New to me free boat

Mashmaster

Active Member
Today, I got a laser for a deal I couldn't refuse. My plan is to make this a recreation laser for days when I just want to sail around. The hull ID is
PSL691401078 and is old and was sitting in someone's backyard. It needs some work, I am hoping not too much. The cockpit floor seems to be intact (Yay) but in the center of the cockpit floor is a little bit of flex. I am thinking that it might be good to inject resin in the floor to make it more solid. Before it breaks like the previous hull.

There is no bailer, so I need to replace that and all the lines. It has two cleats on the deck that I don't understand why they would be there. I will probably remove those unless there is a reason to keep them.

The most concerning place I saw was the crack in the gel coat at the fore of the dagger board slot. It seems very solid there so I am hoping is can sand that area and marine tex or glass that area.

Any thoughts

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You are referring to the two cam cleats on the deck near the front of the cockpit? Those are for the main sheet. Some like to use those, others dont.
 
The sheet cleats are a bit too far forward, nothing else strange about them. I installed some pretty close to that position a few years ago on a club boat. It used to be legal to attach them anywhere on the hull, but now you have to use the backing plates whose position is shown on the measurement diagram.

The bottom around the centreboard trunk looks bad though. It's obviously been repaired at least once before, and not very successfully. I'd sand away the differing shade of blue to see what's underneath. Good that you have an inspection port at the right place to fix the problem internally, if needed. (Maybe it was installed there exactly because of this?)

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The sheet cleats are a bit too far forward, nothing else strange about them. I installed some pretty close to that position a few years ago on a club boat. It used to be legal to attach them anywhere on the hull, but now you have to use the backing plates whose position is shown on the measurement diagram.

The bottom around the centreboard trunk looks bad though. It's obviously been repaired at least once before, and not very successfully. I'd sand away the differing shade of blue to see what's underneath. Good that you have an inspection port at the right place to fix the problem internally, if needed. (Maybe it was installed there exactly because of this?)

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Yeah, I am worried about the trunk.
 
OK, cleaned it up a bit and it is not good :-( How hard is it to fix this? I am assuming in need to get inside from the access port and lay glass and epoxy to the front and back of the trunk. What do I do on the outside of the hull?

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The damage looks uglier than it really is... first thing you want to do is sand away that cr@ppy attempt at repair. Get rid of those white areas where you can see the cloth weave. Only take it down as far as you need to until you find solid glass, you'll be rebuilding from that point. You may have to lay glass over the hull and into the trunk, some more close-ups of the trunk itself would be helpful, particularly some shots of the seam between trunk and hull. I suspect the earlier repair attempt was made due to a leak in that seam. An inspection port may not be necessary, I wouldn't cut a hole until you know you're gonna need it. What you might need is a good file or two to work inside that trunk... especially if you need to cover that seam with more glass. I once fixed a similar problem with my Laser hull, the older boats tend to develop leaky seams where the trunk was glassed to the hull. Not the end of the world, and a good repair job will eliminate the problem. Hey, it's a "free" boat! [As if there is such a thing, lol.] Good news is that it's a relatively small area, which will keep overall costs down. Cheers! ;)
 
The damage looks uglier than it really is... first thing you want to do is sand away that cr@ppy attempt at repair. Get rid of those white areas where you can see the cloth weave. Only take it down as far as you need to until you find solid glass, you'll be rebuilding from that point. You may have to lay glass over the hull and into the trunk, some more close-ups of the trunk itself would be helpful, particularly some shots of the seam between trunk and hull. I suspect the earlier repair attempt was made due to a leak in that seam. An inspection port may not be necessary, I wouldn't cut a hole until you know you're gonna need it. What you might need is a good file or two to work inside that trunk... especially if you need to cover that seam with more glass. I once fixed a similar problem with my Laser hull, the older boats tend to develop leaky seams where the trunk was glassed to the hull. Not the end of the world, and a good repair job will eliminate the problem. Hey, it's a "free" boat! [As if there is such a thing, lol.] Good news is that it's a relatively small area, which will keep overall costs down. Cheers! ;)

OK, here are more close up pictures. There is already an access port installed just forward of the daggerboard trunk. So, I think I should be able to get to the inside of the trunk. At least the backside to the forward side of the trunk also the starboard side, I don't know if I can reach around to get to the port side of the trunk. So I think I could attack this from the inside and outside.
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Okay, after seeing these close-up pics, I think maybe the boat was dropped right on that area, which would explain the cracks fore & aft of the slot. Kinda hard to tell, since some of the damage looks to involve the earlier repair effort. Either way, you'll want to sand down those areas, or go really easy with a grinder. Once you take it down a bit, you can see just how far any REAL damage extends. Some careful file work will get rid of that cracked junk on the very lip of the trunk slot, especially at the fore end... that will all have to go anyway as you effect the repair. Just don't take it down too far, aye? The idea is to get rid of the cr@ppy "repair work" so you can see whatever damage exists to the original hull material. I still suspect a leaky seam, but the boat may also have been dropped on concrete or whatever... doesn't have to be dropped far for damage to occur. :confused:
 
Thanks, I will sand away and file it. Do you think I should try to take pictures from the interior? Or not worry about it.
 
Well, interior pics wouldn't hurt, use a flash (or a bright light) and get as close as you can to both ends of the trunk... see if those cracks go all the way through the glass. That crack at the fore end of the slot looks pretty bad, but it may not run as deep as it looks. Pics taken in the hull void will clarify matters... :rolleyes:

If any cracks DO run clear through the original hull glass, then yeah, you'll want to address the damage from both sides... but first ya gotta determine the extent of the damage. So far, you're doing a good job, lol. ;)

Speaking of jobs, I had an interview this morning, so maybe I start a new job here pronto... wrenching on vehicles and rental equipment (smaller motors). Outside work, but there's overhead cover and a nice breeze, so I reckon I'll give it a shot if they make an offer. :cool:
 
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Thanks, my biggest concern is my foot, I still don't know whether this is some sort of fracture or if it's actually gout, but it seems to be slowly improving. In my youth, I would heal overnight... but that was back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Maybe I should just hack off the foot and get a wooden pegleg... stump around like Long John Silver, aye? Somehow, Long John Cactus or Long John Cowboy doesn't have the same ring to it, lol. :confused:

Hopefully the problem just goes away, I have made dietary changes but they don't seem to be making much difference, which leads me to suspect some sort of fracture. Hard to say, I'm just trying to stay off the foot for now so it heals more quickly... and I'm pretty sure this outfit does drug screens, which will buy me more time. If I start this job, I gotta be able to stand for hours on end... maybe use a stool whenever possible. We'll see... :rolleyes:
 
OK sanded away the old fix. It looks like seam around the trunk and bottom of the hull is crappy. The cracks at the front and back are exposed now. Later, I will try to get picks from the inside. The forward crack has movement if i put pressure on either side of it.

Maybe a boot for your foot will help keep pressure off of it?
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Odd to see cracks at each end of the trunk slot... like someone was jumping on the hull or something. Meh, might have been dropped too, a hard drop can do weird things to hull glass. I'd say get those interior pics next, to see whether those cracks run clear through the hull. :confused:

That will also give others time to chime in upon the repair... ;)
 
OK, internal video here : Video. Since I can get to it. I feel like I should put a glass layer around the trunk on the inside and over the cracks at the front and back. It looks like someone put a glass strip on one side of the trunk previously.

Here are the pictures:

Front of trunk:
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Back of trunk:
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Something I noticed at the end of the video up front, looks like a previous fix:
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Yeah, and they did a poor job too... problem is, if ya try to tear it outta there, it might cause even more damage. Maybe trim what you can without going too deep, then rough up what's left and use plenty of resin before & after you lay down matt or cloth. :confused:

Maybe you'll get lucky and that "repair" material will pull up easily, it'd be better if you could get to solid glass below to form a better bond. I'd certainly lay down cloth on the outer hull, particularly over those cracks fore & aft of the trunk slot. :rolleyes:

I'd probably even out the sanding you've already done, exposing a uniform width of glass round the slot, then cut a long piece of cloth to cover the cracks and all the exposed glass. Trim the cloth so it has a central hole where the slot is, matching the slot so the cloth comes right up to the hole itself. :D

Another option is to trim the cloth so you can lap it into the slot, but this requires extra care, otherwise you'll get wrinkles, air bubbles, etc. And you may not need glass in the slot, some thickened epoxy might smoothen out the area and provide enough protection against leaks. ;)

Meh, we'll see what others think, sometimes epoxy or catalyzed polyester resin is enough to seal up the smallest of seam leaks. But as the leaks and seam cracks get larger, more work is required, lol. The cracks fore & aft of the trunk are more critical, in my opinion, and probably leak as well. :eek:
 
Weather looks sunny where you are. How dry is the inside of the boat? If it's been sealed up for a while I'd let it air for a few weeks somewhere warm and dry or at least out of the rain with plenty of ventilation before you add anything inside it.
 
Weather looks sunny where you are. How dry is the inside of the boat? If it's been sealed up for a while I'd let it air for a few weeks somewhere warm and dry or at least out of the rain with plenty of ventilation before you add anything inside it.
There is some moisture inside. I have been opening the port and closing it at night, because of potential thunderstorms.
 

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