Re-bedding stern pulpit

[Bene281]

Hi - Has any of you ever re-bedded the stern pulpits? Gotta fix a leak there. Since the backstays connect to the pulpit - I assume securing the mast with the (spare) halyard to the stern cleat should allow to securely remove the pulpit? I'm a fan of butyl tape - advisable to use for pulpit bedding? If not, what did you use? Thanks for any tips.

[Bob Hughes]

I did it exactly as you describe for the port stern pulpit.  I loosened the backstays, secured the mast with the halyard to a stern cleat, lifted the pulpit barely out and used butyl rubber tape to bed it.  Worked perfectly.  I also used butyl tape when I replaced my portlights.  Not a drop for several years from either place.

[Bene281]

On Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at 5:06:33 PM UTC-4, Bob Hughes wrote:

I did it exactly as you describe for the port stern pulpit.  I loosened the backstays, secured the mast with the halyard to a stern cleat, lifted the pulpit barely out and used butyl rubber tape to bed it.  Worked perfectly.  I also used butyl tape when I replaced my portlights.  Not a drop for several years from either place.

Thanks for response, Bob! So you didn't remove the pulpit completely, but left the bolts in and just lifted the pulpit up a little to get butyl tape in there? Probably a silly question - is the deck cored back there? Had thought to get pulpit out completely, over-drill holes and seal them up again with epoxy before re-drilling holes and re-mounting pulpits. Now I like sailing much more than boat works - if I can get away with less work... :)

[Bob Hughes]

My recollection is that it was solid fiberglass there, not cored.  Of all the things I have removed from the deck I don't ever remember seeing core - always solid fiberglass.  I always assumed that Beneteau used solid fiberglass everywhere they mounted stuff or would expect an owner to mount something (like a second cabin top winch for a spinnaker).

I took the bolts off from underneath,  pulled it up less than an inch, used a dremel to slightly chamfer the edge of the hole, then cleaned it out.  The threaded part of the pulpit stanchion was probably in the hole a bit but not in the way.  Then I formed the butyl in a cone shape around the threaded part and flange of the stanchion (sharp side of the cone facing down), reseated it and cleaned up the butyl that squeezed out.  

My problem came when the port/stern pulpit got hung up on a piling in my slip, the tide dropped and the boat was hanging by the pulpit.  After that I had regular water in the stern berth under the bed cushions.  I eventually traced the leak to the stern-most post (middle of the 3) where the prior bedding had dried up and crumbled under the stress of that incident.  I did not remove/rebed the forward-most stanchion of the pulpit - the one that sits in the fitting on the deck.  

Good luck.  For what I did it was way easier than I thought it would be.

On Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at 7:41:44 AM UTC-4, Bene281 wrote:

[Bene281]

Bob - Thanks so much for your helpful description! We did exactly the same today - pulled up only the (leaky) middle post without loosening the other ones, lifted it up just enough to clean up the area thoroughly, then used butyl tape to re-seal. IT was really easy, and first test with the water hose indicated a proper seal without water coming through anymore. Keep fingers crossed :) Thanks again for your helpful response!