How to do some repairs on my boat
 

I have a 13' fiberglass sailboat. I bought it 3 years ago for almost
nothing because there were some serious cracks in the hull from improper
trailering. I put 3 new layers of fiberglass over it and it is fine. It
was too light before (well, at least for me anyhow) and now I really like
it; the 30 extra pounds on the bottom did a lot to improve it's stability
without making that much of a difference in speed.

I have decided it is time to fix some of the other problems. (I fixed the
cracked dagger board last year.)
1) The ropes from the jib (excuse me, I am new to sailing and don't know the
language...) go into some camcleats on a seat going across the boat.
http://www.frontiernet.net/~toller/Seat.jpg
The seat is attached to the boat by 6 screws, 2 each to little shelfs on the
sides and 2 to the daggerboard housing, and the screws are working their way
out.
http://www.frontiernet.net/~toller/Detail.jpg
I have tried to fix it with longer screws, but it is obviously is not
adequate. I need to fill the holes with something to hold the screws
properly.
I don't know anything about boat construction, but presume there is some
wood under the fiberglass to take the screws.
Anyhow, I need some advice on how to fix this problem before a good wind
just pulls the seat out.

2) The previous owner slathered some white gunk over all the cracks to try
to hide them. (He claimed it was to fix them, but he wasn't that dumb.)
The white gunk immediately cracked through, presumable where the underlaying
cracks were. They really haven't gotten any worse in three years, but I
expect they may some day and would like to prevent that.
http://www.frontiernet.net/~toller/Crack.jpg
They are actually more conspicuous than the picture suggests.
Would just putting some fiberglass over them help any, or do I have to do
something more drastic to be useful? Thanks.

On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 04:04:56 +0000, John wrote:

I have a 13' fiberglass sailboat. I bought it 3 years ago for almost
nothing because there were some serious cracks in the hull from improper
trailering. I put 3 new layers of fiberglass over it and it is fine. It
was too light before (well, at least for me anyhow) and now I really
like it; the 30 extra pounds on the bottom did a lot to improve it's
stability without making that much of a difference in speed.

I have decided it is time to fix some of the other problems. (I fixed
the cracked dagger board last year.)
1) The ropes from the jib (excuse me, I am new to sailing and don't know
the language...) go into some camcleats on a seat going across the boat.
http://www.frontiernet.net/~toller/Seat.jpg The seat is attached to the
boat by 6 screws, 2 each to little shelfs on the sides and 2 to the
daggerboard housing, and the screws are working their way out.
http://www.frontiernet.net/~toller/Detail.jpg I have tried to fix it
with longer screws, but it is obviously is not adequate. I need to fill
the holes with something to hold the screws properly.

I'm not sure what's in the shelves, but your guess that it is wood seems a
good one. It sounds like the wood is a bit rotten or worn out around the
screws. One way to fix this is to use wider screws. Another option is to
drill the holes out fairly wide and fill them with some kind of epoxy brew
(like maybe west system epoxy and a strong filler of some sort). Then you
could re-drill the holes to the right diameter so that the existing screws
can bite into the epoxy mixture. You will probably have to remove the seat
altogether to do this, since you don't want to bore out the holes in the
seat.

I think the gougeon (sp?) brothers have information available about how to
do this. Maybe you can pick up one of their little pamphlets at a nearby
boat store or order one via catalog or something. West marine has them, I
think.

I don't know anything about boat construction, but presume there is some
wood under the fiberglass to take the screws. Anyhow, I need some advice
on how to fix this problem before a good wind just pulls the seat out.

2) The previous owner slathered some white gunk over all the cracks to
try to hide them. (He claimed it was to fix them, but he wasn't that
dumb.) The white gunk immediately cracked through, presumable where the
underlaying cracks were. They really haven't gotten any worse in three
years, but I expect they may some day and would like to prevent that.
http://www.frontiernet.net/~toller/Crack.jpg They are actually more
conspicuous than the picture suggests. Would just putting some
fiberglass over them help any, or do I have to do something more drastic
to be useful? Thanks.

I think those are just gel coat cracks. If that's what they are, they are
certainly not serious. The worst thing about them is that they may let
moisture into the laminate.

You can just scrape any loose stuff off, then sand, fair and paint,
preferably at a time when you are sure the boat is very dry. For example,
if you leave it out of the water for a couple of weeks during the hot
summer.

As always when painting, you have to remove any lose material as a first
step.

I would use epoxy with a suitable filler for the fairing, and polyurethane
paint. But you may also get good results with less expensive substances.

;-)

--Mac

I don't have colour graphics on this computer so can't view the photos but...
would it be possible to replace the screws with bolts? Bolts won't pull
out like screws.
--
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On Tue, 07 Sep 2004 04:04:56 GMT, "John" wrote:

I have a 13' fiberglass sailboat. I bought it 3 years ago for almost
nothing because there were some serious cracks in the hull from improper
trailering. I put 3 new layers of fiberglass over it and it is fine. It
was too light before (well, at least for me anyhow) and now I really like
it; the 30 extra pounds on the bottom did a lot to improve it's stability
without making that much of a difference in speed.

I have decided it is time to fix some of the other problems. (I fixed the
cracked dagger board last year.)
1) The ropes from the jib (excuse me, I am new to sailing and don't know the
language...) go into some camcleats on a seat going across the boat.
http://www.frontiernet.net/~toller/Seat.jpg
The seat is attached to the boat by 6 screws, 2 each to little shelfs on the
sides and 2 to the daggerboard housing, and the screws are working their way
out.

I think I would remove the seat and build up the area with fiberglass
and epoxy where the screws go. You have already done fiberglass work,
just add thinckness to the area where the screws go through. You
should be able to hide the glass buildup under the seat so it will not
stick out like a sore thumb. I would also double the screw count if
possible. I would have six screws on each side, not two.

http://www.frontiernet.net/~toller/Detail.jpg
I have tried to fix it with longer screws, but it is obviously is not
adequate. I need to fill the holes with something to hold the screws
properly.
I don't know anything about boat construction, but presume there is some
wood under the fiberglass to take the screws.

Your presumption that there is wood under the glass where the seat
screws to, may be incorrect. Don't be suprised if it is only
fiberglass there and the screws are holding by one thread.

Anyhow, I need some advice on how to fix this problem before a good wind
just pulls the seat out.

Go to the library and get a book. Most libraries have good books on
this subject and this will heelp you a lot.
They probably have some good books on sailing also.
Good Luck,
Dan