Another day sailing, another major repair.....

Mashmaster

Active Member
Well tonight my son was sailing and he had to avoid another boat and ran aground. The bottom of the daggerboard trunk is cracked so we need to repair that. We also noticed water from the lip of the deck so we need to repair that as well. Since we have to fix these two items, should we bite the bullet and replace the foam as well?

Happy first day of summer.....
 
It's mainly a time thing. You can spend 6 months drying out the boat using
inspection ports or pop the rear and front deck and replace the foam. If
you're handy with projects probably replacing the foam, the backing blocks
and fiberglass repairs from the inside all at once is the way to go. You'll find
it's the expanding foam that holds the blocks in place that has absorbed
most of the water. Some people have removed the blocks, put them on a shelf
to dry and reused them. Never try to remove the entire deck from the hull
as people have found it next to impossible to reinstall. Personally when I
do a boat or motor I do a complete overhaul if I want something reliable
that will not nickel and dime me with constant repairs.
 
Well tonight my son was sailing and he had to avoid another boat and ran aground. The bottom of the daggerboard trunk is cracked so we need to repair that. We also noticed water from the lip of the deck so we need to repair that as well. Since we have to fix these two items, should we bite the bullet and replace the foam as well? Happy first day of summer.....
'Sounds like a heavy hit—I don't envy you that repair. :(

Having a spare Sunfish handy will assure a full sailing season. I keep three or four spare Sunfish around and fit a lot of sailing into my summers. ;)
 
'Sounds like a heavy hit—I don't envy you that repair. :(

Having a spare Sunfish handy will assure a full sailing season. I keep three or four spare Sunfish around and fit a lot of sailing into my summers. ;)

Yeah I have a spare, he will sail my 1962 Sunfish around..... I was planning on painting that one.
 
No, not unless you boat is heavy, like over 160 pounds or so. And then only the yellow expanding foam, it is near impossible to find the white blocks.

Your seam should be easy enough to ease open with a putty knife, clean out with some acetone and then inject thickened epoxy into it. Light clamping while the epoxy cures.

Some Flex Seal tape should work on the trunk....just kidding...figure out if it is a surface repair, or it might be a good time to put in an inspection port just forward of the trunk and work from the inside.

Here's the inside of MERCI, you can see she had some mud inside for quite a while, we filled up half a shop vac with it. You can also see where the halyard cleat backer block hanger is, minus the backer block. Someone attempted to retap the block over the years and missed. Behind that are rivnuts for the splashguard, and the trunk just forward of the cockpit A good place for the port is centered between the coaming and the trunk. We had to repair some of the hull and keel on MERCI, that's what the cutout area is. Double reinforced inside now, she'll shrug off a torpedo in that area.

IMG_1428.jpg


She's all better now...

Merci port stern.JPG


IMG_1427.jpg


IMG_1748.jpg
 
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Wait, didn't Flex Seal repair a boat cut in two??? It said so on TV!!! Even showed the "repaired boat" cruising effortlessly through some surface chop, probably could've tackled Waimea Bay the way the operator was smiling. Flex Seal all the way!!! It would've saved the Titanic if those fooliots had thought to bring some along for the voyage. Trust your life to Flex Seal!!! It really works!!! The jackholes who sling it said so on TV, so it must be true!!! LOL... :rolleyes:
 
FWIW, I have actually used Flex Tape for various things and have had nothing but positive results. Never tried using it on a boat, but I would not be surprised at all if it would would fix a dinghy with a small hole or crack in it, at least temporarily.
 
The popped seam for the steel plates on the Titanic was over 240 feet
long. That's a hell of a lot of Flex Seal! If they could have slowed the
influx of water and stayed afloat a couple more hours things might
have turned out a little better.
 
Hey, Webfoot1, maybe that Flex Seal cr@p is sold by the case, LOL... for the Titanic, I'm thinking ten cases would've sufficed, would've had that bad girl taped up like the plates on a stolen vehicle in Compton, North Philly or the Lower Bronx, 10-4? That's "South Bronx" to locals, they're touchy on the subject, LOL. :confused:
 

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