I have a 73 Starcraft fiberglass boat on which the bow eye was beginning to
pull through. Upon further inspection I found that the wood on the inside of
the hull had disintegrated. I removed the fiberglass covering where the wood
used to be and removed all the wood particles. There is no more wood in the
area.

I intended to repair it by making a new piece of wood approximately the same
dimensions as the old one then fiberglassing over it before attaching the
bow eye.

Do I need to put fiberglass resin, epoxy or sealant between the new wood and
the inside of the hull? Should I fiberglass over the new wood before
bolting the eye on or after? Any other suggestions?

Thanks
Mike

Epoxy liberally between wood and glass skin. Sheath the wood member
with epoxy and glass cloth.
When set, drill oversize and apply an epoxy plug.
When set, drill on size, and set strong eye in place with marine
adhesive sealant. Don't forget the strong backing plate.
I used a thick aluminum alloy strip sawn from an extruded girder.

Brian Whatcott Altus OK

On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 15:18:15 -0500, "Mike"
wrote:

I have a 73 Starcraft fiberglass boat on which the bow eye was beginning to
pull through. Upon further inspection I found that the wood on the inside of
the hull had disintegrated. I removed the fiberglass covering where the wood
used to be and removed all the wood particles. There is no more wood in the
area.

I intended to repair it by making a new piece of wood approximately the same
dimensions as the old one then fiberglassing over it before attaching the
bow eye.

Do I need to put fiberglass resin, epoxy or sealant between the new wood and
the inside of the hull? Should I fiberglass over the new wood before
bolting the eye on or after? Any other suggestions?

Thanks
Mike

Mike,

As well as using epoxy to seal everything, and a sturdy backing plate,
you might consider using several layers of plywood, glued together,
instead of a solid chunk of wood. Solid wood. if not perfectly sealed,
can swell and shrink with moisture changes and break the epoxy bond with
the hull.

Ford Walton



Mike wrote:

I have a 73 Starcraft fiberglass boat on which the bow eye was beginning to
pull through. Upon further inspection I found that the wood on the inside of
the hull had disintegrated. I removed the fiberglass covering where the wood
used to be and removed all the wood particles. There is no more wood in the
area.

I intended to repair it by making a new piece of wood approximately the same
dimensions as the old one then fiberglassing over it before attaching the
bow eye.

Do I need to put fiberglass resin, epoxy or sealant between the new wood and
the inside of the hull? Should I fiberglass over the new wood before
bolting the eye on or after? Any other suggestions?

Thanks
Mike

Not knowing what type of boat boat you have, row,sail , power, ect, I would
not know how wood replacement will do, but for bow eyes, I like soild
fiberglass, no wood. On some boats the bow eye is the principal means of
holding the thing on it's trailer and even if a trailer is not in your
picture, the bow eye is what is usually used to pull boats off a grounding
of tow back to dock after a breakdown. I want a bow eye that can handle some
heavy duty pulling on. So consider, solid glass and install eye with a
metal, ( ss) backing plate.

--
Ron White
My boatbuilding website is:
www.concentric.net/~knotreel

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Mike


"Ron White" wrote in message
...
Not knowing what type of boat boat you have, row,sail , power, ect, I
would
not know how wood replacement will do, but for bow eyes, I like soild
fiberglass, no wood. On some boats the bow eye is the principal means of
holding the thing on it's trailer and even if a trailer is not in your
picture, the bow eye is what is usually used to pull boats off a grounding
of tow back to dock after a breakdown. I want a bow eye that can handle
some
heavy duty pulling on. So consider, solid glass and install eye with a
metal, ( ss) backing plate.

--
Ron White
My boatbuilding website is:
www.concentric.net/~knotreel