txneal
Well-known member
I'm hoping some of you guys may be able to give me advice on repairing a small, slow leak in my boat. I've read through many posts on the subject, so I have a general idea of what the options are, but I would like to hear from some of you with personal experience in doing this.
My boat is a 1972 Starcraft Seafarer and is very watertight with the exception of one place where some water is coming in. The leak is near the bow and is coming through right at the centerline of the V in the hull. If I put water in the boat, I can see a very slow, but steady drip. When the boat is in the water, I can go all day long without much water coming in, but by the end of the day, it will take on 2-3 gallons of water. It's not much, but irritating nonetheless, so I'd like to stop it.
I really don't have any pressing desire to repaint the entire boat and would prefer not to have to sand down to bare metal in order to use something like Steelflex on the bottom. I considered Steelflex, but then I read that it will definitely crack and break if subjected to a flexing hull from rough water. I do occasionally find myself in rough water, so I don't want to use Steelflex. I've also done some reading about Gluvit. I really don't want to do the entire bottom of the boat, but would prefer to just do enough to stop the leak. Would Gluvit be a good choice for a small patch job, just at the site of the leak? Is there some other method or product that would make more sense for stopping a leak such as what I've described?
My boat is a 1972 Starcraft Seafarer and is very watertight with the exception of one place where some water is coming in. The leak is near the bow and is coming through right at the centerline of the V in the hull. If I put water in the boat, I can see a very slow, but steady drip. When the boat is in the water, I can go all day long without much water coming in, but by the end of the day, it will take on 2-3 gallons of water. It's not much, but irritating nonetheless, so I'd like to stop it.
I really don't have any pressing desire to repaint the entire boat and would prefer not to have to sand down to bare metal in order to use something like Steelflex on the bottom. I considered Steelflex, but then I read that it will definitely crack and break if subjected to a flexing hull from rough water. I do occasionally find myself in rough water, so I don't want to use Steelflex. I've also done some reading about Gluvit. I really don't want to do the entire bottom of the boat, but would prefer to just do enough to stop the leak. Would Gluvit be a good choice for a small patch job, just at the site of the leak? Is there some other method or product that would make more sense for stopping a leak such as what I've described?