Bedding Hardware
Fuel fills. Water fills. Stanchion bases. Cleats. Most likely, if you own your boat for a good while, one or many of these babies will eventually have to be removed and rebedded with new caulking material. Let’s face it—no matter what stuff you use to seal a chunk of metal to a chunk of fiberglass, it’s probably going to either deteriorate some day or disappear altogether, thereby allowing both salt and freshwater to intrude destructively.
There are two basic rebedding methods. The first entails merely slathering caulking material either onto the underside of the piece of hardware involved or onto the fiberglass underlying the hardware—or both—and then, after reseating the chunk, tightening the related screws or bolts with enough force to squish virtually everything out of the joint. A good workout? Maybe, but it makes for a poor job.
The second, better way? Start by cleaning the old, worn-out caulking material from your fiberglass and metal surfaces using a tool like a chisel, screwdriver, or pocket knife. Finish up with an appropriate solvent. Next, reseat the metal component temporarily, carefully mask off the fiberglass area around it with varnishing tape, and, after removing the component (again, temporarily), just as carefully cover the outer surfaces of the component with varnishing tape as well. Now finally, with the tape guaranteeing a crisp finish and fast cleanup, liberally apply the caulk to the fiberglass surface and then simply sit back and wait.
The last point is key. Ultimately, you want enough caulking material to remain in the metal-fiberglass joint so that, upon curing, it forms a gasket of sorts, with adhesive properties on both sides. To facilitate this, enough curing time needs to elapse so that the caulking material firms up a bit before you press down and permanently seat the component. Exactly how much time depends upon the caulking material you’re using, the ambient temperatures involved, and the physical characteristics of the metal chunk you are dealing with.
I dare to offer a rule of thumb, however. Once the caulking material has cured to a point where it begins to resist the weight of the component, then go ahead and seat and secure it with the appropriate retaining screw or bolts. And hey, do not overtighten these fasteners, thereby quashing the approach described thus far. You are trying to strike a balance, after all, between maintaining the rigidity of the component’s attachment to the underlying fiberglass and guaranteeing enough gasket-like resiliency beneath it to keep water and other nastiness out for a good long time. —Capt. Bill Pike