DaySailer.org Forum

Hi-
I'm Eric I'm new here. I'm looking at buying a DS that needs some work mostly gelcoat repair that I know I can do myself. The thing that troubles me is the stress cracks around the mast (see pic). Is this fixable without selling the house ? I'm not looking to race her, just have fun. Is there anything I should be looking for that would make me not want to buy the boat?
Thanks in advance,
Eric
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Eric:

Your photo seems to show cracks that are much more than gelcoat stress cracks. It's hard to tell the extent of the damage without seeing inside. It looks as if the underlying fiberglass is cracked as well. This isn't hard to fix, but it's pretty deep (and could be worse than it appears).

To fix this you'd need to grind away the gelcoat around the cracks and underneath the mast partner (hole) so you can apply some fiberglass cloth in several layers. Dust, goop, smells, respirators, goggles, expense of some epoxy and glass cloth and possibly a grinder. Essentially you'd be rebuilding the area around the mast partner, mostly underneath, with several layers of fiberglass and reinforcing the underside maybe 4-5" out from the mast. I can see from the picture that the cracks go way out, all around the mast.

Like I noted, it's hard to tell. Maybe the previous owner already did this reinforcement (but it doesn't seem like it.)

If it's possible, I'd look for a boat that doesn't need this kind of work.

Carlos

Thanks Carlos,
I've worked with fiberglass before, so I know how fun it can be.

I guess I need to get a look inside see how bad it is....
I can afford this one... the others I see for sale are more than I can get the wife to agree to... yes I'm whipped.
Thanks again,
E.

If that's all that's wrong with the boat then I wouldn't worry, you can layer up as much glass as you want (with in reason) on the bottom side of that and not have to worry about how smooth/good it looks. I would look at the sails that's the area most people can't fix with lots of elbow greese and they're not cheap to replace.

P.S. What kind of a price are you getting it for. Yes I'm the kind of person that'll ask that.

Eric:
That's been smacked around some - as the previous poster says, the repair to the mast partners may be relatively easy, and you've got easy access underneath so that's not a big deal. He's right, too, to suggest you check into the condition of the sails, but the other bit I'd look at really carefully is the rig - to have caused that much damage to the partners, that mast was whipping around some, and the chainplates, shrouds and their attachment tangs on the mast, and the spreaders may need a lot of work. Again, the question may come down to how affordable the boat is. Be sure, DaySailors provide lots of boat bang for your buck, but any boat is a hole in the water you throw money into.
Fair winds

Felix Graham-Jones wrote:Be sure, DaySailors provide lots of boat bang for your buck, but any boat is a hole in the water you throw money into.
Fair winds

Right on. BOAT = Bring Out Another Thousand

Carlos

its not a deal breaker, and if you are satisfied from checking other items on the boat that all is well, I would invest in a fg repair kit for about $20 and give it your best shot. The great thing about fg is that you can grind down any overbuild, or paint any really ugly stuff after you have sanded it. Remember to use polyester resin. Epoxy will work but is more expensive and you can't do a later polyester fix to an epoxy resin.

BTW I had to do the same kind of work to my boat. If the damage didn't occur while sailing, (hence the caution re shrouds and chainplates) then it surely was caused by raising the mast, (and looseing control while doing so).

Thanks to all for your advice... I'm going to check it out some more and will post as to what I find and what I'm going to do.

Adam, He is asking about $500-600 less than other ones I have seen.

Carlos, I've made it almost 50yrs with only owning a canoe, all my sailing has been done on others boats... so they pour money in the hole and I just help...paint, what ever needs doing... I have other holes to pour my money in But now I think I will be buying my own hole in the water!

Again Thanks to all, I will post a link to more pics and let you know what I do.
Eric