Home made dolly and hairline cracks.

[The year of August]

I have recently purchased a used laser, from 79 and am looking to get it in the water this year but have no money left over to buy a dolly, does anyone know of a site that has plans or diagrams for a cheap home made dolly? As well the boat i have purchased has a few hairline cracks, hardly even feelable in the top deck on the corner of the cockpit, should I be conserned with fixing this immedialty and how? As well there is a crack in the gel coat on the hull where the dagger board slides in, how should i fix this because it goes through all the gel coat?

 

[49208]

Regarding the dolly - look hereJohn DE's dolly plans (PVC) These are for a dolly made out of PVC pipe - word of warning, if in the US, build it from Schedule 80 and not Schedule 40 pipe. We have had a lot of discussion about homemade dollys already, use the search function to find more threads about it

You should also spend some time checking out the Laser FAQ and other articles on the drLaser site, you'll find info about the hairline cracks there as well. drLaser site

 

[The year of August]

Thanks for the site on the dollie, i was thinking pvc piping and thats just perfect. Although i couldnt find and information on drlaser site on hairline cracks, i was aware of the site, but if you know where hairline cracks are mentioned in it that would be a great help. Still thanks for all the help.

 

[TEEJ]

Hairline cracks are usually just that and nothing more, despite how much people freek out about them.

The gel cote is inherintly stiffer/brittle than the glass lay up so where the boat has taken a whack and everythinghas responded to impact, the gel cote has spidered and the hull is probably fine.

Gel cote is like skin, it helps protect what is underneath so in the long term, it is worth fixing, though put you might want to put the boat in a dry warm place for a little bit to help dry out that area prior to fixing.

Gel coting is very easy and i am sirprised dr laser has not discussed

 

[49208]

Regarding the gelcoat stress cracks - there are a couple of articles in the drLaser site in the maint/fitness section as I recall.

You can also search the 'net for more info, googling on "Repair Gelcoat Stress Cracks" brought up a few good articles.

West System's (the epoxy maker, not the marine store chain) has a great repair manual that covers these repairs as well.

In a nutshell, depending on the severity, the fix is to either gouge out the crack with a v shaped tool (like an old fashioned can opener) and fill w/gelcoat or colored resin or grind away the gelcoat until you are back down to the glass and then rebuild.