Paul,

With all due respect, I must disagree with many aspects of your post.

To the question of "ever make it strong enough", I believe you will find
that many boat yards would be able to do so, and without any real doubt
about the quality of the final product. The question would be at what
cost, which may be high enough to abandon the project. But that is an
economic, not emotional decision.

In terms of technical abilities, if someone decided to "add" additional
bulkheads to an existing hull, there would be no problem doing so - and
most yards could handle this type of work and claim that the new
bulkheads were bonded as well or better than the original. They might
weigh significantly more, they might look worse, but technically it is
feasible (if more difficult) to rebond to existing fiberglass.

In this case, it may be necessary to do something quite like that.
Whether the expense of doing so makes sense would be for the owner to
determine, but from an engineering standpoint I don't believe there is
anything we've heard that contradicts this approach.

As to "never reach 100% new as-built strength", I don't quite understand
what this means. Are you suggesting that the manufacturer's "as built"
product is as strong as it could ever possibly be, and that any
modification would necessarily detract from this idealized value?

Boat builders, even Morgans, don't always build "as strong as it could
possibly be" because there are other factors to consider, such as cost,
design constraints, weight ratios, flex, etc. Some engineer or
architect (more likely some manager or accountant) decided exactly how
strong they could get away with making something and still sell it to
their target market. It could always have been built better, but they
didn't believe the customer would pay more for it. Again, this is an
issue of cost. The practical limit on upper strength could always be
improved in just about any vessel ever made.

Testing the repair can be done in a number of ways, but it would not
require the "knot in your gut" feelings you describe, nor the numerous
sea trials of increasing magnitude. The owner can hire engineers to
examine the work and bench test it, and delivery captains (the test
pilots of the sea) to see how she performs under load. It would not be
difficult to determine how well the joints held, or if there was any
leakage. It is simply a matter of the cost of arranging it.

Your statement that "this was not what the dream was about" is also
highly suspect. Unless it was your dream (and my understanding was that
it was Skip & his wife's, and they did not appoint you as their dream
adviser) then who are you to presume to make this claim? Perhaps
shouldering on after a difficult setback is exactly what their dream was
about? Do you know this? Did you ask them?

Furthermore, your prognosis that "your love for her will turn to hate
just from this nagging mistrust" seems awfully well informed about the
owner's psyche. How well do you know him? Have you had long
conversations with him about his feelings around this situation? Are
you basing this on some expert opinion on human dynamics? Where is the
data or rational to support this claim? Personally, it sounds like your
own fears and prejudices bleeding through here under the guise of a
disinterested third party offering unsolicited technical advise.

Perhaps knowing how well the boat stood up to a pounding in the first
place really impressed the owner and gave him great respect for the
innate quality of the construction. Perhaps knowing how well the boat
was repaired and tested would give him even greater confidence and trust
in his boat. Maybe this experience will make him an even better sailor
and better able to avoid ever placing his newly repaired boat in harms
way again.

Or maybe he'll decide that it isn't cost effective to try again with
this particular hull, because the price of repairing the damage makes it
more feasible to start again with another vessel. In either case, I
don't think "nagging doubt" should be the determining factor, but cost
should. Spinning the emotional slant doesn't seem appropriate or
justifiable here.

Robb




Paul wrote:
In article , "KLC Lewis"
wrote:


So now the question becomes, can you ever make it strong enough
without that access?


How could you ever know how strong it was?

You'll never reach 100% new as-built strength. But even if you did by some
chance, you'll never be able to KNOW exactly how strong the repair is.
You'll have to take her out in progressivly more stressful conditions and
each time there will be that knot in your gut. Will it take 5' seas? 6'
seas? 7' seas pounding for day after day? Even if it does, you'll not
know if the next wave will be the one. You'll crawl around in the bildge
after each short trip looking for problems that really can't be seen.
This is not what the dream was about.

No, it will never be a Morgan again. Not so that you can trust her just
because there is a long history of Morgans that are built just like her
that have proven themselves countless times. That was why you bought a
Morgan in the first place. The confidence that she'll be able to handle
anything the sea throws at her. That's gone for good now. There will
always be a nagging doubt. You'll live in fear of every new set of
conditions, only trusting her if conditions are just perfect, and they
never are. Over time your love for her will turn to hate just from this
nagging mistrust. You'll find more and more excuses to leave her at the
dock. Afraid each and every time you leave a port.

No, even a horse you dearly love should be put down when the time comes.
Do it swiftly and without regrets.

Good luck,
Paul