Week 6
Get rid of hardware and make floatable

I spent 2 of my spring break days working on the boat with very fruitful results:

As mentioned earlier, I actually got the through the hull fittings out last week. I then ground them to a 45 degree angle with a rasp on a die grinder. I did not have the tools needed to make the recommended 12:1 slope for such a repair, but after seeing the results...I don't think it matters that much.


The patches are layered with 8 layers fiber - 1 layer filler - 6 layers fiber - 1 layer filler - 1 layer fine fiber on the inside. Yielding a very strong patch. I layed them up from the inside with a form on the outside to achieve the perfect shape of the repairs.


I cut out the rest of the plywood that was bad in the front of the boat, mainly to make accessing the hardware easier and without worrying about breaking rotten wood. My plan on the inside is to just put new plywood over the lips of the old plywood and reinforce on the back with 2x2s where necessary.


Poof! Hardware all gone. It took about 5 hours to get it all off. I could not get off the sidestay chainplates though because both sides' bottom screw has seized. This would not be a problem if it had a hex head, but it has a very large screwdriver slot. I will try an impact wrench then a drill, then I will freak out because it is impossible to remove.


Here is the crack all nice and repaired. You really cannot see it, which is a good thing because that shows that all the fiberglass is completely wet out. It is about 6 or 8 layers on the main part and 2-3 layers on the trunk. I think and hope I have repaired it strong enough, but with the rebonding of the old layers, I don't think it will be a problem.


That is how she currently stands. Next up is Sanding, sanding, sanding and sanding.

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