Structural Repair 23'

[kmoose]

Yes, all manufacturers use some form of "putty" to join/nest caps to liners and decks to stringers on the main hull. The areas that stress was transferred in my case were at the door jams entering the cabin at the liner supports struts at the deck level causing cracks that ended up causing water to enter the deck coring. If you tie it all together the system will find the weakest areas to shear and delaminate the glass at those points to relieve the stress due to flex.

Can it be done in a way to tie everything together and stop this? Sure, mine is in the process of getting it done but it requires a full disassembly of the cap and deck. Additional bulkheads tied to the hull, deck and stringers have to be glassed as well as the cap and hull at the rub rail have to be glassed solid. This is just a short list and is no guaranty that at some point long term stress won't emerge at a tie point. We are not just talking about minor glass work as it is running us close to $10k getting it done right by a pro.

Again, Potter didn't leave those unjoined seams by accident. They are part of a proven system that has held these boats together in one piece for decades without hull failures. The coring issue you have is not uncommon at that location but it has nothing to do with putty or the untied cap joints. It's the same issue that plagues most all wood cored panels and decks at some point. It's caused by ingress of moisture usually brought about through the helm holes and switches installed on the face of the helm station in this particular instance.

[McGillicuddy]

I concur with Kmoose, ample torsional strength is provided by the cap and cockpit insert. The cuddy cap is stout enough to walk on. Plenty of lateral shear strength, I think. Also you have those vertical pillars (your vertical seam)inside the gunnels adding rigidity.

The bulkhead is effectively is a minimal load-bearing wall creating a separate cabin. The turn in toward the door also adds stability.

On the Seafari, the bulkhead is connected to the cockpit insert w/ 4 screws on each side and to the dash with 4 or 5 more no glass or epoxy on either of the joints. The 21 has no bulkhead and you can still walk on the fore deck. The Seavette has 2 sets of bulkheads and I don't remember that either of them were glassed to anything, just some dabs of 5200 or potter putty, and maybe some after market lifecaulk or same.