A knowledgeable friend made an unofficial inspection of my boat (a Grampian 26) to point out to me anything needing to be attended to. Overall, he said everything looked pretty good, but said the bulkhead at the bow in the vberth was not attached at all, and that the other two bulkheads should be attached or tabbed to the side walls of the hull..
Anyway, later I went back to the boat to take some video, and while I had my head stuck in the bow to examine what he was talking about, I noticed light shining through the fiberglass around the deck hull joint, and it doesn't look right to me at all.. however, this is my first boat, and I'm not very knowledgeable about such things.
The first minute shows the unattached panel, and after that the light shining through the hull is shown:
I posted this on the Grampian owners Yahoo Groups and got two replies: "That's normal. I have yet to see a G-26 where you couldn't see the light through that area you refer to.. ..All I had on mine was a bulkhead with a cutout opening in the centre. It wasn't fastened along the sides so it allowed a bit of hull flex when pounding through 4 metre waves during a race."
And another reply saying: "Fibre glass is translucent and gelcoat and paint can light through too... ..Your boat made it this far with the bulk head as it is so unless you plan to do some sailing a novice should never do like sail into a hurricane or cross the bay of Biscayne it might not need make the top of your list."
Although they tend to indicate that neither the light shining through, nor the unattached bulkhead shown in this video is a problem - I can't help but have my doubts, so I'm here asking for a second opinion.
Any advice or comments appreciated
Anyway, later I went back to the boat to take some video, and while I had my head stuck in the bow to examine what he was talking about, I noticed light shining through the fiberglass around the deck hull joint, and it doesn't look right to me at all.. however, this is my first boat, and I'm not very knowledgeable about such things.
The first minute shows the unattached panel, and after that the light shining through the hull is shown:
I posted this on the Grampian owners Yahoo Groups and got two replies: "That's normal. I have yet to see a G-26 where you couldn't see the light through that area you refer to.. ..All I had on mine was a bulkhead with a cutout opening in the centre. It wasn't fastened along the sides so it allowed a bit of hull flex when pounding through 4 metre waves during a race."
And another reply saying: "Fibre glass is translucent and gelcoat and paint can light through too... ..Your boat made it this far with the bulk head as it is so unless you plan to do some sailing a novice should never do like sail into a hurricane or cross the bay of Biscayne it might not need make the top of your list."
Although they tend to indicate that neither the light shining through, nor the unattached bulkhead shown in this video is a problem - I can't help but have my doubts, so I'm here asking for a second opinion.
Any advice or comments appreciated