Heavy 1978 Laser: Diet plan?

S

sinbad

New Member
I would like to make my boat a bit more competitive, if possible. I just put the boat on the scale, 148 lbs (ouch). Is this boat a lost cause? (I am a new Laser sailor, and weigh 195 lbs myself)

Tapping of the cockpit sole reveals "dead / thud" sound. Previously repaired cracks around the cockpit corners and bottom edges. I’ve read the FAQ on cockpit repair, and it might be at the limit of my capabilities.

Mast step appears very tight / no cracks at all. Gel coat in good shape. Previous owner has silicon caulk everywhere.

Your thoughts? Repair? Chain saw? Give it to a kid for a beach boat?

ZF S 6090 7 M78 E

All comments appreciated.

Tom
 
I would start by thoroughly drying it out. We have had other discussions about this (do a search) , by far the best way IMHO is to get the boat inside into a dehumidied area for a week or more. If the boat was sailed in salt water, I would first rinse the inside of the hull out to remove all salt (it will attact moisture in the future)

I would weigh the boat at the end of 7 days, if it's lost weight, go another week in the room to remove moisture.
 
I put my laser on sawhorses and borred an industrial fan from a friend. I placed the fan at the foreward inspection port and blew a heck of a lot of air through it. I had removed the hull plug, etc, for repainting and there was a powerful jet of air coming out of it with the fan on. I did this for several evenings as I painted and the boat _did_lighten up. I was amazed.

The hull seemed stiffer as well. I will do more of this and always store the boat with its ports open. Here in the washington d.c. area the humidity is crazy, so putting a carpenters light inside the hull every so often will keep it dry, in addition to the regular airing. I also had the benefit of sealing all the stress cracks and deck/hull laminations when I refinished the bottom, so I anticipate a really dry hull. That said, make sure you silicon screw holes for fittings, and shine a light in your hull around the maststep (you need an inspection port to do this) at night to look for visible holes/cracks. It never hurts to put a layer of glass and resin around the mast step. Also, pour several milimeters of resin into the bottom (with hardner of course) to put a fresh seal at the bottom of the step. The mast will wear that down.

-- g

Steven said:
send the boat on vacation to Arizona :D

Not sure how you de-humidify an area to store a boat in
Click to expand...
 
mmm, to make the boat more dry, get like a 4 litre bottle of mineral turpentines & pour that into the insides of the boat & (i think you then drain all the turp's but can't remember cause i haven't done it in ages) put it out in a warm area, but not in the sun because then there is a risk of fire he he he, oh & i think you use boiling hot water to get rid of the salt before you pour the turps in. when the turps is in there make sure you move the boat up & down so the turps goes over everything inside, do the same with the boiling water. you have to do it a few times as well to fully get rid of the salt if it hasn't been done before. (i gotta do this to my boat soon!!)
 
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