FROM TRI CABIN AARON... ANOTHER LEAKY ENGINE REMOVAL HATCH!

[aaronbocknek]

okay gang, i know that someone has already posted a subject about a tri cabins leaking cabin roof, but thought i would add my situation. my exterior engine removal hatch is rock solid. no soft spots whatsoever. the bedding around the seem is looking a little tired though and has always bugged me since i bought the boat in october of last year. unlike tims hatch, this one is not perfectly flush with the cabin substrate towards the helm windows. it's just slightly bumped up. is it possible that when this was removed for the repower in 1996 it was not installed correctly? could the back of the hatch actually be the front and vice versa? anyway, the bedding is not smooth at all. it has a rubber texture to it, but there are pits and dings, and i believe mold is growing on it. when i feel the headliner from below, i cannot feel any sort of latching system, but then again, i'm going at it blind with the headliner up. what sparked my concern was the monsoon type rains we have had here in baltimore the last 24hrs. i went to the boat and not only were parts of the canvas leaking like a sieve into the bridge area ( and i water proofed it in the spring with plenty, or so i thought, of waterproofing agent). while going over the cabin checking on leaks, i discoverd a drip right above the galley counter and over the sofa, port side. i looked up and there was water dripping from the indirect lighting panels. i removed the panels and they were soaked, roughly amidships, between the two sliding windows. i felt the head liner and it too was wet from what i think is the internal hatch frame area. my first thought was the thru bolt for the hand rail, but it was dry and solid. when i went outside to look, the area appears to be coming from the hatch seal itself. is it possible to dig the old sealant out (how hard is this and what tools do i use?) and rebed this with epoxy or 3m 4000 uv? i've even thought of using self leveling caulk from the rv store for roofs but want some ideas on this. this is something that i do not want to have continue, but, judging from the water stains on the interior of the window light cover boards, it has been going on for some time.
thoughts on the this and the canvas please. is it possible that water proofing needs to be done more than once a season? i'm stumped.
thanks guys.
tri cabin aaron
baltimore, md

[prowlersfish]

3M 4000 would be a good choice . of course you could "glass it "

[aaronbocknek]

here is what phil and i discovered last evening after i posted this thread. we carefully removed some of the head liner along the port side so that i could squeeze my head into the opening. the actual engine removal hatch lays on a glass reinforced frame. i guess trojan did a redesign in the early 1980's to save money. any way, there are no actual lock down latches, instead, small screws are drilled thru the frame to the hatch. the frame should be caulked, but is not, and, upon further investigation, i noticed that a few screws towards the back of the hatch (facing aft) are not flush. in fact, the hatch actually rises towards the windshield instead of laying perfectly flat. when we looked outside, there are protrusions and cracked glass where these screws poke through. i suspect that in the pounding rain, the water worked its way into these microfractures and traveled along the frame and dripped into the salon from here. she lists a little to port due to a full water tank so that is the natural travel path. i used butyl tape as a temporary stop gap measure over the 4 screw protrusions and once it finally drys out, will run a bead of caulking around the entire hatch and fill the cracks with resin. my mechanic john stump said that he too suspects this is where the water is coming from and that together with his helper giovanni, all three of us can lower the head liner, undo the screws, rebed the hatch and secure it again and rehang the headliner. phil also thinks that the actual hatch is flipped around and that is why it is not fitting into it's frame correctly. for those of you that are interested in this process, i will have my digital camera with me the entire time to document step by step. it should be an interesting task, but john assures me that this is actually easy, even with the headliner issue. the headliner is tacked under towards the forward area of the salon and is secure. all that is needed is to bring it back to it's original location and restaple. (yeah right!!) what i really wish that trojan did was put some headliner on a board and then screw the board into some framing thus making this task easier. i believe that is what chris craft and hatteras did.
will keep you all advised.
tri cabin aaron, baltimore, md

[Old Flame]

Aaron,
The cabin top panel may not be perfectly flush all around but it shouldn't be that noticeable. I have had the good fortune (?) to have removed and replaced my cabin roof panel twice. The 1st time was to replace my refrigerator. The second time was because I didn't rebed it properly the first time. I took advantage of the 2nd time to replace the love seat sleeper. It's great that Trojan had the foresight to include that access panel in the tricabin - the similar 35' Chris has none.
You should remove the panel completely and remove ALL old bedding and caulking from the panel and the cabin top ledge. Clean all surfaces with acetone to remove the residue.
I found ribbon caulking at Lowe's to place around the ledge to rebed the panel. I used tubes of 3M silicone caulk to fill-in the top seam - some areas may take a lot to fill. Smoothness of the caulk in all in the expertise of the operator.
Helps to have a second person when replacing the headliner. Take your time and pull it evenly starting in the center.
Also, the cabin window frames are a one-piece design. I cured my galley leak problem with a simple thin bead of clear silicone along the top edge of the window frames. Water can leak in if there is a slight gap between the top of the frame and the fiberglass.
Good luck - and dry weather for the job!

[Mike Kulp]

Hey Aaron, I have had good luck with the Boat life silicone I am not sure of the actual name off the top off my head. I do agree you need to remove it completely and clean all edges before rebedding it ( How hard could this be ),Cathy and I will be down this friday evening so if your around I can take a look at it.