DS2 Bow/Deck Seperation

[jpclowes]

That is exactly what happened to my old DS II. It was part of the reason I moved to a DS I. When you go to close the gap. Be sure you get a good bond. The deck will want to stay open. We used a couple of trailer tie down straps around the deck to hold it in place.

If you can, put a bolt through the metal tang, and the hull both. That is the most structurally sound (I actually put three through it.) The metal wasn't as hard to drill through as I thought it would be.

[Roger]

I added an inspection port behind the stem plate on deck to access the area below and effect the repair. My bow eye was already missing so I repaired both at the same time by tieing them together with a turnbuckle.

[Cal]

I think one bolt should do it, it just needs to be stronger than the bow stay's pull. Don't know how to hide the bolt but I won't see it from where I sit.

I have it mostly closed up to keep the rain out. Ratchet straps should close the gap when I get some bonding material in there.

Too bad the tang wasn't a few inches longer or the bow eye a few inches higher. I bet they saved a few pennies per boat by not having the bow eye lock the tang in place.

Cal

[GreenLake]

They were probably confident that their technique was sufficient. Could be something as simple as not having de-greased the tang correctly

Hiding the bolt: you'll already need to do gelcoat repairs. If you can bury the head of the bolt deeply enough in the bow, then you can cover it with a bit of vinyl based marine filler e.g. the high strenght stuff from 3M and then apply your gelcoat on top. Should be invisible when you are done.

In terms of load calculation, it's not purely the shear strength of the bolt, but also what the laminat can hold when you try to pull a bolt through it sideways. More than one bolt would have the effect of spreading that load a bit. Whether that's strictly necessary - who knows.

[Cal]

Just wanted to thank everyone for their help. Let the Sikaflex do its thing for a few days and then had a three hour sail where everything stayed together.

When I drilled the bolt pilot hole in the bow I found a void just inside the fiberglass shell which may have contributed to the original problem. Also learned that Sikaflex doesn't flow easily and was almost too stiff for my el cheapo caulk gun. Bought a better one to fill the bow void and it made a big difference

Cal.