DaySailer.org Forum

Hello,

I'm new to the DS world and working on my 1965 ds 1 as I'm also getting some sailing in this summer. I dont have experience with fiberglass, gelcoat or epoxy but I'm learning from reading here on this list, elsewhere on the internet and mostly the west systems how to guides.

I discovered this opening off to the port side, where the hull and centerboard trunk meet. I can't tell if the gap that's apparent there is between layers of fiberglass or just between the right angle formed edge of the hull and a never attached, underlying fiberglass layer. It may be hard to tell, this open space is about 1 to 1.5 inches long.



I was planning 3 days on the Columbia river this weekend and wonder how I should take care of this. Can i just fill this up with epoxy? I'm afraid if I start sanding the right angle aspect the hull forms, then I'll just expose a small channel running the length of the centerboard trunk? But if that's the thing to do ill sand it away and take the next steps.

P.s. I'm aware the cb itself needs some work. Thank you all for your help!

If it's an isolated small defect, you could fill it with an epoxy paste and lose no sleep over it. Marine Tex is one such product that many boaters use for the "quick and dirty".

You could also (carefully) grind it out and then apply multiple layers of laminate. I don't see the urgency to do that in this case - it would seem more necessary for an larger damaged section, and one where the sides could move out of alignment.

A bit of grinding is useful in any case: you want to find out where the damaged section of the laminate ends. And that you do by grinding until what you see is "dark". Fiberglass is transparent and being sandwiched between gelcoat doesn't have a light source, so it appears dark. All light goes in, but none comes out. Milly fiberglass is damaged, because it reflects some of the light back. (If fiberglass has no gelcoat on the other side, it can look like a skylight; perhaps not fully clear, but letting light through. (Some people have removed patches of gelcoat on their boats to get a bit of light without a hatch; mostly boats with cabins, not so much for the DS).

Marine Tex should cure up in (much less) than 3 days, esp. in summer temps. And it doesn't need a coating, because the pigment protects the epoxy.