Punched a hole in deck...

P

paxfish

Member
Not sure exactly how - It may have gotten caught under the pier.

Repair looks to be a bit difficult with no access to the underside. I'm considering installing a round access plate to resolve the issue. But I know that's a bit half-assed.

Is there a better approach? Come in from the side of the cockpit maybe?

Thanks, paxfish

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Here's my 12 year old on Saturday:

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Unless you are very good at glass repair a hatch in the cockpit side seems to be the best way to go. I had to do this recently to my boat to repair a split where the cockpit floor meets the side wall so I could reinforce from behind as well as the front.

It looks ok and the hatch hole was surprisingly easy to cut neatly using a jigsaw.

You will have some work to do from the top it repair the gelcoat.

A professional would probably cut a hole in the cokpit side, fix the deck then repair the cokpit side so you could not even see it. I had a repair done to the underside of my first boat using this method, you could not even see where the guy had gone in when it was done.
 
You really don't want a port there. But if you put one in the deck up by centerboard or at least 12" from the mast, then the piece of deck you cut out can be used to make a patch that will match your deck. If you use a 2" hole saw to cut out the dent and the new patch it will blend in pretty well.

I might just 5200 the dent and press patch in carefully. Align the non skip pattern.
 
Really depends on how good you want it to look, and if the inner skin is broken or not.

If I were looking to make it look good, I think I would look at putting an inspection port on the aft deck (just slightly behind the end of the cockpit) and use the piece cut out for the port to patch the damaged area as suggest by Vtgent (once you have the port cutout, you can feel the inner skin to determine how big your patch has to be)

I'd put three layers of mat about twice the size of the patch on the inside to hold the patch in place

I'd like to hear more on the 5200 idea, not sure I fully understand that
 

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Two excellent replies - I definitely came to the right place. Keep 'em coming.

What is underneath of the hole? Is it all foam?

VTgent - One thing I like about your approach is that the patched gelcoat will match. A challenge certainly for new gelcoat on a 1980 boat with tan gelcoat. But there will be a seam to contend with.

Also the hole saw would have to be somewhere around 4 inches I think, based on the radius of the damage.

At the moment, I'm leaning toward a hatch in the vertical wall of the cockpit, paint the seam of the damage with resin and jacking it up to the right height from the inside to cure. Then lay a patch of glass several layers thick underneath the deck to reinforce.

Both good ideas so far. Either way, I'm going to tape it up until winter so the kids can continue to sail.
 
The deck is gel/GRP, then about 1/2" of foam, and then a thin GRP layer.

I'd guess you have broken top layer, collapsed the foam, but probably haven't broken thru the bottom layer of GRP. So, I'd cut the damage out, whatever shape you need to minimize the patch. Dig the foam out a little. Then cut a matching patch from the port scrap.

Fill with 5200, and float the patch into place. Clean the excess.

This assumes the deck is strong enough without extra layers of Glass to stiffen it.

You can use a dremel to cut an odd shape patch to minimise the size.

I believe the lowed/inside layer of GRP will prevent your "jacking" technique from moving the broken piece back into place exactly.

I agree with "tape and go" for now. Just remember to dry the porous foam before starting.

JMHO, lol.
 
Thanks VT - that was VERY informative. I did not know the deck was a sandwich (but should have guessed it.)

I'm betting the inner layer is intact - I'm going to go down and take another look.

Is there a way for the core to drain to the inner hull? I don't know exactly how long the hole has been there, but it certainly went through a small rainstorm. I don't have a sense of how much water might be in there.

Thanks All,
 
The core is Airex foam - it's a closed cell foam, but can still hold water on the surface of the outer cells.. In the Laser deck, it's encapasalated by the outer and inner skins, so no real way for it to drain other then slow evaporation thru the inner skin (or via a hole in the outer skin ;) )
 
Yeah, use a shop light for a few days to dry, when you get to it.

I wouldn't worry too much about the cosmetic effect/$ value effect on an '80 ish boat. Sail it hard, but don't put it away wet ;-)

Make the patch, be sure it's waterproof, go sail, keep the kids involved, as each step is simple, have fun,

Al
 
I've fixed a lot of holes in Laser 2s due to fun loving children and their affinity for hitting docks.
After you grind out the damaged fibreglass and smooth the edges of the new hole:
1. Take a piece of cardboard and poke a hole in the centre. A small hole, enough for a piece of string to fit through. Tie a bunch of knots in the end so that you can hold the cardboard.
2. Put the cardboard through the hole, bending it as little as possible. take a piece of fibre glass mat or mesh and poke a small hole in it as well, in the centre as this will be on top of the cardboard.
3. The cardboard and the glass should be larger than the hole, obviously to cover it from the bottom
4. Add resin and hardener mix through hole, onto mesh/mat
5. Pull string tight to squeeze the glass against the inside of the boat.
6. The string can be taped or held in place, depending on your patience.
7. Once the glass has cured, fill the hole with small amounts of resin/hardener/filler. Don't pack in the resin/hardener/filler all at once, as it will overload the mesh/mat underneath. I used other kinds of lighter filler, so it's not that heavy. Check out West System website
8. Cover cured filler with mesh and finally gelcoat if you feel the need for asthetics.

When you grind the hole make sure that the edges of the hole are tapered (larger diameter at the top than the bottom, not vertical. Vertical holes are hellish to fix, unless as you said, with an inspection port, which would be a pain in the ass, literally)

Hope this helps
L2TB
 
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