Cockpit floor damage

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Cockpit floor damage

Postby Thomasjbrothersjr » Wed Nov 28, 2012 1:45 am

I picked up my new to me DS II this fall. This is one of the more significant repairs I need to address. The other is cracked supports inside cuddy on the ceiling supporting the deck. There are a few great posts out there addressing the Cuddy issue.

in regards to the cockpit floor, I have little experience in this type of fiberglass repair. My neighbor, Bob seems to know his stuff when it comes down to this type of project. We are planing on tackling this in the spring. I would like to have some ideas before we break out the tools. I imagine there are a 100 ways to fix anything. Ideas? Words of encouragement? Looking for input from the community here.

Thanks ahead of time!

T-Bone
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"It's not the towering sail, but the unseen wind that moves the ship"

1983 O'Day Daysailer II "KALEIGH B"
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Re: Cockpit floor damage

Postby GreenLake » Wed Nov 28, 2012 2:48 am

For those of us that don't own DSII's but know a bit about fiberglass, you could perhaps add another picture showing where abouts the damage is.
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Re: Cockpit floor damage

Postby GreenLake » Wed Nov 28, 2012 2:49 am

Can the other side of the crack be reached?
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Re: Cockpit floor damage

Postby Thomasjbrothersjr » Wed Nov 28, 2012 1:36 pm

There is no way to access the back of this damaged section. The damage is just forward of the transom, in the cockpit, on the floor. The bilge section is beneath it. You can also see the cockpit drain in the bottom of the picture as well.

Thanks
T-Bone
"It's not the towering sail, but the unseen wind that moves the ship"

1983 O'Day Daysailer II "KALEIGH B"
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Re: Cockpit floor damage

Postby GreenLake » Wed Nov 28, 2012 7:03 pm

How I would approach something like this.

  1. Turn the crack into a hole, but not a round one
  2. Bevel the edges
  3. Reach in and rough sand the underside
  4. Make or buy a flat fiberglass panel
  5. Slide it in and glue from underneath (from the top, that's why the hole can't be round)
  6. Put a piece of scrap wood over the repair and put screws in to pull repair patch up against underside of repair
  7. With the backing panel in place and after the glue has set, repair from the front with mat, cloth and epoxy
  8. Fair and paint - although if you use SB112 from System Three you should be able to do a gelcoar repair (but with all the little cracks you might want to paint anyway).

Hope this gets your creative juices flowing and helps you find your best method.

The DS is not an ultralight boat, that's why I would not hesitate to use a substantial backing plate. The only reason not to do the entire repair by adding several layers of glass and epoxy on the top is just optics. It would be so much easier. Because of that raised ridge you could probably blend in a repair from the top quite well, even it it raised the level by 1/8 or 1/4". You'd just need to take to the edge of the piece on the other three sides.
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Re: Cockpit floor damage

Postby jeadstx » Wed Nov 28, 2012 7:11 pm

For those with a DS1, that spot is just forward of the stern, you can see the self bailer in the picture. It is not accessable from underneath as is.

Looking at where that crack is, you might want to put a 6" inspection port in there since a hole is partially cut already. That would give you access to repair the rest of the area and an easy way to close the area after the repair. It would also provide another location to add additional floatation if needed. Additional floatation might help support the area as well after doing repairs. Just a thought.

John
1976 Day Sailer II, #8075 - Completed the 2011, 2012, and 2013 Texas 200
1952 Beetle Boat Swan Catboat
Early Rhodes 19
1973 Mariner 2+2, #2607 - Completed 2014, 2015 and 2016 Texas 200
1969 Day Sailer I, #3229
Fleet 135; Canyon Lake, Texas
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Re: Cockpit floor damage

Postby GreenLake » Wed Nov 28, 2012 8:33 pm

Inspection port is another great idea.

If you put flotation (foam) in a double hull, always make sure that you can still drain the bilge.
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Re: Cockpit floor damage

Postby Thomasjbrothersjr » Wed Nov 28, 2012 10:32 pm

This is a better picture of its location. I love the idea of the inspection port, and it seems we are all kinda on the same page here as well.
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"It's not the towering sail, but the unseen wind that moves the ship"

1983 O'Day Daysailer II "KALEIGH B"
Thomasjbrothersjr
 
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2012 11:00 pm
Location: Massachusetts

Re: Cockpit floor damage

Postby GreenLake » Thu Nov 29, 2012 11:05 pm

The rule with inspection ports seems to be "the larger, the better". I'd go for an 8" assuming that, with flange, it fits the panel.

Looks like you could position it centrally and still loose the majority of your crack.

For the remaining portions, you'd want some backing underneath, but then just grind the crack itself into a V and fill with high strength marine filler (3M) and finish with a gelcoat repair kit. The filler I mentioned is polyester based and presents a nice compromise between strength and workability. Also, being polyester-based there's no question that gelcoat would bond to it.

For the backing, you have two sensible choices. Either lay up a piece of fiberglass laminate using epoxy on a flat surface (plastic or wax paper) and glue that in place with epoxy (works well and there's nothing to drip, and the rigidity of the panel you laid up can be a help in aligning other parts to it). Or transfer the fiberglass before it's cured, but with the substrate (plastic bag or wax paper) in place. Then you don't need glue, but it's slightly more finicky process. If you assemble the glass inside a plastic bag you simply squish from the outside of the bag to wet out your laminate. That's the least messy process and you simply slice one half of the bag off to apply your laminate to the repair.

PS: looks like you need to clean out your boat (and do I see some other cracks?)
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Re: Cockpit floor damage

Postby Thomasjbrothersjr » Sat May 04, 2013 8:46 pm

This is the finished repair. It came out excellent. Thanks for all the advice guys!
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8" port
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8" inspection port
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"It's not the towering sail, but the unseen wind that moves the ship"

1983 O'Day Daysailer II "KALEIGH B"
Thomasjbrothersjr
 
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2012 11:00 pm
Location: Massachusetts

Re: Cockpit floor damage

Postby GreenLake » Mon May 06, 2013 12:37 am

Thomasjbrothersjr wrote:This is the finished repair. It came out excellent. Thanks for all the advice guys!

Great to know it turned out so well. Enjoy and go sailing!
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