Epoxy Work

This morning we did leak repairs.  Fortunately I had plenty of West System 105 epoxy resin, 206 slow hardener, and 405 filler material (to turn epoxy into a paste) on hand from my Hawaii days.

The plan was to pour epoxy down the vent openings to fill the drains up to the outlet level.  We were working blind but the hope was that we would get relief from reducing the amount of water pooling in the drain (only about 5mm deep) and perhaps sealing cracks in the process.  That work went well.  I poured about 6 oz of epoxy on the port side and about 4 oz on the starboard side, being careful not to raise the levels higher than the bottom of the drain holes.

Epoxy down large hole at left to bottom of drain at right

I then used the 405 to make a paste out of 2 oz of epoxy and filled in the areas containing the cracks where we had seen water leaking inside the port side of the cabin.  Thus we were trying to stop this leak by patching both the inside and outside of the cabin.  I then used the paste to seal a hole on the starboard side in the pots & pans cupboard.  It wasn't until Arnold saw water literally squirting out of that tiny hold that I understood why that area got pretty wet in certain conditions.  That may stop the water from getting into the cupboard but does not answer the question of how the water is getting into that channel to start with, because it isn't as simple as a hole straight through to the deck.  This channel could be the join between the hull and topside. Perhaps our planned sealing of the very leaky galley vent that is nearby might solve the root cause.

Port side of cabin

Both shipments from the USA are taking longer that I had expected.  The GPS is being held up at Juarez, apparently because the Mexican customs wants more documentation.  I then sent a query to Defender about the status of the shipment of the fluxgate compass and got a prompt reply that it may take up to 3 weeks.  That's fine, but the shipment is via USPS which I know now is the US Postal Service, which suggests to me that the package will be passed on to the Mexican postal service.  I find this pretty shocking, given the abysmal reputation of the Mexican postal service.  No wonder Defender's delivery charge was only about $35 vs the whopping $140 for the compass shipment. 

Cupboard on starboard side

All I can do is be patient and see how these endeavors resolve themselves.  Having said that, it is highly unlikely that I will try shipping merchandise into Mexico again.  I think that I have a better shot at getting help from the constant stream of sailors driving between La Paz and San Diego.