have been more attentive.
As to running a bead of silicone along the rub rail to solve the problem, you might get lucky but I think the lack of caulk in the screws and that spongelike gel are the crux of the problems.
Jeff S

[NJRobert]

You're probably right. Too bad the company doesn't switch over to a s/s rub rail. It sure would make things a lot easier, both for maintainence as well as troubleshooting. My biggest hope is that the new owners (C&C) are members of this website, so they can hear about all the "small details" that we discuss here. Incase they're listening, the placement of one of those "monster" batteries on the '07 28TE Newport was certainly not well thought out.