Leaky deck to hull joint / stanchions

[lee shore 1978]

hi all,  I have an opportunity to buy a 2001 B 37 that appears seaworthy with the exception of a badly leaking deck / hull joint.  It appears to be leaking around the stanchions and dock line fairleads, although I can't be certain of the condition of the adhesive /  caulking (whatever it is) between the deck and hull.  I was able to remove some of the trim on the cabinets and can feel soft / spongy / wet wood in the joint that receives the self tapping screws from the toe rail.  Also, there is moderate water damage to the cabinetry including some spots that have rotted out.  That being said the seller acknowledges the deficiencies and is asking what I believe to be a reasonable price.  My question is how concerned should I be?  Obviously the first thing I would do upon purchasing the boat would be to address the leaking, but is the boat already compromised with the rotted wood in the joint?

thanks in advance for any advice!!

[Yngmar]

Leaking stanchions/cleats and leaking deck/hull joint are two separate issues.

The stanchions/cleats leaking is extremely common on Bavaris of this era, but relatively simple to fix by taking the top/back covers off the furniture inside to access the backing plates and nuts. Not the best of access, but sufficient. The stanchions are long levers and will keep on moving, so it's best to use a flexible sealant like butyl. Edge it off on the outside with normal adhesive sealant to avoid the permanently sticky dirt-collecting edge that butyl gives you. The cleats and fairleads don't move so regular sealant is fine.

The deck/hull joint issue on our boat was that Bavaria didn't use enough sealant in there, leaving big gaps, but we have a different toerail from the B37 (teak cap instead of aluminium profile with fairleads). This leak was mostly only noticed when we dip the rail (which we almost never do) or strong wind is forcing rain in. I would fix the toerail fittings first and then see if you still have an issue with leaks. On our boat, I took off the exterior teak rubrail which hides the joint, pulled out the old sealant, cleaned up the joint and injected plenty of new sealant, pushing it in further while fairing with a putty knife. After this, all leaks from this area were gone. It's also not a difficult job, although somewhat time consuming (especially doing it standing in a tender, although this was more convenient than a boatyard scaffold). A few of the rubrail screws were difficult to extract. I assume on the B37 you will need to remove the aluminium rail for this job, which looks like more work.

The spongy wood is only an issue if it is a significant part of it so the rail is at risk of pulling out. It can still be fixed with epoxy injections though.

For the damaged furniture, I can recommend Ronseal wet rot wood hardener to stabilize. Or replace parts as you see fit.

Overall definitely cause for a price reduction depending on the extent of the damage, but if you're willing to take on the work I wouldn't let it put me off the boat. Although letting it progress to the point where the furniture takes damage shows general lack of maintenance and I would cautiously inspect the rest of the boat with that in mind 

[blue-max]

One thing to  add: the backing plates to  the cleats are  - in my case - exposed raw aluminium. They corrode loosening the fitting and when the sealant fails allows water ingress. When resealing the cleats I replaced the backing plates with stainless steel.

[semaphore]

On our boat, I took off the exterior teak rubrail which hides the joint, pulled out the old sealant, cleaned up the joint and injected plenty of new sealant, pushing it in further while fairing with a putty knife.

Sorry to revive an old thread.
I'm looking into doing this, and I want to know how the outer teak piece is attached. Just adhesive, or are there fasteners behind the stainless piece?

Did you also seal the inside of the toerail? I can see a rather significant gap between the fiberglass and teak there also

thanks,

[Yngmar]

You take off the stainless piece, which is screwed on, then you'll find more screws underneath which are holding the teak to the hull. These are super long and some of them were a bastard to get out. One had to be cut (oscillating multitool under the rail along the hull - tape hull to protect). After that, the rail (in ~2m long sections) just comes off, there isn't really any adhesive holding that on.

Now you will see the problem with the sealant, as far as it's even there. Not a difficult job once the rubrail is off, just time consuming. I did it standing in the dinghy. Needed quite a lot of caulking to fill the gap, but it was worth it, no more leaks after that.

The gap between the teak caprail and the deck is irrelevant - no water can get in that way, it's purely cosmetic. You'll see how it's all put together when you have the teak rubrail off the sides - there is no point of ingres under the caprail.