bilge floor board cover floating in water!

[sdstef]

I launched last Sunday and returned to the boat last night. Found the bilge overflowing and half inch of water on the floor This is my third season owning this boat and she has never leaked a drop. I have determined the water is entering through cracks at and near the centerboard trunk. After I removed all the water and dried it with towels, I found the po had applied some black caulk of some kind over the cracks and I never saw it before. I measured the leak at two quarts per hour. The cracks are in the area where the compression post hits the centerboard trunk. Question is what caused them. I no that there are a lot of forces apple at that point, but it is not under that point but down on the bottom above the keel. Second how can I repair them. I pulled her back out and put her on the trailer. The glass is very rough in that area. I was thinking about classing over the cracks, but what prep work is necessary? i have no experience with that kinda of work. Any ideas or suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[centerline]

a couple of things that could cause that, other than just a bad layup.... someone grounding hard, or mooring in a shallow moorage and letting the keel repeatedly hit the bottom during wave action..
or over tensioning of the rigging.

the only way to repair it is to do a full on repair with fiberglass.... and not just a skin over the damaged area, cuz it wont last long and you will be back in the same situation.

I would NOT use epoxy because if you do it properly it wont matter what the filler material is, but epoxy will take many days to complete where with fiberglass you can complete the entire repair in a few hours, providing you pre-plan your moves.

it must be ground out, feathered back quite a ways and then refilled in layers til its built back up... the technique used is critical for strength in that area, so do a search for fiberglass structural fill repair.

the repair is easy... very easy as its in an area with a thicker build up (or it should be thicker), so its easy to work up and finish... if you build it up too much its easy to grind down, and it all goes fast.
as with any thing that you may ever do, the proper prep work is the most important step to success.