Crack in hull

[Red Ron]

I’ve been getting water in the in the bilge of my ds 2. When I got back from sailing before draining the bilge I crawled under the boat to look for water. I could see water dripping from the hull at the back edge of the CB trunk., when I sanded the area I found three cracks about 4 ins. Long in the hull and extending about a ½ in. in to the CB trunk. Advice from anyone who has fixed this type of damage would be a lot of help.
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[K.C. Walker]

Okay, because no one else has answered this one I'll take a stab at it. I don't have a DS2 but have a DS1. I have done a fair amount of work on mine, though.

First off, depending on your skill and tools, and for that matter your patience, you might be better off taking it to a fiberglass shop/boatyard for repair. The cracks need to be ground out and the fiberglass re-laminated. It is an inherent weak point for any boat with a centerboard.

It would be a good thing to try to figure out why it cracked to begin with so that you don't get a reoccurrence after the repair. You may already know how it was damaged but it may be a fatigue issue that has happened due to trailering. It appears that there is wear damage other than the cracks at the back edge of the centerboard trunk. You may need to use this wear damage as a clue as to what might have cracked the hull.

KC

[Red Ron]

Hi KC
This is my forth sailboat in 20 years, all of them were fixer uppers so I have some tools and experience. I used a dermal to grind out the cracks to a depth about ¼”inch. Seeing no delimitation or other fiber glass damage I’ll stop and fill it in with about four layers of matt and.polyester resin and keep an eye on it. I think I’ll be ok for now.
This will let me sail the rest of this season , if the cracks reappear I can fix them in the off season .I’ll cut in a access port in the cockpit floor just behind the CB trunk so I can grind the cracks out from inside and out side.
My three other boats were a 76 Newport 18, a 86 Macgregor 25, and a 92 Macgregor 26, I like my 73 DS2 the most, it’s a lot of fun to sail.
Thanks for the help
Ron
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[GreenLake]

Where did your water come from, then? Your cracks apparently didn't go through.
How much water did you see, and for how long did it drip?
Anyway, curious to hear if this stops your drip...

Also, I would use epoxy for the repair - mainly because it doesn't shrink and so doesn't stress the repair. (This low on the hull, I wouldn't let any considerations about gelcoat not bonding to epoxy drive the choice of patch material.)

Just my 2cents.

[K.C. Walker]

Hi Red Ron,

Okay, it sounds like you've been there done that. I always worry a little bit that people will not take seriously that they should be wearing a dust mask to do this kind of work and such. But it sounds like you know your way around the block and don't mind getting prickly.

I'm Capt. Overkill when it comes to this kind of repair. You will probably be fine doing the repair the way you have described, at least short-term. I would probably drill a couple of holes through the hull where I knew the crack was all the way through the hull and dripping. Then I would grind that area almost all the way through, giving it a good taper out at the edges. I, like Green Lake, would use epoxy. I would also use either cloth or preferably biaxial stitch mat (1708) to re-laminate instead of just mat. This is for strength in a high stress area like this. It wouldn't take much more time than you already have in it and I think it would be a stronger and longer-term repair. I might use a Dremel type tool to do inside the centerboard trunk but I would go at the outside with a 4 1/2 inch grinder and 36 grit disc. With a larger grinder these small repairs become quite quick. Well, unless you need to make them look cosmetically perfect.

If you do cut an inspection port, I wouldn't be surprised if you found that the fillet was also cracked on the inside joint between the hull and the centerboard trunk. This would be a little trickier to repair through the inspection port, but doable I would think.

My previous boat was a Newport Whitecap. I believe it's the centerboard version of the Newport 18. And, by the way, it had the same cracks as your boat. I got a lot of good sailing hours out of that boat, but I really like sailing the DS.

KC

[Red Ron]

Hi GreenLake
I was getting about 1& ½ gals. After sailing 4 hrs . Finished the repair today job went slow, working over head and on my back. Could only do two layers at a time, to keep it from sagging I’ll post pics. Taking her sailing Fri, and let you know if leak is fixed.
KC I get fiber glass from west marine or auto parts store, never herd of biaxial stitch mat (1708), let me know were I can get some. you are right about the dust mask

[K.C. Walker]

For a repair like this I would just buy some tape. It comes in various widths, but I think four-inch would probably be plenty versatile for repairs. http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/us ... nches+Wide

One good trick for doing repairs like this overhead, which is no fun, is to lay up the patch on a piece of clear plastic sheeting and then tape it up to the hull. That way you can do the patch all in one go which is much stronger than doing it in layers and sanding between coats, especially if you're using polyester. If you use a fairly slow hardener in your epoxy it gives you plenty of time to work.

I highly recommend reading West systems fiberglass repair manual. http://www.westsystem.com/ss/assets/How ... enance.pdf

KC

[Red Ron]

Cracik in hull ground out and repaired w/polyester resin. I'll go sailing tomorrow and find out if it was causing water in the hull or i need to look elsewhere.
Hi KC
I’ll go get the West systems fiberglass repair manual it has a lot of useful information, next time I have a repair, that properly wont be far off, I’ll try the epoxy .
Thanks for the info
Ron
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