Hello!
I recently acquired a DS 1 from 1965, Hull # 11705. It came to me this spring from the original owner who had the record of buying it from a dealer in 1965 in San Francisco! Fun!
The old boat has many repairs to be done and I'm so glad to have found the wealth of information on this forum. Thank you for previous posts and in advance to all the knowledgeable contributors!
Like many other people who've posted here with boats new to them, I'm sailing this summer. I'm doing jobs that must be done, getting to know the boat and planning bigger jobs for the colder months. I could use a little help prioritizing all the work to be done. I'm handy but have never repaired fiberglass, never put down gel coat, and I'm now realizing I don't know much about working correctly with epoxy.
But I cant yet ask for help with what to do first because I need to tackle a question that has me anxious. I noticed a leak from my centerboard handle gasket. I keep the boat on a trailer at the moment and launch to sail for a day or two at a time. The leak was slow and I've read in the forum how this might be addressed: Gently tighten the screws mounting the handle, lubricate the gasket, or order a replacement gasket. Well I tightened the screws and now noticed a slow leak from the lower aft screw, maybe this was present previously or perhaps not. So far I cant say for sure if its from the screw hole or an adjacent very small (and hopefully superficial) crack.
How should I proceed? If I cover the crack with epoxy and this does stop the leak, it seems I may be covering up a real problem as water leaks into the area and degrades the fiberglass?
How likely is it that the leak is from the screw hole itself? I read a post where someone describes such a leak but thought it was an aberration as the screws are normal set into the fiberglass of the CB trunk and end before entering the CB compartment. I havn't tried adding anything to the screws threading yet. What should i use if that is an avenue to try?
How likely is this to get worse if I go out sailing under the stress of the centerboards movement?
Thanks again for any help!