) writes:
Please help, I'm in need of some advice. My brother bought a cheapo used
sailboat at a garage sail over ten years ago. He has since then abandoned it
and said that I can have it if I want it. A recent visit to a friend's beach
house in Florida has rekindled my interest in sailing and I'm thinking of
trying to fix it up. The problem is that it looks cheaper than I remember;
Styrofoam incased in plastic. Then 10+ years of sitting in the hot Texas sun

I see two opportunities.

First, sand off the jagged edges and repair with fibreglass reinforced
resin. Polyester would be cheaper if it will adhere to the exsisting hull
material. The polyester catalyst will disolve styrofoam so you will have
to paitn or tape over the foam before putting on a polyester patch. That
repair should cost less than $25. (Here in Ottawa, in Canadian dolars, a
quart of polyester and catalyst is $14 plus 15% federal and provincial
sales tax. A quart sould be plenty for patchin the holes.) I would not do
nay more to the hull than cover the holes until you try out the boat. You
can always do more to the hull later if you want.

Second, if the patching doesn't work you can build a cheap plywood hull
and put the sail, daggerboard, and rudder on that. You can make a cheap
plywood hull which will last 5-10 years for about $50 if you have tools
and employ scrap lumber for the framing, old paint in cans you find in the
basement, etc., as I do. Essentially all you need ot buy are two sheets fo
ligth exterior grade plywood, some screws (they don't have to be rustproof
for a boat that you will only use for a few seasons), and a tube of
constructuction adhesive (Bulldog brand PL Premium is popular among cheap
backyard boatbuilders.) Allow a couple of weeks part time to build the
hull. There are plenty of online construction photos of home built boats
of this type. I'd take a look at www.simplicityboats.com,
www.boat-links.com, the archives of www.duckworksmagazine.com, and my
website www.ncf.ca/~ag384/Boats.htm among others (a Google search of PRISM
will also bring up some construction photos). A narrow skiff like my
Dogskiff or a short pram would not be too heavy for your sail. Weigh the
hull you have and compare to the weight of any hull you plan to build.

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