Repairing long crack

[musechaser]

This may be a little too involved for a simple answer. I've searched the messages on this board but couldn't find any mention of the repair issue I have. I WOULD like to repair my boat and make it lake-worthy again, and your company seems to have the materials I'd need.

Here's the deal; I picked up an ancient Sunfish maybe 8 years ago, and used it to learn to sail, at least at a rudimentary level. At the time it had a few cracks in it and the lines were all rotted, but those simple things I fixed no problem and got a few good years out of her. Then.. my kids got older, life got busier, and the boat sat under a tree for three years. I just got her out and cleaned her up.. and... bummer...

I had it resting on it's side up against a young apple tree, and the tree grew over the boat, exerting downward pressure on the side resting against the tree. It bent the metal molding in towards the cockpit enough to crack the fibreglass immediately below the molding where the side comes up to form a lip that enters the molding and mates w/ the deck. The crack is a good 10" long. The deck seems to be intact; it's just the side where the fibreglass has torn and parted company w/ the lip. A ton of water came out when I opened the drain plug, of course.

Here's my undeducated game plan; please correct or add to it.

1. Install two deck plates, per numerous suggestions on this message board. One 6" between the daggerboard and splash rail, and one 5" behind the cockpit, 1/2 way towards the rear. Perhaps an additional third port ahead of the mast? These would be used to aid in drying out the foam inside, resecuring it if necessary (I'm sure it is), and in accessing the interior of the crack to aid in the repair.

2. Drill out the rivets of the moulding to a distance of about 12" to either side of the crack, then cut out and remove that section of moulding.

3. One the area is cleaned and dried using acetone, somehow use some type of fibreglass cloth and resin to repair/rebuild the side w/ a new lip from the inside out, which would probably require lifting up at least a portion of the deck. Is it flexible enough to do that? I'm fuzzy here... I've never done any work w/ those materials, and am unsure how to "rebuild" the side and lip to get the correct shape and rigidity.

4. Once the area has been patched from the inside, then fibreglass over the outside to get a smooth result.

5. Drill new holes for the moulding, seal w/ silicone, and pop-rivet it back on through the top of the moulding, deck, and side lip only.

Sooo... sound like plan? Any advice for the actual forming and use of the fibreglass materials? WHICH materials should I use? I confess I'm not sure which tape width or construction would be best.

I was going to just chuck the whole thing, but the mast, sail, rudder assembly, daggerboard, etc., are all in good shape and a new Sunfish is.. well... insanely priced, so I might as well see if I can resurrect this one w/ a little elbow grease.

I'd LOVE some help. Thanks for any advice you can give.

Best wishes... Barry

 

[DanB]

the tree grew over the boat
That’s a new one. Got any pictures?


1. Install two deck plates, per numerous suggestions on this message board. One 6" between the daggerboard and splash rail, and one 5" behind the cockpit, 1/2 way towards the rear. Perhaps an additional third port ahead of the mast? These would be used to aid in drying out the foam inside, resecuring it if necessary (I'm sure it is), and in accessing the interior of the crack to aid in the repair.
You’re probably right, but you might want to weigh the hull and put in the middle port for evaluation before putting in the others. Just to be sure that’s where you want them.


2. Drill out the rivets of the moulding to a distance of about 12" to either side of the crack, then cut out and remove that section of moulding.
Is the trim messed up where the tree broke the hull? If the trim survived follow it around and find the joint. It’s in sections that can be removed without cutting. Just protect it once it’s off. New is expensive for more than a small piece.


3. One the area is cleaned and dried using acetone, somehow use some type of fibreglass cloth and resin to repair/rebuild the side w/ a new lip from the inside out, which would probably require lifting up at least a portion of the deck. Is it flexible enough to do that? I'm fuzzy here... I've never done any work w/ those materials, and am unsure how to "rebuild" the side and lip to get the correct shape and rigidity.
Some pictures would sure go a long way toward helping to convey the complexness of the damage.


4. Once the area has been patched from the inside, then fibreglass over the outside to get a smooth result.
This sounds like you’re on the right track.


5. Drill new holes for the moulding, seal w/ silicone, and pop-rivet it back on through the top of the moulding, deck, and side lip only.
Sounds ok except for the silicone part. Sealer shouldn’t be needed if the repair fixes the crack and puts everything back together nearly as it was.

.

 

[musechaser]

the tree grew over the boat
That’s a new one. Got any pictures?


1
Some pictures would sure go a long way toward helping to convey the complexness of the damage.



Sounds ok except for the silicone part. Sealer shouldn’t be needed if the repair fixes the crack and puts everything back together nearly as it was.

.

Dan,

Thanks so much for the reply. I'll take some pics tomorrow and post them. I've done a ton of reading since I posted my plea, but I still am not sure exactly how to proceed on the fiberglassing. I'd really appreciate any advice you can give. I'll post back as soon as I can snap a few pics. Thanks!

Barry

 

[Hotfish]

Try this web site maybe it will give you a general idea, http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/17.htm.

 

[musechaser]

Dan and Hotfish,

Thanks again for the replies. Hotfish, I checked that site, and I did pick up a few tips there... cool.

I've attached some pictures with a bunch of different views of the damage. There was a similar crack that I hadn't noticed before, repaired by the previous owner, which you can see in one of the shots. The repair is obvious on the deck, and there's still some superficial spiderweb cracks emanating from the repair on the deck. If you look closely, you can see where the metal moulding was cut and replaced; there's about an 18" long segment. My recent damage is immediately aft of the previous repair.. to the right in the pictures.

If you have any more specific ideas on how to proceed, I'd love to hear'em. One of the things I gleaned from Hotfish's link was to make a backing, apply it from the outside, then start with the finishing layer (gelcoat?) from the inside, then do the layups from there in backwards order. Not a bad idea, but it's going to be difficult to do this given the location and severe angle where the hull meets the deck.

Keep those ideas coming! Thanks...

Barry

 

[Porpoise2]

Here's what I would do—using epoxy resin:

1) remove the affected trim piece
2) cut the hole larger (about 1" wide and beyond the damage.)
3) fabricate a fiberglass piece into an L-shaped cross section that will fit***
4) slide the fiberglass repair inside and loosely pop-rivet it in place
(Remove the tool before the rivet "pops")
5) prepare a small amount of slow-cure epoxy, lather it onto the piece and hull, fully tighten the rivets—clamp the piece to the deck at the same time.
6) sand, build up layers, and sand to finish

***The fabricated piece can be formed layer by layer inside a dresser-drawer or wooden box, (layering at one time-to save on sanding) covering the affected corner with plastic sheet so it can "release" the new piece when cured. "Slow cure" will give you time to do aligning.

 

[rickrubio]

Barry,
I just did a similar repair to my '68 Sunfish, only my repair was at the aft corner, were both deck and hull flanges were broken. I removed the aluminum trim piece, then built the flanges back up with layers of glass and epoxy. In your case, here is what I would do:
1. Remove aluminum trim
2. Remove all damaged fiberglass. If it's loose or broken, remove it. The hull flange in the damaged area has to go. Scrape, chip or grind it off. If the deck side is also broken, then is has to go.
3. Grind the edge of the damaged area (hull side) to a taper. Grinding the edge to more or less a straight line will make glass application easier. You got to make it worse to make it better.
4. You're going to need a backer for a hole that large. Make one up by laminating layers of glass and epoxy on a sheet of waxed paper. A quick way to do this is to take a length of fiberglass tape (probably 2" wide for your case), soak it in mixed epoxy, then fold it up to a length longer than your repair, as many layers as you want (4-5 or more), then squeege out the excess epoxy. Once cured, trim the backer and epoxy it into the hole and hold it place with strings attached to holes drilled in the backer.
5. Apply a thickened epoxy fillet in the corner where the backer and deck meet, and also where there are any abrupt trasisitions. The idea is to provide an easy curve for which the glass will easily conform. Let the fillet just harden before going to the next step.
6. Apply layers of glass and epoxy into the corner, as many layers as it takes to build the thickness up. First, pre-cut a bunch of fiberglass strips cut on the bias (45 degress to the weave); that makes it much easier to conform to the inside corner. Dab epoxy into each layer with a disposable bristle brush until the glass is fully transparent. It makes for a stronger repair if you start with narrower strips first, then go gradually wider, until the last layer completely overlaps your grind marks on the hull. That way, when you grind everything smooth, your are cutting into the top layer of glass only. The glass can overlap the deck lip; you will just cut or grind off the excess.
7. Fair everything smooth and pretty it up.

This is a quick summary and assumes you know how to work with epoxy, so feel free to ask for details. Your boat is definitely fixable- you should see the one that I have to fix for my next project- that one will need major glass work.

 

[musechaser]

Wow... what a great find. Rick and Porpoise.. thanks for taking the time to write back. Rick, the detailed instructions for making the backer are exactly what I needed; that was the part I couldn't figure out how to deal with. I have NOT worked w/ epoxy before, so I might drop you a line when i get to that stage. Right now, I'm clearing an area in my basement so I can bring it in, dry it out, and get ready to work on it. I'm glad to hear that it can be done! Looking forward to getting a lot more use out of her next year.

Thanks again, all.

Barry