Media Pictures of your boat

how about people post pictures of your boats, inside outside, repair before after, year, etc.. I know there is a video section for pics but it is very helpful to see before and after pictures of repairs. If the repair looks good we then would know who to ask for advice. I'll post mine if you post yours.
 
I posted this in another section but since you asked... I forgot to take a before picture but it appeared to be in good shape, nothing out of the ordinary from inside the hull.

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Well, I repaired the mast step on Saturday. It went something like this... Cut an inpection port, dried out the inside with a hair dryer, sanded the area to be glassed, cleaned it with acetone, cut 8 strips of fiberglass matt 1.5" x 9", shredded some more matt, mixed the resin/hardener, took the shredded matt, mixed it with some resin, smushed it into the area where the donut and step meets, soaked the strips and layed them vertically down the step, over the donut and onto the hull.

In the 90F. we had to work fast. The resin went off really quickly, less than 10 minutes. We had to do it in three batches.

Once that was done, I cut 2 round pieces of matt the size of the SS disc. The bottom of the step had some cracks in it where the sides meet the base. I poured some resin into the bottom of the step, soaked the matt discs then dropped them down one at a time. Amazingly, they landed in the centered at the bottom, one on top of the other. Once it hardened up, I put some 3M sealant on the bottom of the SS disc and lowered it to the bottom by using some tape on the end of a dowel.

Then all that was left was to mount the inspection port. I waited until Sunday before I went for a sail.

On Sunday, the weather was perfect, wind was about 20 knots. Man did it feel good. That was my first time in a Laser in 26 years!

At the end of the day on Sunday I filled the mast step with water. Doh! It still leaks!!! Certainly not as badly as before, but leaks none the less. Probably took about 15-20 min to empty. I'm not sure what to do now.

I pulled the drain plug and there was a fair bit of water in it. I'll measure the amount next time. What is an acceptable amount of water in the hull? Do old boats all leak a bit? Mine is a 1975. (29355)

Any thoughts? Where else could the water be getting in?

Here's a couple pics of the repair. I forgot to take the "before" pic... Duh!

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The first thing I would do is to put a flashlight or light in the boat and then pour water into the mast step to see where it is leaking. Looks like it may still be leaking at the bottom, you may just need acouple of more strips of glass at either side of the base. How much water did you drain out? How long were you sailing? And in what conditions?
 
It's probably still leaking at the base. That was the worst part. When I go up north this weekend, I'll do the test you suggested.

I didn't measure the water that came out but when I tipped the boat up and pulled the plug out, water ran out at a steady rate for about 45 seconds. I can't imagine that all that water leaked in through the step!

I was actually sailing for about 2.5 hours in 15-20 knot winds, 2' swells. There was a fair bit of splashing going on but certainly not tons of water coming up over the deck. The boat was physically in the water for 5 hours.

I think the water may be getting in through or around the brass (cockpit) drain fitting.

What do you think j?
 
If the plug is in tight and the fitting looks good I would still tend to think it was the step also it's possiable that some water splashed in from the new inspection port. A small bead of silicone around the outside of the port and some 5200 in any gaps around the inside of the port should take care of that. Looking at those pic's though I really think it's coming from the base of the step and that a few more pieces of glass will fix it. 45 seconds worth of water doesn't sound that bad (maybe a cup's worth?). The important thing is to drain it so the boat can dry. Leave inspection port open and turn upside down if possiable. How is the rest of the boat does the deck look to have a tight seal all the way around the boat? Are there any cracks where the center board sets in?
 
I can always put the (cockpit) plug in and fill it with water and see if it's leaking into the boat. We did a really good job installing the inspection port and used 3M 4200 sealant as was recommended by Fogh Marine. I doubt it's leaking there.

Last Saturday, I drained the boat completely, opened both inspection ports and turned it upside down. It should be nice and dry by this weekend.

I'll have to check the deck/hull joint to see if there are any areas where it might be leaking.

There is a couple cracks in the hull aft of the daggerboard slot. I'll take a look at that this weekend. Maybe take a couple pics of it as well...

Thanks for your help.
 

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