Well that escalated quickly...H22 anchor locker repair

Apr 5, 2018
95
Catalina Capri 25 Jackson
Originally I was going to just cut out the old failed caulking in my anchor locker, and re seal it to keep water out of the v birth. However my mood changed to slight frustration when I depressed the wood and water oozed up from the seams. I cant, after going through all the rest of the work on the boat, leave this with a band aid repair. So i was like, eff it no going back now. And began gutting the entire wood base so I can glass in a new piece of marine ply. Thread for others to reference in the future.

MODS: i don’t know why I put this in midsize boats, probably should be smaller boats thanks
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Likes: BrianRobin
Aug 22, 2011
1,113
MacGregor Venture V224 Cheeseland
That'll learn ya from going poking around.

Glad to see others share my trials and tribulations that we somehow call pleasure....
 
Oct 29, 2016
1,915
Hunter 41 DS Port Huron
Would it be prudent to replace the wood with a plastic of sufficient strength to take the place of the wood?
 
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Likes: jviss
Apr 5, 2018
95
Catalina Capri 25 Jackson
Would it be prudent to replace the wood with a plastic of sufficient strength to take the place of the wood?
Like a sheet of UMHW? If it was plywood before I don't see why a good quality ply would not suffice as a replacement as long as it is properly sealed. Whatever the material is, all it does is sit ontop of the glass surface that makes the forward "ceiling" section of the V birth, and provide load disbursement. There are no structural gussets aside from the fiberglass that integrates into the anchor locker

That'll learn ya from going poking around.

Glad to see others share my trials and tribulations that we somehow call pleasure....
hahahaha, lesson learned, if you poke around, you might find a few extra easter eggs. Is that what it is? Pleasure through pain?
Someone asked me if i liked sailing, I said I hated sailing but i love fixing sailboats!
 
Oct 29, 2016
1,915
Hunter 41 DS Port Huron
Your boat your decision, chances are you will tire of the boat before the replacement plywood will need to be replaced again.
 
Apr 5, 2018
95
Catalina Capri 25 Jackson
Your boat your decision, chances are you will tire of the boat before the replacement plywood will need to be replaced again.
Hopefully you are correct ;) and I’ve moved onto bigger and better boats long before then. I also hope i do this well enough the next owner can enjoy years and years and years of sailing without worry. I’m a fiberglass novice, but I’ll take my time with the prep, fillet and layup to make sure it’s a solid seal
 
Apr 5, 2018
95
Catalina Capri 25 Jackson
With bottom prep mostly done I have moved back to the locker. Slowly making progress cleaning out the tight corners to get it ready for sealant and glass. I’ve located the source of most of the leak issues...the very front of the anchor locker is just a mass of goo, 4200? The wooden base did not cover it, so over time it was able to seep around the edges. My new sheet of ply will go all the way forward and be glassed up and around the drain hole so that this sealant in a glob doesent need to be the sole waterproofing in the locker
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Likes: Whatfiero1
Apr 5, 2018
95
Catalina Capri 25 Jackson
Cutting the new wood floor to lay in. Because the hatch opening is so much smaller than the floor area of the locker this had to be done in multiple pieces. The bottom outside bottom seam was lined with polyeurothane sealant, and the bottoms of the marine ply was coated with epoxy resin and glued to the fiberglass.

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Laying in woven mat. All of the angle wall to wood joints were filleted with epoxy thickened with 406 fumed silica, and the wood was presoaked with a layer of epoxy resin to tackiness before poring on more resin and laying the woven mat


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All in the whole anchor locker had 3 layers of medium thickness woven mat (took 3 38”x3ft packages of mat) and i used about 20fl oz?of resin

This pic is before any sanding or final touch up. Ignore the little leaves, this was probably the most annoying part, it was windy and the wind would just blow these stupid leaves into the open locker and I’d have to pick them out with a small pair of pliers constantly while I was spreading resin.

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