Need some help deciding what / how to repair (deck separation, spider cracks, overweight, gelcoat..)

DanielF

Member
I posted this in the Yahoo group as well, but I might as well give it a go here since nobody seems to be helping over there...

So after spending two hours sailing the first week and another twelve the second
(last week), it is time to rid my boat of its leaks and over-poundage. At 155+
lbs, the fact that I take on roughly a half gallon or gallon of water per hour
(into the hull) is not conducive to getting the thing on the car! The only
problem is that I don't know where to start. I want to try to avoid spending
fifty bucks and requiring the boat to be out of the water for a week.

You can have a look through some photos w/ descriptions here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sunfish_sailor/photos/album/450483726/pic/list

My first question is what do I do about the leaks where the deck is separated
from the hull? Should I put the boat on sawhorses and drill out the rivets with
intention to seal the splits? Though I am fairly certain this is where the water
is coming in, should I first conduct a leak test?

My second question is can I get rid of the rail entirely and use a different
material? What about completely glassing it over?

Are the spider cracks anything to worry about? The boat is covered with them...

Finally, I have yet to order a 6" inspection port only because I cannot decide
whether I want to install a single port aft of the splashguard or one up front
and one in the rear. I want to avoid the swiss cheese effect, but at the same
time I want to make sure I can dry the thing out well via some good air flow.

Any and all input as much appreciated, as always!
Daniel


I'm posting a few photos here in case people aren't members of the Yahoo group. First to last: Only missing rivet; only 'dent' in rub rail; only gelcoat issue; possible pitting in handle (?); misc. spider cracks all over; bow repair (rubbery); aft underside abrasion w/ some missing gelcoat; aft port damage, previously repaired w/ rubbery substance and some fiberglass; and finally an area where the deck has separated from the hull, as illustrated by two photos depicting the position pressed in and at rest.

DSC_8341.jpgDSC_8340.jpgDSC_8339.jpgDSC_8338.jpgDSC_8336.jpg DSC_8332.jpgDSC_8329.jpgDSC_8328.jpgDSC_8326.jpgDSC_8325.jpg
 
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it looks like you'll have to take the boat out of the water and do some hefty patchwork. The good news is, polyester resin cures quickly so there's no reason to believe that you will miss more than a day or two of sailing, tops. Go to your marine supply store (Or Home Depot) and get some mat fiberglass and polyester resin, white gelcoat, a resin roller, and lots of sandpaper from 200 to 1000 grit. Don't use epoxy, because according to the manufacturer, the boat is built with polyester resin, and epoxy won't give you as good a repair. There's an informative how to video from the Sunfish Manufacturers here. West Marine and Jamestown Distributors have some good videos too. They focus on epoxy, but the technique is basically the same.

Anyplace where the gelcoat is cracked is a potential entry point for water. Where the cracks are very small, you can just cover them with more gelcoat. Your problem is that you have places where it is missing altogether and the fiberglass is completely exposed. That's asking for water in the hull. The big spot that looks like a worn spot on the chine at the stern(picture #8) is probably where your water is coming from. It looks to me like a good sized crack or even a hole in the hull. It looks like someone did a hack job repair on it in the past. All of the gelcoat is gone and the bare fiberglass looks like it's delaminated. That's most likely where the water is coming in. You'll need to grind out the bad fiberglass and lay in some new stuff. Just patching it with Marine-Tex or epoxy isn't going to make a lasting repair. The boat looks like its seen some hard use. I'm betting that you have a crack in your daggerboard trunk too. shine a light down the drunk and look at the back side of the trunk. You'll probably see cracking there. If that's the case, you'll need to install an inspection port behind the daggerboard trunk so that you can reach it. There's an excellent writeup on the process here in the forums, just do a search on daggerboard trunk repair.

Forget about the deck seal and the aluminum trim. From your pictures it looks like there's just normal wear and tear going on there. The rivets serve no other function than to hold on the aluminum rail and the aluminum strip is just there to protect the deck edge, it serves no structural function. The deck is held to the hull by polyester resin and I've never heard of a case on a Sunfish where it came unglued or even leaked badly. My deck joint looks much worse than yours and it's tight as a drum.

You have a lot of potential leaky spots, so it's probably best to do a leak test. It will show you where all of the leaks are so that you can fix them all at once. Good Luck, and remember, it's easier than it looks, unless you want the boat to look like new, then it's harder.
 
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it looks like you'll have to take the boat out of the water and do some hefty patchwork. The good news is, polyester resin cures quickly so there's no reason to believe that you will miss more than a day or two of sailing, tops. Go to your marine supply store (Or Home Depot) and get some mat fiberglass and polyester resin, white gelcoat, a resin roller, and lots of sandpaper from 200 to 1000 grit. Don't use epoxy, because according to the manufacturer, the boat is built with polyester resin, and epoxy won't give you as good a repair. There's an informative how to video from the Sunfish Manufacturers here. West Marine and Jamestown Distributors have some good videos too. They focus on epoxy, but the technique is basically the same.

No worries, it's still better than a water logged boat. So this mat fiberglass, is that kind of like this? Is polyester resin expensive? I'm still hoping I don't have to put as much as fifty bucks into this thing (I'm a college student).

Anyplace where the gelcoat is cracked is a potential entry point for water. Where the cracks are very small, you can just cover them with more gelcoat. Your problem is that you have places where it is missing altogether and the fiberglass is completely exposed. That's asking for water in the hull. The big spot that looks like a worn spot on the chine at the stern(picture #8) is probably where your water is coming from. It looks to me like a good sized crack or even a hole in the hull. It looks like someone did a hack job repair on it in the past. All of the gelcoat is gone and the bare fiberglass looks like it's delaminated. That's most likely where the water is coming in. You'll need to grind out the bad fiberglass and lay in some new stuff. Just patching it with Marine-Tex or epoxy isn't going to make a lasting repair. The boat looks like its seen some hard use. I'm betting that you have a crack in your daggerboard trunk too. shine a light down the drunk and look at the back side of the trunk. You'll probably see cracking there. If that's the case, you'll need to install an inspection port behind the daggerboard trunk so that you can reach it. There's an excellent writeup on the process here in the forums, just do a search on daggerboard trunk repair.

Interesting. I thought the fiberglass alone was waterproof. So to fix this major crack / hole (I checked it and it is indeed very weak), by grind do you mean sand? Would I sand it down, apply a few layers of new glass w/ resin and then ...? BTW I took a bright LED light and poked around in the daggerboard trunk for awhile and it looks good. I will post some photos a bit later today.

Forget about the deck seal and the aluminum trim. From your pictures it looks like there's just normal wear and tear going on there. The rivets serve no other function than to hold on the aluminum rail and the aluminum strip is just there to protect the deck edge, it serves no structural function. The deck is held to the hull by polyester resin and I've never heard of a case on a Sunfish where it came unglued or even leaked badly. My deck joint looks much worse than yours and it's tight as a drum.

Really? Even where it is clearly separated? I have two instances of this, both towards the transom.

You have a lot of potential leaky spots, so it's probably best to do a leak test. It will show you where all of the leaks are so that you can fix them all at once. Good Luck, and remember, it's easier than it looks, unless you want the boat to look like new, then it's harder.

Will do - expect an update later today or tomorrow. Do you have any comments regarding installing inspection ports and drying the thing out? Anyway, thanks for the tips!
 
Fantastic video! I also read through the thread - this is extremely expensive. Granted, I am not needing to make a repair quite that major, but I think we can both agree the aft port damage is close enough. Can anyone tell me whether I will need to go as far as cutting it out and redoing it as Doug has done, or can I simply work over the top? I don't want something ugly, but low cost is much more important than aesthetics. I can provide more photos or even video if that would be helpful in determining the extent of the damage and necessary repair. Thanks!
 
Are you sure you don't want to get another hull? That one is pretty far gone. Doubt you can fix it for $50!

BTW although the boat is made with polyester resin,'epoxy resin bonds better and is better for repairs. But it costs more....

To cover all that bare glass marine Tex is the easiest way and it is white so it will look ok.

Good luck. You have quite a project. You are lucky you have not sunk!!!
 
I'll have to agree with Beldar, the hull is in rough shape, although my information about Epoxy vs. Resin is exactly the opposite as his. I not going to get into that here, Both work well, the choice is yours. The Poly Resin (or epoxy) and mat will run you about about $40 (maybe a little less) at Home Depot. You'l have to sand out the bad fiberglass and replace it with the mat material. You can do a slapdash job and keep the boat going until you get out of college and can afford a better boat or better repair, with Marine-Tex, not sanding out the bad fiberglass, but it will probably cost about the same.
 
Thanks for the help thus far! Just a bit frustrating that it's a bad hull, but I can live with the expense of repairing it. Is there any way to do a super cheap cover up repair or patch while I look for a second hull? I'm sure I can find one for $50, if not free, if I wait around a few weeks. Considering I only paid $250 for what I have now (with all the rigging of course), is it still not a bad find even if I have to put $100 into it to restore it to original condition?

To clarify, is the aft port damage the only reason it's in rough shape, or are there other major issues a well?

I wonder if I can do an ugly but waterproof patch job with duct tape or a pool patch just to keep water out. But then again it only takes on about a half gallon (maybe one gallon) per hour.

I'm ONLY looking to keep water out (so I don't keep taking on water after or while drying out) so I can get a ton of use out of this for the next six weeks - everything else is extra because it's during the regular school year. Next spring I'm definitely hoping to dump $500 - $1000 on a sloop or even a Hobie, which I know for a fact can be had for well under $300; in fact, I'm eyeing a boat in town right now that's been sitting behind a house for as long as I can remember, about ten years. I noticed it from the very time we moved into the area because it is such an odd looking boat, and it has not budged during this time.
 
The aft port damage looks like the major damage to me. There are a couple of holes in the Gelcoat, but they are minor. I would ignore all of the cracks in the gelcoat and concentrate on the areas where the fiberglass is showing. The separated rub rail is fine, it's just for decoration.

I did some looking around. West Marine sells a fiberglass repair kit for $29.99 that is big enough to do the whole job for you. It has everything you need to patch all of the holes. That's about as cheap as you're going to get for a repair that size, and the repair will be permanent so there'd be no need to look for a new hull. Duct tape isn't strong or waterproof enough to keep the water out. You might be able to paint over the holes with something like rubber cement or silicone caulking for less than the fiberglass kit, but the repair won't last too long.
 
Okay, so moving on, if I go the route of spending $75+ to properly repair this, should I do a simple layup over the top, or should I make a mold, cut it out, attach mold and do a layup over that like Doug did?
 
It depends on how much work you want to do. I had a similar crack at the chine and I just sanded out the bad glass and did a layup over it. From start to finish took about four hours, most of which was curing time. There was only about 30 minutes of actual work, counting sanding and fairing. It worked fine for me.
 

Back
Top