Restore /refit of my 1988/89 26D

[Russ]

Is the crack in the daggerboard trunk leaking when you filled the ballast? And is it leaking into the trunk or into the boat?
If it's leaking into the trunk, that would be less critical.

It's a strange place to see a leak. Is it just a hairline crack or could it be through the trunk and expand under pressure?

[kenfyoozed]

The leak was from the the ballast tank into the dagger board well. It looks to be a small hairline crack. Almost seems like it’s in the area where the two halves of the trunk meet. Which is the front part. I’m pretty sure I can reach in with a pneumatic 1/2” belt grinder to remove some material. Fill with thickened epoxy and lay one layer of 1708.

Biggest issue is getting access to work it. Boat is going to have to come off the trailer.

[Russ]

My concern would be that the crack goes all the way through and under load would pull apart.

Does it run all the way up to the deck? If so, you may need to reinforce the section that travels ABOVE the ballast tank from the inside of the cabin.

Leaking into the ballast tank is probably not a big issue as leaking into the cabin.

[kenfyoozed]

I’m trying to come up with a way to stop up the bottom and fill the trunk with water to simulate being in the water to test for further leaks.

[kenfyoozed]

I stuffed some towels down into the bottom and tried to fill with water but that only worked so well until the weight of the water pushed them out. I sprayed the entire area down for a while. I could find no other leaks in the trunk.

I also got some time today to work on removing the nonslip. It has spider cracks in multiple places. There are also so many holes that have been drilled into the deck throughout the years. I wanted a uniform look after filling the hole and cracks to the non-skid had to go. It will be replaced with a non-skid coating. Most likely a soft sand coating.

I do have a couple of cracks in the cockpit sole I am worried about. Both seam to have possibly been made by the boom crashing down. The biggest area is very soft and seems like there is no backing in this area. Maybe the incident have dislodged the core material? Is that possible? What would be the best way to repair? Im thinking of cutting it open to see what I am dealing with. Then repair the open hole with a few layers of 1708 and then lay 2 layers of 1708 over the entire sole area. Thoughts?


Another crack in the cockpit sole, should be an easier repair.....


This is the major area in question...

[OverEasy]

Wow Kenfyoozed!!!
You sure have been busy!
You seem to have a pretty good handle on things.

The only thing I’d try an do is double wide side the repair if you can for the slit split by as couple inches to make sure the stress is dissipated over a larger area. Thickness of repair layers should be equal to or greater than original area regional thickness. I’d be doing about a 150% thickness and 3+ inches blended into either side but that’s just me….

When we get to painting Over Easy’s topside we’re gonna have to redo the anti skid and would most likely go with your approach.
Take notes and share pointers on lessons learned. They will be appreciated!

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[kenfyoozed]

Overeasy... thanks for reminding me about making sure the thickness is the same on the repair. Still haven't came up with an exact game plan but will post everything as I go along...... Most likely I will be sanding all the gel coat off the cockpit sole so I know I'm binding to fiberglass.

[Wyb2]

….The biggest area is very soft and seems like there is no backing in this area. Maybe the incident have dislodged the core material? Is that possible? What would be the best way to repair? ….

Have you checked the area with a moisture meter?

It sure sounds like wet core. Either significantly rotted, or just maybe just enough to delaminate the top skin. If this is the case, when you cut into it you will find wet plywood. You can either plan to remove everything that’s wet, or try to dry it out somehow.

For drying, in theory if you have opened up enough surface area you could do it with heat and fans, or wait for it to dry naturally. My deck was pegging the moisture meter and I had no plans to cut it open, but I’ve actually had some luck with a vacuum pump. That might be an option if you find much of the cockpit sole is wet, but still sturdy enough that you only want to repair the local area.

[kenfyoozed]

It may be possible to access from underneath but that would mean cutting through the hull liner. Guess I need to open it up first to see exactly what I am dealing with.

[kenfyoozed]

So in sanding off the non skid on the cabin top I have uncovered more issues that will need to be repaired. There are a lot of voids in the glass.

Also I was able to cut a 4-3/8" hole under a starboard stanchion. This will be covered by a 4" deck plate . It will allow me to put a sizable backing plate instead of the measly washers that were there before. Because I have more room to inspect that area now I am pretty sure the core material in this area is dry rotted. Its not wet, at least not now. This boat has been stored dry for several years. So I will now have to cur through the outer skin to replace the core on the starboard side.

After looking the deck over and walking on it, I am not impressed with the strength it has. So more fiberglass work. I plan to lay at least two layers of 1708 or maybe 1208, in alternating directions over the entire cabin top. It shouldn't take to long to do and should help give it added strength. Its the fairing part that is driving me crazy. Im using total fair on my rails but I want something easier to sand and spread. But I have time to decide what I am going to use.

Before I fiberglass the top, I am going to drill all the holes in the deck oversized, fill with... something(probably poly resin with cabosil) and redrill the holes I know I am going to use.

This boat is going to be better when I'm done...hopefully

[kenfyoozed]

I drilled a few 1" holes to check the core I thought was gone. And my suspicions were correct. Here are a couple of pictures. Hard to see inside with the setting sun, but the plywood is all but gone.





So the starboard cabin top is going to be removed and fresh plywood core installed. I can't tell how thick the plywood is but it seems to be about 1/4". Problem is that there is a open space below the plywood. There does not seem to be any fiberglass on the bottom side of core material. Which I don't understand. Not sure how I am going to repair this properly. I know I am probably on my own in this territory as I can't find any who have undertaken a repair like this.

Going to grab a drink and stare at the problem for a while. Maybe something will come to me.....

[kenfyoozed]

After another look I think I have a game plan. I cut a 4-3/8" diameter hole under the starboard aft cabin top. I plan to install deck plates in these holes. This allows me to add a decent backing plate and easier to access if anything needs inspection.












The plywood core has no fiberglass on the underside. I took these pictures inside one access hole I cut on the port side for comparison. Also a few pics are from inside the compartment above the galley sink. There is tabbing at the edges but no fiberglass over the underside of the plywood. It is covered in resin a good amount.












So what I have come up with is this..... This picture is facing starboard aft. The cabin liner rises up just in front of the access hole I cut. The plywood core sits on top of this liner. Now it isn't supported like this the entire way but it is enough to be able to get a new piece in there bonded properly.




This is looking up inside the starboard aft hole looking forward to the area that rises up.



I am confident I will be able to make a sufficient repair that is stonier than the original. But this raises another issue. To keep this from happening again all the bolt holes will need to be drilled oversized, filled and re-drilled to the appropriate size. I believe this is called "potting", from what I have found. The correctway to "pot" the hardware is to remove the core from between the layers of fiberglass. Since I only have a top layer to work with and nothing on the bottom, how can this be achieved? I'll start a new thread asking for info on this. I know this thread is getting long in the tooth but I hope it can help someone if they are as crazy as I am.

[Wyb2]

I think to enlarge and epoxy pot the holes, you just need access to the back side to tape off the bottom. With a normal 2-skin construction, same would apply, you need close off the bottom of the hole somehow in order to pour in the epoxy.

I actually skipped this when rebedding everything on my boat. Yes, it protects the wood more permanently, but it also probably doubles the work involved. Correctly bed hardware should go 15+ years easy without leaks, so I figured I was ok with keeping an eye on things with the moisture meter and redoing it as required.

[kenfyoozed]

Gaining access is the problem. For example
The access holes for most of the hardware is 3/4” or 1”. Not really large enough to access the back side. But I think if I open the access holes to 2” I should be able to have enough room to work. Then I can plug the 2” holes with the factory style hole plugs.

Well this is at least my latest theory on how to do it.

[kenfyoozed]

Since I want to add 2 layers of fiberglass on my deck to strengthen it up, my original plans where to use two layers of 1708. Since the weave is 45+/-, would it be better to have one layer 45+/- and the next 90+/-, or both layers as 45+/-? 1708 and 1208 run 45+/- and 1808 runs 90+/-. So should I run 2 layers of 1708/1208 or run one layer of 1708/1208 and a layer of 1808?