I tried to make a smooth radius to allow water to run to the sides. The caulking is a good 1/8" bead all the way around; certainly better than the thin neoprene that was original. The only thing keeping water from leaking in at the pedestals of the wing are the O-rings so I placed a bead of caulking in the base of the pedestals down inside the mounting indent of the base. Water shouldn't even get to the o-rings. The original seal was in pretty good shape around the base, but I could see that it was beginning to let go as dirt had started to work it's way into the seal. The original was positioned well all the way around, so I used it as a guide to place the new rope caulking.