Rotted Wood Combing

[amowers]

The combing (the 2 long pieces of wood on either side of the cockpit) on one side of my boat has some rot.

They're currently painted, and I'd like nice restored looking ones. I am wondering if it is worth doing that work, or if I should just take them off and having new ones built.

On the one hand, I am thinking that taking out and putting back all those screws would be a real pain. On the other hand I am not too excited about the idea of trying to strip the paint off and restore them while still attached to the boat.

I am not sure what the right approach would be.

Any thoughts.

[amowers]

I should have said my boat is a Commander.

[glissando]

If you have rot in one of them, I'd bet there's more to be found elsewhere. And imagine how bad they must have been for someone to paint them over...

Taking them off and replacing them is not so bad. I used to do it on my old Ensign every winter so I could refinish, and now on my Triton I will take the coamings off every other year for a thorough sanding and several coats of varnish.

The only way to get nice looking restored coamings is to remove them. If you have rot, might as well plan on new ones. Use mahogany for a more attractive look and to save huge amounts of money over teak--many or most Pearsons of our vintage used mahogany for the deck trim anyway.

It is well worth the effort to make new ones...these coamings make the boat.

Tim

[glissando]

Oh, you can see how I built my coamings if you follow this link:

www.triton381.com/decktrim2.htm

Tim

[Bill]

Have to admint that these Triton guys get it right sometimes:p Go for the new combings!

[Brent]

I agree: If the coamings are painted, chances are someone was looking for a shortcut. Maybe they were trying to avoid varnishing or maybe they were trying to hide the rot.

I'd replace them.

[Mike Goodwin]

Jeez Tim,
Now we all hafta do that and what kind of paint did you use ?

[commanderpete]

I would try to restore the end pieces (where the boards attach to the cabin) These were made out of some large blocks of wood and you would need to do alot of measuring and cutting to get them right.

Other than that, you just have two long boards.

They come off easily, unless somebody used alot of sealant attaching them to the boat.

[commanderpete]

The boards bend quite a bit when you attach them, which is probably another reason to use mahogany.

[commanderpete]

The coamings really do make the boat.

[amowers]

Thanks alot guys.

It's true, your boats look very smart with the nice looking coamings. Now that I know that many of you take them off your boat I am less fearfull about doing it.

Another thing. I am pretty certain I am going tae the stanchions . I am forever telling people not to push/pull on them and not to trust them to hold their weight. It doesn't seem to matter how politely, sternly, or how often I say it they will still push or pull on them.

Any strong opinions one way or another?

[Admin]

Discussion on Lifelines and Stanchions has been moved to a new thread with that title. To jump, please click the link below.

Thank you

http://www.pearsonariel.org/discussion/showthread.php?threadid=163

[mbd]

How do you folks who routinely remove your coaming "seal" them when replacing - or do you just screw them back in place? I'm guessing lots of butyl sin't a such a good idea... http://www.pearsonariel.org/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=3336&stc=1

[amowers]

Since I started this thread I figured I send an update.

I don't own my commander anymore, but the new owner did a beautiful job replacing the coamings. He is much more deserving of the boat.

P.S. I sold it because I moved to Europe. I hope I am forgiven for selling it on that basis :-)

[bill@ariel231]

Mike

I've done this three times now. once with 3M 101, twice with life caulk. If you seal just the fastners, you will end up with a wet seat in the cockpit from water washing over the deck. Any soft caulk looks like it will work without destroying the coamings in removal. Oh by the way, if you heat your putty knife with a propane torch it will cut right through the caulk when it's time to remove.

Cheers
Bill

[ebb]

For routine removal of coamings bed in Dolfinite.
Easy on. Easy off. Easy cleanup.
No mess. No fuss. Cheap.
One can might be enough.

Ambient temperature putty knife required.

[mbd]

Oh by the way, if you heat your putty knife with a propane torch it will cut right through the caulk when it's time to remove.Well, that would have been some helpful advice had I asked BEFORE I split my coaming! It's not too bad really, in fact it looks as though I just made a previous crack a bit bigger. I'm thinking I'll just soak it with epoxy and clamp it together after I remove all the old varnish and before I apply the new. Is there a better way?

BTW, thanks for the replies guys. I'll look into the non-torch Dolfinite application. Gracias.

[bill@ariel231]

The smaller fractures in A-231's coamings were glued with Epoxy. The larger ones required a "Dutchman" glued in place of the splintered lower edge.

[Mike Goodwin]

A lot of folks ignore this great product which has been around for decades and go for the "super goo's" which is a mistake in 90% of the work I have had to come behind and repair.
It is a pure 'bedding compound' with no real adhesive properties , perfect for coamings on glass where the screws take the load . That is why it is still around. We used a 55 gal drum of it on the 122' schooner I helped build .
Most folks don't think of taking things apart when they are putting them together !

[SkipperJer]

Mike,
From what I've heard about Dolfinite it sounds like the right thing for re-bedding coamings. How does it do in sunlight? The joint where the coaming meets the deck will be exposed. Any deterioration issues to watch for?

[ebb]

The exposed Dolfinite between the coaming and the deck will oxidize. That's good because you can then paint over it or as Bill a few years ago wrote that he put a bead of polysulfide in those seams.

Perhaps one could really clean out the seam when the coamings are newly mounted by using paint thinner and fingers in a rag - wiping the squeeze out out of the seam to leave a clean smooth depression about a 1/4" deep. Then, after it is dry, blue tape it off and press in (with the same finger) a tidy line of white rubber. This would make the appearance of the join better.

I believe in a 3 year old thread here we also surmised that the coamings should have the same number of varnish coats over every surface, especially where they are screwed to the cockpit.

Dolfinite's neutral color makes it a natural for bedding interior fiddles, trim and other work as well. This stuff is made to be used above and under water as a waterproofing seam compound. So it is not less of a product than a synthetic rubber. It isn't a glue or adhesive - it's a friendly compound when you are attaching wood trim to frp and you don't need to bond. Any wood should be sealed with CPES befor bedding. This can help the compound last longer as the oils won't soak into the wood.

Can anybody think of a reason NOT to use Dolfinite under the winches? Under the mast pad? Maybe even under chocks and cleats and chafing plates.
Stanchion bases? Thar be a good place for p.sulfide.

{There's a good aguement for not using Dolfinite if your fit and holes are sloppy. Because you can thickly apply p.sulfide and wait to tighten up a fitting until partially set in order to get a thicker flexible gasket. When you cinch up you can get a very mechanically watertight connection.

You will squeeze out most of the Dolfinite under most fittings. Imco Dolfinite does its job when very thin which I don't believe rubber will.
Dolfinite is definitely correct for bedding wood to itself or fiberglass. And correct for pieces you intend to take off later for varnishing. Dolfinite is also less likely to leave gaps or spaces that rubber. If you slather D. on both sides of the work you can get a pretty good voidless mating of the surfaces and therefor no leaks.
As for those who say D. dries out, I would point out that the tighter the mating, the better the fit, the fresher the compound will be when you take it apart. Dolfinite is not really a good gap filler. And Dolfinite filled gaps will dry out.
In boat building a FAYED seam is where two pieces of wood are closely joined. Like keel structures. That is where Dolfinite or white lead would be put, to keep any water from seeping in. That tight!}

[Mike Goodwin]

I have a strong feeling that Dolfinite is no more than clay thickened paint with the Japan dryer left out and extra linseed oil added to it. It has been around longer than I have and I have used it for over 40 years .

I have varnished it and painted it and just left it the hell alone . It worked all the same . I have taken joints apart that were 25 years old and the Dolfinite still smelled fresh and was plyable .

Try it on a cracker with a hunk of Jarlsburg and a black olive , bet it will stick to your ribs .

[ebb]

Mike,
It's boatyard vasoline, right?
Petroleum jelly with a little filler.

Somebody on the woodenboat site
compared it to old fashioned peanut butter
- gets hard in the can with a layer of oil
over it - after you've forgotten it for a year -
and the lid not hammered in tight enuf.

It's like the tube rubbers, once you've
opened the can it'll never be that soft and
smooth again.

[commanderpete]

Next time I pull those boards I'm gonna devise a way to varnish both sides at once

[ebb]

Easy. Turn a couple screweyes in the screwholes already there and hang em from the rafters in the garage. Do most of the painting on the bench and do tetchup on the wires. You'll get all the runs and drips that way too.


(dang, can't resist) Could screw cup hooks into the bottom edge nobody sees
to get them to hang properly. Upside down like that the top rounded edge would tend to get more varnish, which is always needed there!!!

[Al Lorman]

I used Dolphinite when I rebedded the bow pulpit on my Commander. A friend had welded it all together for me so that it would be more rigid and stronger. Only problem was trying to figure out how to get it back in place without having about 20 hands. I had visions of caulking all over the place. I decided to use Dolphinite because it would make the least mess when the deck fittings inevitably moved around before I got a bolt into each. That part worked fine. What didn't work real well was the Dolphinite. Within a year, I had a spongy foredeck. Sorry, but I'd never risk using the stuff again.

[Mike Goodwin]

Al , that is not what it is for . Can't blame it on tha dolfinite, user error.
That where the miracle goos are good.

[commanderpete]

Ebb, how about eye bolts through the holes and eye nuts. Fancy

Some kind of tube through the hole would work too

[ebb]

Mornin C'pete,
From what you say, it comes to mind that something as simple as some stiff insulated electric wire would work well. #12 that could take a shape as you bent it to move it away from the surfaces. Given the bend in the pieces, they aren't going to hang nicely, (338s old coamings have kept most of their curve) it might just be simpler to put temporary eyes in the bottom edge to get it to hang better.

Taking the coamings on and off has a problem too, doesn't it? The holes will start showing activity, chips breaking out maybe or the hole oversizing, a ding from the driver slipping. I guess some have gone with those stamped donut washers to dress it up. But the holes in the boat will start loosening up, and upsizing screws could get expensive or even problematic. Don't know what the answer is here. Be nice if hanger bolts were in the holes and as you reinstalled the coamings you just pressed them in place over the threaded portion and turned on the nuts. Corse you'd have these annoying nubs in yer butt. Just another annoying idea! :o

Might get back to barrel nuts on this! :D

[bill@ariel231]

CommanderPete & Ebb

"Next time I pull those boards I'm gonna devise a way to varnish both sides at once - Commander Pete"


I got away with clamping the coamings in a "workmate" using the bronze bolt that projects below the winch base.

cheers,

Bill

[mbd]

Ebb, how about eye bolts through the holes and eye nuts.Tried it this weekend. I've spent way too much time fiddling with trying to get the thing to just raise evenly; it always pulls the left side up first. I thought it might be a balance issue, so I tried multiple different combinations of holes and even flipped the coaming around. Then I thought, maybe it was too much friction, so I added genoa blocks to the ceiling since I'm not using them for sailing. Then I built some crappy shelves so I can decorate my garage with sailboat hardware.

[bill@ariel231]

On Ariel 231 there was an 8 inch section of threaded rod that ran through the winch base (exiting at the bottom). I don't see that on your coamings. Can you hang or clamp the coaming from the winch or its shaft?

[mbd]

Bill, I do have that threaded rod coming out of the winch base. I was hoping for a solution that would let me pull the wet coamings up and out of the way while I do other things, while at the same time allowing me to do both sides at once.

How did you remove your winch base from the coamings? Or did you?

[bill@ariel231]

now that I think about it.. I clamped two pipe clamps vertically into a workmate (a black&decker portable vice). The Pipe clamps were fabricated from 1/2" pipe. The threaded rod at the base of the coaming was dropped into the 1/2" pipe. The threaded rod was free to rotate in the pipe while I varnished. Since I clamped the two coamings at different heights, both could be rotated while being varnished. I'll attach a sketch...

[ebb]

A wonderment guys!
Lest not forget that rot in some boats has developed in the corners where the pieces of wood meet.
At some point they should be taken apart and rebedded in D.... in the compound of your choice.
The idea being to exclude sweet water totally out of a join. A coaming on 338 was attached to the winch base with five screws, the front to the rabbet in the post with three. Could be taken apart every oncet in awhile. ;

Dolfinite came in two forms once. One was the pleasant brown stuff that reminds one of shoes and ships and sealing wax. The other was nasty OD green that guaranteed if you ever had to take the pieces apart again they would be as new. It was probably something like PCP in the formula and that is why it disappeared from the shelves. Say good riddance!
But did run acrosst, maybe on the woodboat channel, a builder who mixes cuprinol in with his D. No proportions, bad smell, toxic - but I thought I'd toss that in anyway!

[mbd]

I hadn't considered removing the forward portion - I'd have to drill out the plugs and all. And lord knows what a mess of things I'd make then! :eek:

[ebb]

Yeah, if someone glued those plugs in you wouldn't have a chance. But if they were tapered plugs set in varnish you could get them out without damage.

[bill@ariel231]

i've never needed to disassemble the coaming. this is a glued/screwed joint. I just varnished the complete coaming. I did need to glue in dutchmen to patch some damaged areas on the coamings (splintered vice rot).

[mbd]

This is the starboard side, forward and bottom edge of the coaming. You can see the lower portion, where the tool is embedded, is rotting. Some rot also runs along the left side of the handle. There is also rot on the bottom edge of the section to the right, the forward most end where the coaming attaches to the cabin trunk.

What is the best way to deal with this? Could I just soak the area with expoxy before I varnish? Or, since neither section is visible, maybe I could chisel out the bad stuff and fill with epoxy? It doesn't seem like I need to patch to the extent that Bill did, thank god.

[Mike Goodwin]

!st- soak the area with white vinegar

2nd- soak it with real antifreeze ( not the "earth friendly" west coast stuff ), the stuff that kills cats and other small animals if they lap it up . It also kills rot spores . This soaks in and absorbs and replaces the moisture in the affected area . Remember PEG ? Same stuff.

3rd- put a fan on it an let it dry real good , in my area that could take 48 hrs or more this time of year .

Now coat it with epoxy.

The vinegar kills rot and pickles the wood and soaks in deeper than anti freeze or epoxy. Thw antifreeze kills rot and soaks in more than the epoxy ( it is chemo for rot ) . The epoxy fills the voids where the wood fiber is lost , bonds it back together, and seals it off from air and moisture ( 2 things rot needs to survive .)

Using this method I have never had rot come back .

If you have lots of money and don't mind paying too much for stuff , you can use Smith's CPES . I had some tested by a chemical engineer and he said " it is $10 worth of epoxy and $20 worth of thinners and they charge over $100 per gal " I make my own for $30 a gal.

You can't just thin with acetone , that breaks the epoxy down. It is acetone , alcohol , xylene and other nasties that do the job right . I use stuff called T-12 thinner that is the right blend

[bill@ariel231]

mike & mike

looks salvageable with vinegar etc assuming the area doesn't show in the cockpit...

If the surface is soft enough to dent with your fingernail, I'd tend to reach for the circular saw; cut out the rot and start again....

have fun,

bill@ariel231

[mbd]

You guys rock - thanks! The coamings will wait for the moment - I need to get supplies anyway. Right now, the sun and a weekend day finally coincided, so I'm headed outside to the boat with my cirular saw... :D

[mbd]

Awaiting final sanding, crack repairs, epoxy and varnish. Mike G's "Chemo for Rot" has been generously applied many times over to the rotting area.

The "raising" issue was solved by attaching each of the ends of the line to the eye bolts after running them through the blocks, then pulling the "loop" created in the middle. Not perfect, but I can adjust the coaming as I pull it up without touching it.

How do you deal with previous fastener holes? Some have butyl in there, others old varnish or other junk. Do you drill 'em out, fill 'em up, and redrill?

[ebb]

Marnin, Mike,
Looks like you got the winch base still attached but without the screws???
Naw, must be me ole eyes.

'Old' fastening holes can be managed by using the same fasteners but use a stamped s.s. doughnut washer under the flathead. Might be called 'finish washers'. They'll cover more area around the hole. Might also go next size up on the screws and the finish washers, depending on the damage around the holes.
Would test your holes with proposed screws by gently prescrewing without the coaming on to see what you will run into. You don't want to screwup the head of the screw when you're sweating them in. Easy to do with bronze. Probably easier to use philips head screws with a screw bit that is married to the size, should fit deep and snug. Old fashion straight blade screws same thing. Larger screws like #12 and 14 will be hard to find a sized screw bit for. Old time brace-and-bit cranks had over sized blade bits that you could cut off the chuck end to use in your milwaukee. A brace and bit may still be the best way to screw in the coamings!

That is, unless you have an Hitachi Koki Cordless Impact Driver (WH12DMR). Looks like a green jordan basketball shoe from the hood, costs way too much, but it's an absolutely awesome tool. Way, way beyond your variable speed driver. By way of what are essential tools for wood and boat work -
another QUANTUM LEAP has been acheived by Festool. For a mere 4 or 5 grand you can work DUST FREE with absolute german precision. But this sez nothing about what the F. System can do! These are tools like no other.

If you are using old fashion tapered screws, you should have Fuller taper bits with countersink to drill out the hole - and matching plug cutters which make tight fitting tapered plugs to fit the countersink. Of course you can predrill the screwhole with regular bits, but that is why you should 'try' the hole with the screw befor you put the coaming on. Size up conservatively! The wood behind the holes in the boat may be a little tired too.

Another choice is to go with round head screws with a washer under the head. Not extremely professional.

Old mangy holes can be drilled out with the next size up Fuller drill bit and countersink. Just tap in a new bung. If you don't have Fuller bits and matching plug cutters, you are at a disadvantage. Bought plugs are not tapered, and larger sizes than 1/2" hard to find.
Partially drilling out a used hole to be plugged - without Fuller - is a pita. If you are planning to do any more woodwork on the boat it is well worth the investment to get a set - add a couple oversized plugs cutters like 5/8 and 3/4. imco. {Fuller, for some eccentric reason does not make a tapered 3/4" plug!!!} Without a countersink on your taped drill bit you have to drill the hole size you want with a forstner bit in a piece of 3/4" scrap and clamp it as a guide over the hole to be plugged exactly so and carefully drill with the same f. bit PART WAY into the coaming. Then, of course you GLUE in the plug, and trim it off.
There is no invisible repair - no matter what method. But best with Fuller.

The thing with Fuller is that you make your own plugs (with a drill press) out of scrap that matches your elegant work. Store bought plugs will never match and never fit. :eek:

[mbd]

Looks like you got the winch base still attached but without the screws??? Naw, must be me ole eyes.You're right, Ebb. They won't come off. Though, I haven't tried Bill's heated knife trick yet, but I was thinking I'd just leave them attached anyway, I've already got one cracked coaming to fix.

I think I'll go with the "finish washers" rather than the bung route. I don't mind the look, and that way I could do all of my varnishing before I put the coamings back on.

You've mentioned Fuller tools before in another thread, files, I think. I'll have to look into them. But, I have a feeling they are probably outrageously expensive... :o

[ebb]

Bean an ole woodworker it's hard to imagine a toolkit without the Fuller taper drill bit and counterbores and a set of plug cutters. There are NO substitutes. And Fuller is a family run business - which are disappearing like rare ducks these days - so we should be supportring them anyway.

Fuller kits at www.ehartwicks.com (just for example, have not studied their prices, but they do have helpful intros to the Fuller 'system') start at $80. That puts you in business for drilling traditional screw holes.

You need to check the size of the counterbores - different screw sizes share the same size plug hole maker. You will most likely need 1/4, 3/8, 1/2" - TAPER plug makers.
You will then find you have to have size 14 for 1/4" screws. Not sure of the plug cutter you need these days for that size. 5/8"?... but that's a good size to have for burying carriage bolts, say. Or erasing a bad hole scar.

They may seem esoteric at this point - and you will never need them all the time. But when you need them, you can't do it right without them.

{There are probably size 8 and 10 screws used mostly in the A/C. And those two might share the same plug cutter - so you could get started with 3 pieces and expand as you require. It would seem that some intelligent merchandiser would put a basic kit together, like in a nice wood box, that would INCLUDE the plug cutters that go with the taper/counterbores. At a decent price - but that is asking too much.}

[ebb]

In no way do I recommend these tools as I have never used them. They are innovative as they are used in the hex push/pull chuck that has become popular with cordless drivers. The Pro chuck can be used in any drill. IE you can chuck the Pro chuck into a keyed chuck in a normal drill (puts the bit a bit far from the drill) - Or chuck any of the pieces into a keyed chuck. So, you don't NEED to get the Pro Chuck.

Thus: you can have your bits and plug cutters too for what looks like a pretty reasonable price. (But not in a nice little box.) ehartville (above) has them.
2 pc Insty plug cutter set = $21
3 pc Insty taper drill set = $25 (screw sizes #6, #8, #10)
Insty Pro chuck = $10

Can't see making plugs with a hand drill, but you never know!
{How many wood bits would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would chuck bits?}

[ebb]

The counterbore on a tapered drill bit is held in place with one or two small set screws. You move the counterbore to match the length screw you're driving. Decades ago when I got my first set of Fuller's I had trouble with the counterbore moving when counter sinking. No matter how tight the set screw it would still move back up the bit.

So I called Fuller and the guy said,"Cut a few dowels, drill a hole in the center, put one or two between the top of the counterbore and the drill chuck." Remember thinking afterwards how dumb my question was, and how patient and pleasant the guy was. You know, because I'm sure in my stupidity I was intimating that there was something wrong with the tool.

Fuller has short and long taperdrills. If you are drilling many same holes you should custom together a bit and bore. The counterbore 'rides' on the drill bit. The bit gets too skinny to hold the counterbore properly when using a long bit for short screws. Short bit for short screws. You also need a dental pick handy to clear the counterbore teeth because wood crumbs get compacted, and in soft woods you can actually make the countersink holes larger by forcing it clogged into the work.

__________________________________________________ _______________________________
Instead of a nice little box for the different size taper bits, the different counterbores, the stop collars, extra set screws, mini allen wrenches, plug cutters, dental pick, and dowel spacers. and extra plugs.....you can, now that you have entered your nautical period, sew up a nice little canvas bag with a side zipper to fill with your Fuller System. ;)

[mbd]

Remember thinking afterwards how dumb my question was, and how patient and pleasant the guy was.I have this same feeling all the time in regards to this forum... :D

[mbd]

Just to update this thread, here are the results of my coaming saga.

This first picture shows the rotted section from a previous post. I did Mike G's "chemo" treatment (from above) then, because the rotted section was so punky, I drilled holes throughout so I could make sure the epoxy penetrated everywhere.

Next, rather than thin the epoxy, I heated the resin with my heat gun before mixing to thin it. I left the coaming on the driveway in the afternoon sunlight to heat it up, then injected and saturated the rotted area with the epoxy. I did this routine twice and still had lots of holes that still needed filling. I reasoned that the epoxy had saturated all the exposed wood by now, so I thickened up a batch with silica thickener and filled the remaining holes and low areas.

Then, just to make sure the area was "sealed", I bought a small batch of West's clear hardener (205) and covered the area. ...and while I was at it, coated the winch pad as well, especially since I stuffed some epoxy in the gaps on the pad. Here it is after a couple of clear coats. It ain't pretty, but it also ain't showing either.

The other coaming, which I had cracked when removing, got epoxied and clamped to fix the crack, then the same clear coat treatment on the winch pad.

[mbd]

And after a couple of coats of varnish...

[mbd]

The varnishing "rack" (gallows?) in action....
-----------------------------------------
It worked OK as far as varnishing the pieces, but was perfect for getting them out of the way when drying and allowing me to use the work bench for other things. I even hung my tiller from one of the bolts suspending a coaming to varnish and dry it. All in all, it worked pretty good - I'll keep this same setup for future varnishing.

[SkipperJer]

I've just finished pulling, sanding/varnishing, and replacing the coamings on my Commander. There wasn't any caulk at all behind them so one felt like you were sailing a board-boat on a "sporty" day. Every wave that hit the coamings sluiced water down on to the seats. Rather than load the gap with something like Life Caulk I tried Interlux Bedding Compound:
http://www.yachtpaint.com/usa//product_guide/fillers/US_boatyard_bedding_compound.asp?ComponentID=9799&SourcePageID=6685#1

I liked the idea that Interlux claims their bedding compound dries to a paint-able skin when exposed to the air but remains flexible within the joint. The product was thicker than the usual "peanut butter" standard the epoxy folks like to refer to. It was rather stiff but workable with a putty knife. The word "stout" came to mind. Once I got used to it I decided that the heavy nature of it allowed for a narrower strip of it where the coaming met the edge of the deck. They recommend thinning with boiled linseed oil if needed which I did not do. I found clean-up with mineral spirits easy.

The coamings tended to pull up tight to the cockpit wall at each screw but gap away a little in between more making for a somewhat uneven fit. I learned to do a press fit or two to adjust the thickness of the stuff along the length. It looked messier than it was and in the end seemed to work quite well.

I'll keep the board posted on how it works on the water (if I ever get back there) and over time.

[CupOTea]

Mine were on with silicone, like lots of other things on the boat. I think I am going to use LifeCaulk but there are threads here suggesting Dophinite - which I am looking into before I proceed.

Completely restored my coamings - filled in a little rot and then dyed that part and coated with 8 coats of Epiphanes. One thing I am trying on another piece of brightwork (a traveller base I had made) is Epiphanes on top of penetrating epoxy from the Rot Doctor. We'll see how it holds up.

Good luck.