[Public-list] Cockpit Coamings and Companionway Cover

[Gordon Laco]

Hello Don - 

Yes, I know all that but we don't mind all that much.  Compared to what we
used to cope with in our wooden boat, the prospect of replacing or scarphing
a piece of the coaming a few years in the future is tolerable.  I know the
wooden boat was not 'alive' any more than the Alberg is, but we used to like
to think she was.  I tease my fibreglass boat friends by saying that I am
preserving the bit of moss because it is the only living thing in my
synthetic boat.  It drives them crazy.

I knew I shouldn't have admitted our little bad habit!

By the way, Surprise is out of the shop with her new pro paint job.  I had
the topsides and bottom done - beautiful and slick looking.  We should be
quick this summer!

Gord #426 Surprise




> Gord;
>   From a plant physiologist, you might not be aware that the moss will be
> using
> the coaming as part of its required environment for living, a receptical for
> ion
> exchange,  particularly H+ ions which do a fair job of acidifying things when
> mixed
> with water, and perhaps one of several sources for minerals  for its own
> structure.
> So in the end the coamings will lose their structure as the moss becomes ever
> more
> entrenched and consumes more and more materials from the coamings. It then
> becomes
> a question of which you want to preserve,  the living or the structural
> materials.
> 
> Don # 528
> 
> Gordon Laco wrote:
> 
>> Aboard Surprise I caulked the outside of the coaming at the deck but not the
>> inside on the principle that the bottom of the wood would be dryer if I did
>> not trap water.
>> 
>> I should not be admitting this but when we bought the boat in 2000, there
>> was a bit of moss about an inch long growing where the coaming meets the
>> cockpit. At first we made jokes about it but quickly grew to like it.
>> You've got to respect its tenacity.    In rainy or rough weather when there
>> is a lot of water on deck the moss gets cheery and bright green... On hot
>> dry days it hunkers down and survives.
>> 
>> We are very careful not to disturb it when sanding and varnishing etc.
>> 
>> Gord #426 Surprise
>> 
>>> Meinhold, Michael J wrote:
>>>> I removed the cockpit coamings. Can anyone reccomend what sealant to use
>>>> and
>>>> where to put it?
>>>> Should I just apply it along the edges after the coamings are back on?
>>> 
>>> I used 2" wide by 1/8" or 1/16" thick neoprene gasket behind the coaming
>>> (at Bug Dolber's suggestion).  This has worked very well.  Look up
>>> "gaskets" in the yellow pages to find sources.  You might want to call
>>> around, as the prices seem to vary and for the size you need, you might
>>> be able to find scrap.  The stuff I got had adhesive on one side.
>>> 
>>> Then I caulked the coaming/deck joint, too.
>>> 
>>> - George
>> 
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