Sealing the hull and deck joint

[SSBN506]

I am going to reseal the hull and deck joint this year on my 25 ft 1978 challenger sailboat. I have yet to take off the rub rail to see what condition it is in. But I am getting water leakage from the joint in various spots. Because of the boats internal lining I can seal it from the inside.

My question is what is the best way to do this? I was thinking of using a 4 inch wide fiberglass strip and classing the two joints together. But I am wondering if the flexing of the hull might crack the patch. Would I be better off using a flexible compound?

[sailingdog]

The best way to reseal a hull-deck join is to disassemble it and then re-bed it... glassing it over after doing that is a good idea, but you want to seal the joint itself before doing so. If you don't water can get into the joint and freeze, causing big, big problems later on.

[SSBN506]

Thanks for the advice Sailingdog. It will be interesting to see what i find when i remove the rub rail.

[scottyt]

you can also mix up some collodal ( sp ) silica and epoxy and use a spreader to pack the joint from the out side. this will stop water from getting in to the joint and then use fiberglass to add the strength on the inside