thwarts - glued or only screwed?

[sscoville]

My plans seem to indicate that the thwarts get screwed to the centerboard trunk and side cleats without epoxy.  Is this the usual practice?

[Designer]

Sam,

Screws are fine, you need to seal all of the wood first with epoxy. Some people want the thwart to be removable for revarnishing. If you just screw, make sure that you caulk around the trunk very well or you will get a big surprise when you start sailing fast. Ask Tom how he knows this.

[Guest wwbaginski]

I did both, glued and screwed. I guess Graham is talking about the water level rising inside the CB trunk  and causing a leak. Thus my guestion by the way, did anybody use elastic covers on the bottom to minimalize water access into the CB box? Racingdinghies use to have such devices.

[niko]

There are special centerboard gaskets: http://www.apsltd.com/c-3020-slotstrip-centerboardgasketmaterial.aspx

[Tom Lathrop]

I like to have the thwarts removable for refinishing unless the structure requires that they be glued in for rigidity and the CS is rigid enough without the thwart.  As a result, I don't glue but only caulk the area under the thwart over the CB trunk.  I forgot to do the caulking and the jet of water (not a pissy little leak) issuing was like Niagra.  Andersen worked well though.  I think I may have used poly foam under the thwart instead of caulk.

CB gaskets under the hull are not necessary on boats like the CS.  A nuisance for minimal benefit.

[Terry Dunn]

My thwart is screwed to the centerboard trunk. I had removed and put it back on prior to the 2008 Texas 200 and did not caulk around the trunk very well. There was a steady stream of water coming in the boat and out the anderson bailer for the whole trip when sailing fast.

[Guest wwbaginski]

There was a steady stream of water coming in the boat and out the anderson bailer for the whole trip when sailing fast.

sounds like it was a water cooled craft I had the same during my first cruise, except an anderson bailer in the bottom. Now it's caulked and is ok.  In fact CS is more rigid than BRS, because lots of extra elements, so I would recommend to glue&screw BRS twarths. I think it is usefull to mount a bottom gasket in a CS hull, because less  water in the CB trunk makes a boat faster.

[sscoville]

Now when y'all say "caulk around the centerboard trunk," are you referring to all the joints between the trunk and thwart, or where exactly?

[Dale Niemann]

I glued and screwed the thwart on "Lively" and she has never leaked a drop. 

Dale

[Ken_Potts]

Go sail her and caulk the parts that spit at you  

I had (okay I have) some water coming up in the intersection between the centerboard trunk cap and the thwart.  It's not spraying, just gurgling, but both pieces of wood are finished and I have an autobailer so it's really not a problem - I'll get around to caulking it after I've done the other 150 things on my maintenance list...

To clarify:  I caulked the joint between the centerboard trunk and the cap but once the cap was installed I didn't caulk the little bitty crack that remains between the cap and the thwart - There's some overlap between the two, if I remember correctly.  It's one of those 3 minute fixes I haven't gotten around to in the past 3 years or so because I'm a bad person...

[sscoville]

Does the centerboard cap need to be removable? 

[PeterP]

If you ever have to work on the centerboard you will be glad for the access. PeterP

[sscoville]

I wasn't sure if the cap had to be removed to remove the centerboard.

[Ray Frechette Jr]

I glue and screw the thwart down.  then I fillet the intersection and put glass tape over the fillet.

No leakage.

If it needs to be removed later, a soldering iron or fein multimaster witha  blade on it will work rather nicely too.