Fibreglass repairs to transom of cat
 

My Nacra 5.8 is letting in a small amount of water, and it appears to be
seeping in through the lower side if the stern where the transom joins
the rest of the hull.
It looks as though the transom is a separately moulded piece, which is
attached to the rest of the hull. This is separating, letting in a small
amount of water, and I fear it may get bigger.
As to fixing it, should it simply reglass over the join inside (I feel
if i do this, It could leave water trapped inside the hull under this
repair)? Should I fill the separated parts outside with resin in
addition to prevent this? Or should I split the transom off and rejoin
the whole lot from scratch?
All help greatly appreciated!
Thanks

Jerry

Fibreglass repairs to transom of cat
 

hi jerry,
I've done similar repairs (thought not in the same location) on cats in
the past, but take my advice with a grain of salt; im no expert on
fibreglass and there are plenty of people in this group that will give
you better advice than i will.

Is there an access hatch where you can get to the inside of the hull?
If so, leave it open and in the sun for as long as you can, do try to
dry it out. Resort to hair dryer(s) where necessary. remove the gel
coat/paint if there is some with some rough grade sandpaper and
generally rough up the area so there will be something to 'bite' on.
use a bit of mat if you have some, i find its easier to work into the
corners than chopped strand. build up a bit of extra interenal
strength if you like by making an extra bulkhead or bulkheads. just
use a bit of cardboard or whatever across the hulls, then glass over
it. This adds plenty of strength.

Not sure what to do on the ourside. On my boat i glassed it there too,
but it sure looked ugly. Im not much of a hand at glassing, and i cant
say im porud enough to sand/gelcoat/paint afterwards. this was more of
a working repair for me and it worked just fine.

Shaun

Fibreglass repairs to transom of cat
 

Use epoxy resin.

"Jerry Steinbach" wrote in message
...
My Nacra 5.8 is letting in a small amount of water, and it appears to be
seeping in through the lower side if the stern where the transom joins the
rest of the hull.
It looks as though the transom is a separately moulded piece, which is
attached to the rest of the hull. This is separating, letting in a small
amount of water, and I fear it may get bigger.
As to fixing it, should it simply reglass over the join inside (I feel if
i do this, It could leave water trapped inside the hull under this
repair)? Should I fill the separated parts outside with resin in addition
to prevent this? Or should I split the transom off and rejoin the whole
lot from scratch?
All help greatly appreciated!
Thanks

Jerry

Fibreglass repairs to transom of cat
 

Ok, top postin?

Some thoughts that may or may not help...
(My glass experience is all aviation related)

First, this is a job for epoxy - only.

Getting a good secondary bond with polyester or vinylester is questionable.
Epoxy WILL stick well. Even West is better choice that poly, although I
UNrecommend West for glass lamination work.

I'd use an air powered die grinder to carve into the existing glass enough
that any contamination or fatigued areas have been removed.

Do this neatly so as to leave a slightly recessed trough in the critical
areas, and enough bare glass surface around the "wound" for good overlap
of the added material.

Thicken some epoxy resin with cabosil or flaked cotton to the consistency
of peanut butter (these are good structural fillers where micro balloons
are not). Trowel this goo into the area to be covered and use a tongue
depressor (or ?) to make a radiused corner - rather than a square one.

I'd use woven glass tape instead of mat, but on a boat where weight is not
as critical - well - your call. But if mat is used, do consider a woven
"close out" layer over the mat.

Lay first layer of glass (pre-wetted works well) over the filler, overlapping
a couple of inches onto good surface. Smooth out flush and make sure to get
all air bubbles out. Tapes can be "pulled" quite a bit to lay into the
compound curve without snipping gores. Try it dry first to get the feel.

Lay on more layers of glass, with each layer overlapping an inch or two
farther onto bare clean glass. This acts to close out the edges of the layers
underneath, thus protecting the repair from water infusion along the exposed
fibers.

Lastly.

Go to the outside and repeat the above.
Carve off the gell coat down to clean glass - deep enough to allow two or
three layers of cloth or tape.

This puts the repair in double shear, and stops the crack from flexing.

Bare resin outside will open up right quickly, and the whole thing is a waste
of time an money and effort.

The LAST layer on the outside is a sacrificial layer that can be sanded
off smooth. It should be slightly above the surrounding surface and sanded
down flush as possible.

A bit of Bondo, or micro will fill the tapes and any dips and give a smooth
surface for painting.

There is NO reason at all for a fiberglass repair to be visible - much less
ugly.

Well, that's my 2 cents worth of free advice.

I know is sounds like a lot of extra work, and I guess it really is to a
point. But it will be something you'll have to POINT out - and then they
might not believe you. :)

Happy scratching!

Richard

Fibreglass repairs to transom of cat
 

My (very limited) experience with transoms is that they are cored. Not sure
about yours but if it is cored and it has gotten wet, you will need to dry
it out thouroughly before you do any repair work. If it stays wet you will
end up with rot if its wood. Wet wood or any other wet core and you may end
up with delamination.




"Jerry Steinbach" wrote in message
...
My Nacra 5.8 is letting in a small amount of water, and it appears to be
seeping in through the lower side if the stern where the transom joins
the rest of the hull.
It looks as though the transom is a separately moulded piece, which is
attached to the rest of the hull. This is separating, letting in a small
amount of water, and I fear it may get bigger.
As to fixing it, should it simply reglass over the join inside (I feel
if i do this, It could leave water trapped inside the hull under this
repair)? Should I fill the separated parts outside with resin in
addition to prevent this? Or should I split the transom off and rejoin
the whole lot from scratch?
All help greatly appreciated!
Thanks

Jerry