BYYB Forums

I have a quick question.

I am finishing up the bridge deck that I added to my weekender and realized that I had sealed off two very small areas just to either side of the hatch cover when I epoxied the parts to the boat.  The areas are probably no more than three or four cubic inches each.  The interior has some unfinished wood and some glassed areas.  The question is: can I leave those areas unvented?  The exterior will  be glassed and painted to blend into the seats, so water entry will be no different than anywhere on the cockpit.  I am inclined to vent them, but if I do I will also have to paint the interior.  That shouldn't be a problem as I can spray the interior through the hole with a can and an extension tube.  I don't want to if I don't have to. 

Al

as long as they are well sealed i doubt its an issue, i wouldn't do it.

Even though the areas are small, eventually moisture vapor inside will cause issues, so drill a hole in the space and spray some paint inside. I've used the spray head and straw from a can of WD-40 to permit me to apply paint in very confined spaces.

Thanks for the replies,

I had a feeling that I was going to have to do something about this, I just got lazy.  I have the weekender in  my shop for the winter to do all the things I have been thinking about and to put the best finish on her that I can.  So far I am pretty happy with the bridge deck.  It is going to fundamentally affect how I pack the boat.  It will also keep the main sheet out from under foot.  I'm going to finish the filleting in the next few days so after that I will try to get a good pic to let everyone see what it looks like.

Al

Water will get in.  It always does so you need to fix it now or face a major issue in a couple of years.