Water IN daggerboard?

Ama1090

New Member
Hi everyone.
I noticed today that I can hear water inside my fiberglass daggerboard. I see a couple small nicks, and maybe even a few tiny holes along the seam, which I’ll repair with epoxy/filler.
my question is - any suggestions for getting the water out of the board? My thought so far is it prop it up in the position where I can feel it start to drip.

thanks!
 
It could be collected condensation, which could eventually be expelled by leaving the board in the sun. ('Course, it can return).

But is this really a problem? :oops:
 
Well that is a first! I’m with L and V - put it somewhere warm. I don’t think the glass ones warp in the sun (the older foam ones do tho) but do be careful it doesn’t get crazy hot. Then repair with filler.
 
Thanks guys. For fun, here’s a picture after several hours of being propped like this...
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Whaaaaaaat? I've never heard of that before. If you find the cause please let us know.

I haven’t figured out a cause yet. I have the small holes/nicks filled with epoxy, but haven’t gotten to put it back in the water yet.
It figures that, after working on/refinishing a hull, that something else would start to misbehave!
 
How can you tell? Looking at LPs website, the photo seems the same.... although my rudder has a class sticker on it (and this board does not)
Intensity uses that big black stopper with the bolt. Official boards have a smaller stopper and no bolt. The lack of a sticker is a clue too. For a while the official boards had a Sunfish logo molded into them but I don’t know if they do now or not.
 
I had a fiberglass Thistle rudder with a massive void in it that drained like that after sailing. I promptly sent it back to the builder for a new one. Knock around on the board with your knuckles a bit and listen for any areas that sound "dead" meaning the vibrations of your knuckles hitting it don't resonate as much. Hopefully your blade is in better shape, and definitely fill those holes in the seam once it's dry-- my rudder failed along the seam where it was bonded together. Good luck!
 
I see water draining out of rudders on larger boats quite a lot, after haul outs. Even the large cruising boats have foam filled rudders, which allow water to move around on the inside, if it creeps in from a seam, small chip, etc. It doesn't take too much underwater depth to create an amount if pressure...and you know the pressure that is put on a rudder when underway...even Sunfish blades, including the daggerboard. I suspect those small chips or crack... hard too really see, maybe even opened up more with the pressure....and so continues the story. I've drilled holes in the blade bottoms to make sure all water has drained before repairs. Frozen water doesn't help much either! I might therefore do the repair at the end of the sailing season for that reason.
 
Also...dry the board exterior next time before draining....spray or dust it with some talcum powder or similar...and it'll show you were the leak is......maybe!. Check that screw where the rubber bumper is.....
 

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