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Flying Pig Damage Assessment and update
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 |
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