Hull injured, what to do?

[2BonC]

Late summer this year I striked a rock under water when taking a shortcut into a marina . My speed was about 5kts than. I was able to get off this rock only by going reverse.
When I was inspecting the result (diving) I found out that beside multiple scretches at the port side about 10 inches to the left of the centerboard, abeam to the end of it, a part of the material was slivered off about 3 x 6cm, about 5mm thick at it´s deepest.
As there was no leakage extending completely through the hull I continued my trip for another two weeks.



My was than taken out of the water at the end of August. On the trailer it was confirmed that there was no hole going completely through the hull however since that time small droplets of water are leaking from the edge of the demage .
I think it can be excluded that the water is comming from the inside as the boat is completely dry inside by now. Is it possible that the material of the hull was sucking the water after the demage occured?
I will let it dry until early summer next year. Is there a chance that it dry out by itself? What else can be done

Rainer

[TexasDan40]

Several layers of gel coat...build it up slowly...ought to fix'er up. Mix small amounts...it goes a long way.
I recently used a product call Marine-Tex on a small gouge on my 26X stern. It's very hard and sands & paints nicely.
I put 2 layers of gel coat over it afterwards. No problem.

Since your problem is on the underside, you might want to just take it to a fiberglass repair place where they'll have lifts, jacks, and what-not for getting up under the boat. Non-structural fiberglass repair is not too expensive.

Good luck.
Tex

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... SiteSearch

[pokerrick1]

I just saw my former boat (made me cry ) ten days ago. When I sold it, it had a hole in the starboard hull (above the waterline) and the shorepower connection had been ripped completely out of the hull from a storm in San Felipe.

Well you should see it now. The new owner did ALL the work himself and YOU ABSOLUTELY CANNOT TELL WHERE THE DAMAGE WAS What a professional job this guy did.

My point here is - - - most damage, no matter how bad it looks, can be fixed by knowledgeable, experienced guys like YOU GUYS.

Good luck

Rick Less

[opie]

From the pic, there needs to be fiberglass repair. Just gel coat repair will not be a good. I agree, if you can get to it, it should not be hard to repair.

[waternwaves]

a suction cup or almost any thick flexible rubber pad larger than the hole area, and one of those harbor freight brake bleeder hand pumps will suck out all the moisture in a day or two....

less than 40 bucks for parts......
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=92474

[Kelly Hanson East]

We have minimal wood in these boats, and FG really doesnt hold water too well.
I would get the hull in a dry place for a week and repair with epoxy

[seahouse]

Hi Rainer - Is that a big chunk of rock embedded in there? that red stuff

What's on the other side of the damage... I'm guessing ballast tank? If that's the case then you can't be sure it wasn't leaking - how would you be able to tell? Then there's nothing you can do about preventing the interior damaged area from waterlogging from the ballast side, short of grinding back to "fresh" fibre and repairing a larger hole. Any waterlogging of the fibres that does happen will get worse in time with seasonal freeze/thaw cycling, depending on your climate.

Waiting the storage season won't hurt, and might help, if the fibres are able to dry during that period. If some flexing ocurred during the damage then the fibres could have separated and loosened the laminations, enabling water to enter not only from the pressure, but by capillary action as well. Gravity alone won't do much to drain this water, but of course, as you are suggesting, you will get a more permanent repair if you can dry it all out first.

If it was me, I would use a heat gun, carefully heating the area, keeping it moving, not too close, and testing the temperature so as not to make it so hot that your hand can't stand touching it (which is around 120F). Remove the heat, and put your hand over it - if there is moisture there, then the palm of your hand will feel it coming out, and you need to continue this until it's dry, making sure not to overheat. You might even wait for a few minutes between heating cycles, to give the moisture time to evaporate.

Then do your repair - prep grinding, "'glass" work, (and/or epoxy) and gelcoat it if you like. Since it's not in a very visible area you don't need to be fussy about the appearance, so if it's a DIY and you're new to it it's not a bad place to learn, it just needs to be a "serviceable", waterproof repair.

If you're concerned about the long-term integrity of the repair, check the area by pushing on it with the heel of your hand or the rounded soft handle of a screwdriver after each season. It'll get "soft" long before you need to worry about it.

- Brian.

[2BonC]

at first thank You all for Your hints, it´s allways good to have the benefit from the experiance other sailors have made .

Brian,

Hi Rainer - Is that a big chunk of rock embedded in there? that red stuff
What's on the other side of the damage... I'm guessing ballast tank? If that's the case then you can't be sure it wasn't leaking - how would you be able to tell?

..the red color is not part of a rock, actually the surface is grey. The red is created by my camera, it has a red lamp which is illuminated to avoid red eyes doe to the flash.
You are right, the ballast tank is on the other side. I´m quite sure that it is´nt leaking because I visually inspected it from the outside and I tried to get through the surface by pushing pressure on a very stable pin at different places of the demage. Don´t You think this is enough to give me confidence?
Might be it´s a good idea to put pneumatic pressure into the ballast tank via the pressure outlet to check for leakage?

Rainer

[puggsy]

The damage needs more than just gelcoat...Gelcoat is just a slightly thicker and coloured fibreglass resin to which you add hardener...What's needed here is resin and glass fibres mixed. To give it strength.
I use a product called " Fibrofil" described as a " glass fibre reinforced resin". Made by Tetrosyl chemi-technics , Bury, Lancashire, England. Instructions asre the same as for general fibreglass...remove paint, grease, oil, rust and dampness. roughen surface with coarse grit paper, mix up estimated amount at 50;1...50 resin/ i hardener...being ordinary resin, then ordinary hardener is o.k. Lay it into the damage with a spatula...let it set and smooth it off...easy peasy...The same stuff can be used on all the scatches as well...Once that is done, THEN you can use the gelcoat, which will give you the nice smooth coloured finish...Let the first repair cure a few days before you tackle the second...
If you cannot buy this product, just mix chopped mat with the resin...Cheers...Puggsy

This is an edit. I notice you mentioned water still possibly in the hull where the damage is...If you cannot access it from inside the hull, open up the damaged party a bit and using a hot air gun, keep it going in there for as long as it takes...Any dampness in there will evaporate and exit with the hot air...just a thought!

[Laika 26X]

FWIW, my local library is a great source for free "How to" and "Repair" video's/dvd's on a wide range of subjects including fiberglass repair.
Helped me deal with spider cracks on my Bristol.
A video is worth a thousand words.
"Sub" Ed

[seahouse]

Hi Rainer --

What I had in mind in saying it might be leaking was that it was dripping. I was thinking that the fibres themselves wouldn't absorb enough water to be extracted by gravity alone (ie dripping), and that the dripping might be an indicator of a source of water coming from behind the damage (some residual water in the ballast).

As you suggest,a pneumatic test would do it, but it would only be valid if there was no leakdown in pressure, which of course would indicate no leaks anywhere. If you did have a pressure leakdown it would indicate a leak SOMEWHERE, but unless you could hear the air exiting at the damaged area, it COULD possibly be leaking out somewhere else, like one of the plugs, maybe.

I think a hydraulic test would be easier in this case. Just fill the ballast with enough water (from a hose etc) that you judge the damaged area to be covered, and see if any water drips out there. Wait a while to be sure. Tip the boat on the trailer (raise/lower tongue with jack) so the injured area is the lowest point, if possible.

Interesting about the red eye light. Most cameras I'm familiar with will blip the red light on for a split second, enough to constrict the pupils, then turn it off and make the exposure before the pupils have time to dilate again. Hence the red light "on", and the exposure, happen at different instants, not simultaneously.

Is there any chance that you're into an area where the permanent ballast is (near the daggerboard)?

- Brian.

[waternwaves]

far be it from me to cast apsersions at to the manufacturing quality of a mac.........especially an early 96 model, what with its exemplary (sic) workmaship.......fit, detail etc.......

seriously. The reason I recommend using a small vacuum pump to remove the moisture from the mac..... has has far more to do with the manufacturing quality, than the materials

trust me on this.....
There are a numerous repairs on my boat now, and the foils, and the spares etc.

While the glass absorps almost no moisture. Are boats are not made of just glass, or epoxy, or gelcoat......

folks......These boats have voids in them. These discontinuities are also frequently the locations needing repair, since those voided locations are often the weakest and first to crack and break with impact. So... once the water is in the void space......... it will stay their for a long time. I have spots under and adjacent to my rubrail that were moist for weeks.... (well above the waterline.)
So I have learned that removing the moisture is a very important part to me getting that gel repair area to work well.

So, It doesnt hurt to put suction on those voids and boil off that moisture while you have a chance.......cuz when it freezes....all that beautiful gelcoat you put on top will crack again.

JMHO YMMV.

[2BonC]

Hallo Brian,

I think a hydraulic test would be easier in this case. Just fill the ballast with enough water (from a hose etc) that you judge the damaged area to be covered, and see if any water drips out there. Wait a while to be sure. Tip the boat on the trailer (raise/lower tongue with jack) so the injured area is the lowest point, if possible.

I will do the pneumatik test first. I´m affraid to put water in. In case there is a leakage this would extend the period to dry out.

Interesting about the red eye light. Most cameras I'm familiar with will blip the red light on for a split second, enough to constrict the pupils, then turn it off and make the exposure before the pupils have time to dilate again. Hence the red light "on", and the exposure, happen at different instants, not simultaneously.

You are absolutely right, the red light is off in the moment of flash, I checked on this. I´m wondering what the source of the color is. Might be that a little bit of the red "preflash" was still sticking on it .

Is there any chance that you're into an area where the permanent ballast is (near the daggerboard)?.

To my knowledge there is no permanent ballast on a , am I wrong?
After all I will try everything to lokalize the source of the leaking prior to start the repair.

Rainer

[Kelly Hanson East]

Might be that a little bit of the red "preflash" was still sticking on it .

Light doesnt stick around that long, unless you use light duct tape, or your name is Lene Hau (personal friend of mine who makes light stop at Harvard)

[Ron]

I just did a repair below the waterline. When the axle on my trailer broke, the wheel turned in and rubbed against the hull. It burned into the fiberglass. The damage was about 0.25 inches at its deepest and about 3 inches round. I cleaned and sanded the area lightly and then used MarineTex to do the repair. For below the waterline I recommend MarineTex over gelcoat because you're not worried about appearance. MarineTex can be applied in a single application. Gelcoat has to be layered on. Once the MarineTex cured, I sanded some rough spots and painted it with bottom paint. The bottom paint is think, so you cannot even see that the hull is repaired in that spot.