Resealing Forestay Tang Leak

[TBOT422]

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to best reseal the gap between the forestay tang and the deck as it passes through the anchor rollers? I've isolated one of our leaks to this area. The "V" in the anchor roller bracket essentially makes a cup, that captures rain water or wave splashes. The forestay tang comes up through the deck at the bottom of this cup. The gap around the forestay allows water to drain directly into the forward bilge area rather than the anchor locker. I've tried to add caulking from underneath, but it is basically a blind process as you can't get in a position to see what you are doing or hold any sort of caulking gun or tube. Because of the narrowness and depth of the gap between the anchor roller bracket and the forestay tang, you can't get a caulking tube down to the bottom of the gap from the top sides. Even if you did, you'd still have a "cup" and it would eventually begin leaking again.

I'm considering getting some closed cell foam and carving it to fit the "V" in the anchor roller and filling the back part of the "V" so that it drains forward off the bow. This would allow me to bond the foam in place and caulk around it. I'm concerned that it will eventually look ratty getting banged around with anchors and chain, etc.

I suppose the real solution is to unbolt the anchor roller bracket from the deck and re-caulk it.

I'm just looking for ways others have addressed this problem.

Thanks for any input.

[KenKrawford]

Gary, I don't think you want to remove the anchor roller. I had to change mine out a couple of years ago and it's a real pain to remove. They must have bedded it with 3M 5200. It took a lot of pulling and prying to get it loose. When I finally got it off, it had pulled some gel coat with it!
In one of the earlier posts on this topic, someone had suggested adding a piece of straw to the caulk nozzle. Have you tried that yet?

[BillBerner]

Haven't even looked at the area, so apologies if this is a stupid (it's definitely uninformed) suggestion:
Would great stuff, or a similar expanding foam insulation do the job?

Bill Berner
2003 #66

[TBOT422]

Ken,

You're probably right about the 5200 and the anchor roller bracket. I probably don't want to go that direction.

I made a poor attempt at using a straw on the end of a caulking tube, but it didn't work too well.

The real issue is the area is essentially a "V" shaped cup that catches rain water and wave splashes. Even if you could easily caulk it, in time it will leak again due to the constant flexing of the forestay and/or anchor rode. That's why I am considering filing the "V" entirely with something that allows the rain/wave splash to drain forward off the bow. Because of the flexure of the forestay, I was thinking about a closed cell foam like some pool floats are made of, but I'm not sure how well it would stand up to the abuse of the chain and anchor. I'm also considering trimming something solid like PVC or Delrin to fill the "V" then caulk around it. It would hold up better to abuse, and I could probably even screw it down to the anchor roller bracket. The concern would be how much flexure (caulking space) I need to allow for around the forestay tang. At least if the "V" is filled, it will be much easier to re-caulk when needed, and hopefully most of the water goes off the bow instead of being captured in the "cup".