> It's so exciting...the genoa and the tracks and sheets and blocks and all
> came today from IM! but no instructions.....where to mount tracks! Geoff
> in tahoe gave me his specs....but of course I'd appreciate more input on
> how to do it all. Shall I mark the holes with an awl? I have a neat little
> hand drill that is the same color as the boat ( yellow). Any tips on
> drilling fiberglass? I suppose I'll need help, since the through bolts
> have lock nuts and are phillips head on the outside. What about sealant?
> Is there some special marine type caulk that you use?
>
> I plan to call IM in the morning but any advice from y'all is heartily
> welcome!
>
> Thanks!
>
> Ken Silverman, p-15 "Vegan Lorax", soon to have a genoa!
Hi Ken,
Here are some general tips on procedures. I'm sure other folks can add their
own experiences to my tips and suggest other ways to do the job, but this is
a start.
- How to keep the holes in the boat aligned with the holes in the track:
Tape your track to the boat before drilling. Drill the first hole at one end
of the track and then put a machine screw thru the track and deck. Mark the
hole for the other end, drill it and drop a screw thru the track and hole.
Mark the other holes and drill them, putting a screw thru each hole as you
drill to keep the track and holes aligned.
If the hole isn't perfectly perpendicular to the surface, the head of the
screw may stick up too far. You can enlarge the hole a tiny bit by working
the drillbit in the hole a little until the screw sits flush on on the track.
You don't want the screw head sticking up from the track where it can bind
against the movable car.
- How to avoid chips and get the holes centered with the holes in the track:
To drill holes without chipping the gel coat put masking tape on first.
Start with a small diameter drill bit, maybe 1/8". Redrill several times
with a slightly larger drillbit each time. This does two things -- using a
small drill bit first gets the hole exactly where you want it without having
it "walk" as you start the first hole and prevents chipping the gelcoat
(which is no big deal but not as nice as no chips) (BTW, I don't use the tape
first, but some people recommend it. I just start with a small drill bit and
increase the bit size incrementally)
- Using a sealant:
Seal the holes/fasteners with a polysulfide sealant like Life Caulk (my
preferred gook for jobs like this, really long lasting, adheres well, stays
flexible) or 3M 101 sealant or 401 sealant or silicon (easy to use, but has
low adhesive properies). Wipe the area first with acetone to remove any old
wax (don't get acetone on any other plastic nearby; it may damage plastic but
it won't hurt properly cured gelcoat or fiberglass). Apply enough sealant to
form a continuous gasket without gaps. Use denatured or isopropyl alcohol
and paper towels/TP for cleanup as you work. Tighten the nuts just one or
two turns short of tight; then let it cure for a day or two, and finally
tighten it fully to form a "compressed gasket" out of the sealant.
- More on Sealing:
If the holes are thru solid fiberglass, you can caulk both the outside and
inside and all the way thru the hole. Put a little sealant on the threads
near the head before inserting thru the hole. Put a little on the inside
before placing the washer. Wipe off excess with alcohol.
If the holes are thru a wood-cored part of the deck, the best thing to do is
seal the wood core with epoxy to prevent core rot if it ever leaks. In this
case, don't seal the inside of the hole/fastener -- you want to know if it's
leaking so you can re-seal it. Just seal the topsides of the fastener. If
you seal both the inside and outside, you'll channel leaking water from the
topsides right into the wood core.
There are several good ways to seal the wood core -- a) drill it a 16th inch
oversized and use a q-tip to paint it with epoxy, b) drill it considerable
oversized and fill it with thickened epoxy then redrill, c) drill it a little
oversized, use a bent nail in your drill to score out the wood a 1/4" deep
and then fill with thickened epoxy, d) other variations on this scheme.
- A web article on installing tracks:
If you want to see how I installed my jib tracks on the cabintop of Redwing,
our P19, go to
<A HREF="http://members.aol.com/jblumhorst/GennyTracks.html">Installing Genoa
Tracks on a Potter 19
</A>
Hope this helps,
Judy B.
1985 WWP-19 "Redwind"
SF Bay, CA