Busted centerboard

[Mark Hamburger]

Hit a rock last week in my new boat (towed it from Marina Del Rey, CA to Pueblo Reservoir in CO, had it 4 days before I wrecked it I got it home and reviewed the damage, not too bad, just two 1" diameter holes through to the ballast tank and the centerboard is crunched a little at the front. I fiberglassed the holes and pulled the centerboard out (never going to do that again without a hoist...) started working on it and it was de-laminated a foot or so down the length and about 8 inches from the front to back. The big problem is a 3" chunk of the foam core was crunched and I had to cut it out, how do I fix it?

 

[nate]

center board repair

Mark,the foam in the centerboard only forms a mold for the fiberglass exterior. it provides no strength other than preventing the compression of the fiberglass skin. just cut and patch in another piece of foam of near the same density. cut it to size as close as you can and glue in with carpenters glue. if the fit is a little sloppy fill in with one of those cans of spray foam used to insulate houses. then use a piece of coarse sandpaper on a block to carefully mold it to the proper cross section. after that you're ready for the fiberglass work.now if you don't have the fiberglass skin off and easy access to the foam core, then close up the fiberglass, let it cure and drill a few holes into the area where the foam is missing, then use the aerosol foam to fill the area through those holes. be sure there are plenty of holes to allow excess foam to escape or it will make a bubble in the fiberglass, as it expands while it cures. let the foam cure a few hours before you patch the holes with fiberglass. nate jackson