capstay fastening to hull- rusting

Summary:

Rusting of fixing to hull- stream of rust down inside of hull- any thoughts?

capstay fastening to hull- rusting

Mike Arnold 07 Feb 2010 15:22

My port capstay is fibreglassed to the hull in the heads compartment.There has been a heavy rust streak down the inside of the hull for years, making me anxious for the rig.
Two questions, where's the leak from , and should I be concerned about the hull fixing?

Any thoughts?
Mike
Fiddler

Re: capstay fastening to hull- rusting

Olivia 05 Mar 2010 12:50

Hi Mike,
I wouldn't worry about that, unless its something as bad as shown on Jan's GD #256 Sarah-Sofie. There is a picture of it on his page showing in which bad state it was in. Bizzarly his boat is one of the latest one to have been built. You're not the only one to have rust streak there, I've seen it on several GD in the heads compartment, also on the third capstay that is behind the side panel in the saloon, close to the bulkhead. It's mostly due to condensation on the cold metallic surface i believe.
I guess a rigger would be the best to give a definitive answer. Keep us posted on what you'd do…
Cheers
Olivia

Re: capstay fastening to hull- rusting

Christian Moeller 13 Feb 2011 17:37

Hey Olivia,
funnily I just found out that there is a forum page. I was thinking of asking you
why there was non established. Now that I found it Iam going thru all the old conversations.

The picture from Sarah-Sofie you describe pops up from time to time in my mind and Iam thinking
of removing the paint to have at least a figure about the capstay structure. Even though
Sarah-Sofie is #256, the yard did not use a full chrome steel structure, that tells me that elder boats
will have definitely no chrome steel in there. On Libertè the capstays seems to be in good state. The bad
thing about it is, one will not find out unless the rigg breakes and that does usually happen in strong wind situations.
I just have ordered a new rigg and I asked the rigger what he thinks about the capstays and whether I should be affraid
of the structure. He was quite relaxed and said that other arrangements have shown more problems that the one on the GDs.
However,
loosing an old rigg is bad and dangerous, but loosing a brand new rigg is dangerous and even more regretable.
I think I will have a look.
I will keep you updated about my findings!

Christian

Re: capstay fastening to hull- rusting

Gorel Rasjo Wraak 30 Nov 2012 23:08

Hey Christian
Been worried myself after the pictures from Sarah-Sofie. Had problem with the ruther hinges fastening with was very heavily rusty inside the ruther and thought the same problem with the capstay since Ive seen the water running from the deck through the deck and in to the capstay and out inside makes red marks inside the toilet "wall".
One more big buildingproject… Now by some small drilling Ive found they are in chromesteel!!!
Buildt 1970. nr 126.
Guess the red color comes from some kind of ironbacteria perhaps? Or does anyone know if there could be a mixture of diffferent stell/iron inside under the fiberglas?
Maritn and Görel /Gunga Din /Sweden

Re: capstay fastening to hull- rusting

Mike Arnold 07 Dec 2012 10:59

I think my rusting is due to water coming through the deck and down the fixing into the boat. I sealed the deck fitting and it seems to have stopped.
Happy sailing
Mike Arnold
Fiddler

Re: capstay fastening to hull- rusting

Christian Moeller 10 Dec 2012 22:50

Dear Görel and Mike,
thanks for your comments. I am more confident now that there is no issue with the capstay fastening.
Having a test drill into the material is a good idea.
Cheers!
Christian

Re: capstay fastening to hull- rusting

Dennis Mathiesen 17 Mar 2014 17:50

Hey all Great dane owners:)…I have a problem with my GD28, that i hope you can help me with. Like a lot of you, i have problems with water coming in thru the capstay deck fittings, making red stripes inside. Last year i removed all of the old sealer, grinded both fiberglass and steel, and cleaned it all up with acetone. I then primed fiberglass and steel with Sikaprimer, let it dry, and then i filled it up with Sikaflex 291….It solved the problem, but now water is coming in again….dammit….Do any of you have good experience sealing up those capstay deck fittings, and what do you use for the job?…..I'm thinking of trying Terostat 2759, or maybe G-flex epoxy.

Thank you.
Dennis Mathiesen