International Telstar Owners Association

My 2008 Telstar 28 port ama recently began taking on water. Had it hauled out and discovered a crack on the inboard side forward related to the hinge joint. Upon closer inspection there are similar cracks on the starboard forward ama and indications of stress cracks at the hull/deck seam outside ama in multiple locations. I sail on the San Francisco Bay, which can be pretty rowdy. Unfortunately insurance will not be picking up repairs which are likely heading in the 20K range. There was evidence of prior repairs on this area, hidden from view and not reported by survey done in 2013 when I bought the boat <2 years ago.

I would like to speak with Tony, anyone have his contact info?

I have hired a naval architect (Jim Antrum) to redesign and beef up. Anyone have similar experience? Solutions? Did I get a lemon?

Thanks.
Laurie

Others have mentioned water leaking into the amas, but that is not a lot of water and seems to be related to the ama hatch seals going bad. If you have some you can share, please post pictures of the cracks you mention.

Thanks for the reply. It was not immediately obvious to me how to post a picture. I see the Img above, but do not know how to upload an image. Sorry.

After you enter post a reply. Look below the box the message gets entered into and there are two tabs, "Options" and "upload attachment". Click the "Choose File" which will open the file browser and locate the file you want to attach. Click it and click open. Then "Add the file". It will go as an attachement.

It is difficult for me to see exactly where these problem areas are in the boat from the pictures. Regardless, I suggest you also check the hatches to be sure they are not the source of water coming into the amas. As I mentioned before, that seems to be the most common source of water into the amas that other owners have talked about on this site.

I have to agree. I get water in my port ama and it is rainwater, not saltwater. I have as yet to figure out what hatch is causing the water to leak in. We plan on hauling the boat out and I want to set up a camera with a light in the ama and give all the hatches a really good dousing to see if I can find where it is happening.

I will be really interested with what you discover. I have been wrestling with water in the amas for a few years, trying every possibility as to why water is getting in. I have some replacement inspection hatches that I have yet to install until I am sure where the water is coming in. Let us know what you find out.

gary g

You might also check the stanchion "holes". They are just PVC pipe that are glued into place. The PVC caps at the bottom end were also just glued on with marine glue, not glue intended for PVC. Anyway, the PVC can and will crack eventually and you will be amazed at how much water you can collect from one rainstorm.

Steve R.