My son is going to use my old -- 1974 -- Worlds boat, for his sailing lessons and first year of beginner racing. This boat is a good ol' boat -- seen lots of use. Now it leaks a bit, and we need to fix before the season starts 6/30. (It's been in the garage all winter, and so is good and dry, inside and out.) We have to repair: 1) drill holes from where the compass and old clam cleats, etc. were mounted; 2) I'm sure the splash rail leaks, and 3) old hull repairs, especially around the bow. The old repairs were done with epoxy and micro-balloons, and it looks like the repairs have deteriorated, the same way an old filling for your teeth would. Any thoughts on what fill to use, that is easy to apply & sand? Can I use silicon sealer on the old screw holes and around the splash rail? Any tricks of the trade to get this hull dry and back in action? I would dearly love to see him use this boat, but I worry that I won't be able to get the hull integrity back, the foam will get wet, and he'll be slow and sad!Thanks much, BMF
Repair leaky 1974 hull
- Thread starter bmf
- Start date
The boat may be dry inside after winter storage if the drain screw was left open. It could depend too on if the innards were very wet. The little drain opening doesn’t offer much air circulation.
Marine caulk will work in the old fitting holes. Depending on use it can last for some time. When my boys were youngsters there wasn’t a caulk plug or seam that was safe. They’d poke or peel at any soft repair. That forced me to adopt the habit of fixing everything with more permanent materials. Marine-Tex pre-filled epoxy is the easy stuff in use lately.
Let me play devil’s advocate and ask, how do you know the splash guard leaks, is it loose or did you air test it and find a leak? I caulked a loose splash or two in the beginning, but learned they came loose again after a couple of seasons. A more permanent repair would be to install an inspection port between the splash and dagger board. With access below the deck you could remove the splash, get rid of the old gasket if you have one – probably cracked and crumbling by now, repair any broken screw holes, and install new screws with a seal of caulk beneath the splash where it won’t get accidentally peeled up. The inspection port will serve to let the hull really ventilate too. Leaky boats won’t get wet foam in a season. Water has to be left inside for many seasons before the degradation becomes detectable.
Resin filled with microballoons is soft and easily sanded and as you’ve discovered erodes away. Microballoons is the filler used to add air bubbles to lighten a resin. Not the first choice for strong repairs. Being able to see what your repairs look like would help make better recommendations. In general I think you are in for removing the old material and refilling with a resin containing a stronger filler. Those fillers would be chopped glass strands or colloidal silica. Fill up the areas most of the way then you can top off with the microballoon mix so final smoothing is easy. Top coating with a paint will help seal the softer outer layer. Leak test the boat near the end of your spring fix-up to make sure you got everything.
Marine caulk will work in the old fitting holes. Depending on use it can last for some time. When my boys were youngsters there wasn’t a caulk plug or seam that was safe. They’d poke or peel at any soft repair. That forced me to adopt the habit of fixing everything with more permanent materials. Marine-Tex pre-filled epoxy is the easy stuff in use lately.
Let me play devil’s advocate and ask, how do you know the splash guard leaks, is it loose or did you air test it and find a leak? I caulked a loose splash or two in the beginning, but learned they came loose again after a couple of seasons. A more permanent repair would be to install an inspection port between the splash and dagger board. With access below the deck you could remove the splash, get rid of the old gasket if you have one – probably cracked and crumbling by now, repair any broken screw holes, and install new screws with a seal of caulk beneath the splash where it won’t get accidentally peeled up. The inspection port will serve to let the hull really ventilate too. Leaky boats won’t get wet foam in a season. Water has to be left inside for many seasons before the degradation becomes detectable.
Resin filled with microballoons is soft and easily sanded and as you’ve discovered erodes away. Microballoons is the filler used to add air bubbles to lighten a resin. Not the first choice for strong repairs. Being able to see what your repairs look like would help make better recommendations. In general I think you are in for removing the old material and refilling with a resin containing a stronger filler. Those fillers would be chopped glass strands or colloidal silica. Fill up the areas most of the way then you can top off with the microballoon mix so final smoothing is easy. Top coating with a paint will help seal the softer outer layer. Leak test the boat near the end of your spring fix-up to make sure you got everything.
Thanks, Dan.
The boat has two inspection ports, one btw dagger board and splash rail, the other aft, by the traveller. Both were left open for the winter.
I think the splash is leaking because it was in the past. It got hit by another boat years ago -- yes, someone rode up over the hull. If I read your reply correctly, there is/was a gasket *under* the splash rail?
Can you briefly outline the leak test? I seem to remember this required hooking up a vacuum cleaner to blow air in through one of the side vent holes, while "painting" the hull with soapy water to see if bubble were made by escaping air. We then circled leaks with a crayon for repair. Sound right?
Thanks,
BMF
The boat has two inspection ports, one btw dagger board and splash rail, the other aft, by the traveller. Both were left open for the winter.
I think the splash is leaking because it was in the past. It got hit by another boat years ago -- yes, someone rode up over the hull. If I read your reply correctly, there is/was a gasket *under* the splash rail?
Can you briefly outline the leak test? I seem to remember this required hooking up a vacuum cleaner to blow air in through one of the side vent holes, while "painting" the hull with soapy water to see if bubble were made by escaping air. We then circled leaks with a crayon for repair. Sound right?
Thanks,
BMF
Sounds like your all set with a dry boat and a path for doing a solid job of fixing that leaky splash guard. I think you’ve got the gist of it. You don’t have to use a vacuum cleaner, it’s just one option. The test can be accomplished by something as rudimentary as blowing into the drain port - accompanied by all the light headed euphoria of inflating a rubber raft or air bed in the same way. I like the bellows foot pump myself. There are outlines for doing the testing posted on the web. The Vanguard one looks like it got taken down, but there’s still an illustrated version at Windline ( http://www.windline.net/proj4.htm ) and copies of past factory instructions and pointers at Sunfish Sailors ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sunfish_sailor ). They have a guide for patching up that splash guard too.
Some years came with what looked to be a vinyl gasket installed between the splash guard and deck. It disappeared from production some time ago, I gather because it was superfluous.
Some years came with what looked to be a vinyl gasket installed between the splash guard and deck. It disappeared from production some time ago, I gather because it was superfluous.
Dear Dan,
Thanks for the advice. Today is repair day, part one. Did the air test. I misremembered -- splash guard is fine. (Must have been our other boat.) However the old inspection port that was installed in front of the splash guard -- totally wrong spot, not my installation -- with rivets is leaking like a sieve. Good news is all original fittings except one traveller screw have held tight. Bad news is old fist-sized repair on bow that I believe was done with micro-balloons had totally fallen out.
Off to get fiberglass repair kit.
Of course, somewhere along the way inspection port was closed, so boat not as dry as i would like.
I hope to be able to fix this thing up! so the kid can enjoy it for at least one more season. (And teach basic boat maintenance to my ten year old sailor.)
BMF
Thanks for the advice. Today is repair day, part one. Did the air test. I misremembered -- splash guard is fine. (Must have been our other boat.) However the old inspection port that was installed in front of the splash guard -- totally wrong spot, not my installation -- with rivets is leaking like a sieve. Good news is all original fittings except one traveller screw have held tight. Bad news is old fist-sized repair on bow that I believe was done with micro-balloons had totally fallen out.
Off to get fiberglass repair kit.Of course, somewhere along the way inspection port was closed, so boat not as dry as i would like.
I hope to be able to fix this thing up! so the kid can enjoy it for at least one more season. (And teach basic boat maintenance to my ten year old sailor.)
BMF
