I have javelin with straight crack about 10" in the starboard hull on the left of keel. It was from sitting on it's trailer for years and got full of water. The boat was not sitting on the trailer properly and the rear roller popped thru the hull. I would like any advice on the proper way to join the hull back together and fiberglass over this area. I will also be doing some work on the trailer to get the boat to sit on the trailer better. I live in Maine and will use the boat on a large lake, maybe in the fall if I can get her patched up. Thank you for time and advice.
Javelin need help with fiberglassing
- Thread starter Mark P. LeGassey
- Start date
- Status
Mark,
The first thing you need to do is get her off the trailer and get a few people to help you roll her over. Getting her off the trailer is easier to do with a roller trailer but not impossible with a bunk trailer by tying the stern off to something solid like a tree, and pulling the trailer out from under the boat slowly. You can lay some old tires down on the ground for the hull to lay on. I did this kind of thing to my powerboats for years. You may be able to partially roll it over just far enough to be able to work on the area. Getting her back on the trailer is easy and doesn't require the pulling vehicle. Just back the trailer up to the bow eye, and hook the winch cable to it and crank. The trailer tongue will rise as you start cranking, but as the hull gets on, it will come down and slide all the way on. As for the fiberglass reconstruction work; Go to your public library and borrow Don Casey's book entitled, "Sailboat Hull & Deck Repair". Study it. Use the best Epoxy you can get and wear a good respirator when sanding, as the stuff is highly carcinogenic. Here's Don's site: http://www.boatus.com/howto/howto_lib.htm
Joe
Last edited by a moderator:
Also, west marine sell a how to dvd for epoxy repairs. I found it very helpfull. I found epoxy repair with fiberglass cloth kind of fun. It is pretty forgiving stuff. just play around with it first before you do the actual repair. for example, you could cut a hole in some plywood and repair that first. You will end up loving epoxy for gluing things together
- Status