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Starcraft Hull - Holes in strakes

T

theydrewa31

Regular Contributor
I have a Starcraft Islander 221V that I am currently trying to restore. There some tiny holes aligned perfectly on the crest of the strakes. Photo below. I am curious if these are here for a reason? Since they are perfectly aligned on the crest of the strakes I assumed they were put there by Starcraft. Previous owner must have had a leaky rivet because they smeared bathroom caulk over every seam and rivet, as well as these holes. I am currently in the process of scraping all of this caulk off of the hull so I can wet test to find any leaking rivets for replacement, but I am trying to figure out if these holes are here for drainage, or if they should be sealed off in some way.

Hole in Strake.jpg


Additionally I am curious if the edges of the seams should be sealed in some way as anything that was there will be removed from the hull along with the caulk that was applied by the previous owner.

Also if you know of a good way to remove that caulk easily I'm all ears. I have tried elbow grease, caulk remover, acetone and soft scrub bleach. So far a liberal application of the bleach allowing to penetrate for 20 minutes, followed by scraping with stainless steel razor blade seems to be working best. Brushes don't seem to do much, if anything. I'm not even 100% sure that it is caulk, as I have never had contact with the previous owner but I assumed it wasn't marine sealant/ glue as it softens a little with the bleach, and some of it is peeling off on its own.

Thanks for any help gents!
 
Did a little more research on the interweb today. From what I can find those holes are there so that any water that finds it's way inside the strake during use to drain out after it has been trailered. This is done to prevent the water inside from freezing and expanding and causing damage after the boat has been trailered.

Please let me know if this is wrong!
 
the hole in the strake makes sense like if saltwater got trapped in there it would rot out the aluminum. however the midship isn't the lowest point.
a heat gun will help removing the chaulk.
 
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