More Fiberglass repair questions :-( Last one I hope

[Mattlikesbikes]

I thought I would start a new thread for this one

I ended up pulling my rub rail off after work today in preparation of a few other repairs and I was greeted
with one new issue and one I new about but I think it is worse then I thought .Keep in mind the boat probably
has been this way for years

Issue number 1

 

I think the picture pretty much explains it.   When I pulled the rub rail off the tip kind of just crumbled off.  I was thinking for this
repair to clean the surfaces.  Sand or grind the seam until both sides are even and either use fiberglass cloth to rebuild the tip or cut
a piece of plywood or starboard and glass it in. The seam itself seems like it is sealed and I have not had any water come in through that area

Issue Number 2




.  This one I am more concerned with.  The crack travels down more then I then I thought and what ever caused this also stressed the deck enough to chip the gel coat.  
It looks like the deck is just gel coat which I will fill in .   As for the cracks my gut is telling me that that area should really be cut out and new fiberglass should laid up  
Honestly I do not feel comfortable making that repair. Any ideas on a easier way to tackle this.  Without cutting a hole in my boat.

Honestly I feel overwhelmed. Partly because I have all my bright work removed, carpet ripped out and engine mount removed and now all this. I guess this is the best way
to learn how to make fiberglass repairs.  I figure the good thing about fiberglass is if I mess up I can cut it out and try again

[Billy]

Or you cam leave it as is and go sailing?
Honestly, I don't think it is as bad as you think. You can follow the saying, "nothing works on an old boat except the owner" or you can just ignore the asthetics and hit the water.

Your not planning an Northern Atlantic crossings are you?

Just my 2 cents, which are worth about half of everyone else's.

[skip1930]

Who ever drove that boat before sure didn't have any common sense. Can you say battering ram?

No big deal. Anyway, same as before. Scrape it, fill it, screw it.
Pound on the rubber and go sailing.

skip.

#1-I might consider prizing those two chainplates [ tangs] back a bit and filling the airspace created with some thickened epoxy. Smooth it a little bit when cured. DO NOT LOOSEN THOSE TWO FASTENERS. Don't put in any extra or new wood. Don't open up a can of worms.

#2- What? Don't cut out nothing and replace the original edge with new. Epoxy the delaminated parts back together. Two chunks of short pieces of 1/4" - 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" angle iron top and bottom of the edge and four C-clamps will make a 12 inch long sandwich.  Put some plastic wrap or waxed paper between the angle iron epoxy.  Chase the whole edge like this if you want too. Grind it smooth, paint it, and forget it. Put the rubber back on.

A note about docking ... I found that my CP-19 with sails down and motoring up to the dock DOES NOT STOP. It just keeps drifting. So I always use the motor to come to a complete stop. Then on-off, on-off, on-off, with the gear box at idle and creep up to the dock with fenders out. [Additionally there is a big`O-fender lashed horizontally to the dock mid ships and my CP-19 pivots on this one fender]  When I'm close to the dock, I step off and toss two lines over the cleats. I do not drive my boat onto the dock. Actually on my home pier the boat never touches the dock.

[NateD]

On the bow I think I would just clean it up, make sure it isn't leaking, and put the rub rail back on. If it isn't noticeable with the rub rail installed, it's not leaking, and it's not structural, then leave it.

On #2, are the cracks on the hull below the flange all the way through, or just in the gelcoat? If the cracks below the flange are just gelcoat I would try and repair the damage/delamination on the deck side of the flange, then put another bolt through to try and stabilize the crack in the hull flange. If the crack below the flange is all the way through, then I would probably try to add a couple layers of glass to the area on the inside of the hull, which might require separating the hull/deck joint in that area, grinding the area down, and layering in the new glass. I would not cut a big hole in the boat.

It honestly doesn't look that bad. I know that overwhelmed feeling too, but whether it is working on a house or a boat, you generally make a bigger mess of things before you get to the part where you start to make things better again.

[Mattlikesbikes]

This is way I love this forum. I was about to break out the sawzall, angle grinder and other various large and loud power tools and get down to business.  Luckily while taking a break from watching my 15th fiberglass repair video on You Tube I read the responses to my thread

You guys are right.  I am way overthink this.  None of those spots are leaking. (I do have some leaks but not from those areas)  I am just going to clean up the bow and seal it up a litter better. As for the fiberglass crack it looks like it is just in the flange the cracks below seem to be gel coat only.   I will remove the wood trim covering the seam from the inside and give it a better look but as far as I can tell the fiberglass is not cracked

Somebody at some time had to have been very bad at docking or liked playing bumper boats.  The last owner who gave me the boat never sailed it and the person before him moored it. 

[MacGyver]

I would do what the other guys are saying.

One thing you need to learn with boats, is ONE PROJECT AT A TIME.
Prioritize, start with projects that are bad enough to sink the boat, then move from there to make it usable, fine tune to your liking, then cosmetics.

My Complete overhaul was actually a project started as a bottom job...... then topsides, then we are doing the whole boat.... all because I was taking off one piece of hardware and didnt want to do a job twice.........

Believe me, if they float and they sail, you are in good shape, everything else is personal preference. And it is super easy to get in over your head with money, and projects, that you wont be doing anything other than working on the boat and emptying the wallet.

Mac

[Mattlikesbikes]

Just a little update.   After many hours of work.  All the bright work is done. Most of it is mounted except for the hand rails which I am still trying to clean old varnish off of the fiberglass where the rails where mounted.  

I have the problem areas of the starboard side patched up with a mix of fiberglass cloth on one bad area and I just used west systems epoxy and filler for the other areas.  I just need to patch a few spots on port side.   The entire seam is prepped. I scrapped any remaining 5200 off the edge of the entire seam and dug out some bad spots along the seam. I then took a wire brush on my drill and went over the seam again to clean off any 5200 I could not scrape.  After I finish the port side patches I will wipe everything down with acetone and put a fresh layer of 5200 on the edge of the seam to seal everything up.

I have a local lady making me new cushions for a very reasonable price compared to buying new cushions I just had to supply the material. Luckily my original foam was in great shape and I just had to get 14 yards of Sunbrella.  They should be done in another week or two.  I am actually super excited about the cushions.  My old ones where so nasty I did not even put them in the boat.  

All in all things are starting to come together and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.   Hopefully I  be in the water either the first or second Saturday of May.   I will post some pictures when everything is done