New Vega owner questions

[seapotato]

Hi all, my wife and I just bought a Vega as our first boat. We are very pleased with her so far but have two concerns which I'd like to put to the board members in the hope of receiving some advice.
The first issue is that i've just noticed in the v berth there are some cracks in the underside of the deck about an inch away from the hull to deck join. They are on both port and starboard sides and the widest one is perhaps 2mm wide. We had a comprehensive survey done where even things such as the replacement of rusty clips is listed, but it makes no mention of these cracks. Should I be worried?
The second issue is that we just put the boat on a mud berth and the boat heels quite a bit to port when dried out. When we came on for the first time after the boat had been moored for about a week there was a large amoun of water underneath the port berth in the main cabin, as well as under the sink area and some also in the port locker. I read in the vega handbook that this may be from a full waterfall overflowing, but I didn't really understand where the offending water would flow out from the system, is there a special overflow pipe somewhere? If it isn't this, then I can't really see how the water got it. Has anyone out there had a similar experience?
Sorry about the long question and thanks for any thoughts!

 

[pjacobs55]

Congratulations on the new boat. I'm sure you've made a good choice, in spite of a few unwelcome surprises!

If the water in the boat is fresh, your water tank may be the culprit ... (I'm assuming you are moored in salt water). It's located under the V berth and is made of plastic. Mine had a crack near the top which I repaired using a heated knife blade to melt it back together.

There's also a "breather/overflow" plastic pipe that runs up to just under the fore deck, close to the filler pipe. This could be another item to suspect, if the end has dropped down or is leaking. Also, check the outlet fittings at the rear of the tank. There are two: one for the head sink and one for the galley sink.

(My reply is based on a Series I boat. I'm not sure what water tank differences there may be on the later Series II and III.)

A question on the cracks: are they in the thinner area near the hull/deck joint, or in a bit, in the cored area which is thicker?Peter
#1331 'Sin Tacha'

 

[stevebirch2002]

Hi

Take some photos of the cracks and email them to me at steve@...

Dont worry about heeling, she will come up each tide. If it is soft mud then she will gradually make her own hole to sit in. Is teh berth a swinging mooring, fore & aft or pontoon? Whereabouts are you?

Need to check the water and see if it is salt or fresh water under the bunk and sink. This will give you an idea where to look. Easiest way is a quick taste test.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Steve B

 

[pjacobs55]

The hatch (round, red) in the water tank may leak when boat is heeled. Mine does despite my effort to replace the O ring found in the groove of the red hatch.Nicholas H. Walsh P.A.
111 Commercial St.
Portland ME 04101
207/772-2191
Fax 207/774-3940

This email is from a law firm and may contain information
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From: Peter
Sent: Sunday, August 15, 2010 4:14 PM
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [AlbinVega] Re: New Vega owner questions
Congratulations on the new boat. I'm sure you've made a good choice, in spite of a few unwelcome surprises!

If the water in the boat is fresh, your water tank may be the culprit ... (I'm assuming you are moored in salt water). It's located under the V berth and is made of plastic. Mine had a crack near the top which I repaired using a heated knife blade to melt it back together.

There's also a "breather/overflow" plastic pipe that runs up to just under the fore deck, close to the filler pipe. This could be another item to suspect, if the end has dropped down or is leaking. Also, check the outlet fittings at the rear of the tank. There are two: one for the head sink and one for the galley sink.

(My reply is based on a Series I boat. I'm not sure what water tank differences there may be on the later Series II and III.)

A question on the cracks: are they in the thinner area near the hull/deck joint, or in a bit, in the cored area which is thicker?

Peter
#1331 'Sin Tacha'

 

[stevebirch2002]

Hi

If at Portishead then not far from me. I can always pop down and have a look if you wanted. Contact me on steve@...

Cheers

Steve Birch Vega "Southern Comfort" V1703

 

[pjacobs55]

It appears from the photos you posted that the cracks are right at the stanchion bases, which are held down by the four bolts shown in the pictures. My guess is that they were caused by heavy leverage on the top of the stanchion posts, causing the the joint between the two deck thicknesses to crack slightly.

What I would do, were they on my boat, is sand the area to clean off any paint, clean out the cracks, and apply some thickened epoxy to fill them, and then keep an eye on them for a while. If they're only in a small area I don't think it's cause for worry.

Peter
#1331 'Sin Tacha'

 

[vegatern]

I agree with Peter that they don't look serious to me. It is common for folks, particularly guests, to grab the stanchions and use them to catch the boat when you bring her alongside the landing, or push the boat in and out of the slip. It puts a lot of strain on the stanchion base and may have caused these cracks. A better practice is to catch the boat with hands at the sheer line.
Craig Tern#1519

 

[pjacobs55]

Good comments, but I wouldn't treat these cracks too lightly w/o some investigation. Does the deck flex in the area of the base when the stanchion is deflected? Are the cracks full thickness, or nearly? Try putting a very bright light at the
cracks and see what it looks like from below, maybe as someone deflects the stanchion. If the glass near the stanchion base is weak it should be treated as a serious problem and repaired.

Also, scrutinize the metal bases themselves, for cracks that may have occurred when the stanchions were stressed.

Nicholas H. Walsh P.A.
111 Commercial St.
Portland ME 04101
207/772-2191
Fax 207/774-3940

This email is from a law firm and may contain information
that is privileged or confidential. If you suspect
you were not intended to receive this email,
please delete it and contact us.

From: vegatern
Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2010 10:16 AM
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [AlbinVega] Re: New Vega owner questions
I agree with Peter that they don't look serious to me. It is common for folks, particularly guests, to grab the stanchions and use them to catch the boat when you bring her alongside the landing, or push the boat in and out of the slip. It puts a lot of strain on the stanchion base and may have caused these cracks. A better practice is to catch the boat with hands at the sheer line.
Craig Tern#1519

 

[dougpol1]

On 08/25/2010 10:27 AM, Nico Walsh wrote:

 

[dougpol1]

On 08/25/2010 12:04 PM, Douglas Pollard wrote:

 

[pjacobs55]

My understanding of the fiberglass resin/epoxy resin issue is:
epoxy resin will bond to a fiberglass structure, but fiberglass resin will not bond to an epoxyed structure.

Peter
#1331 'Sin Tacha'

 

[n6ric]

I agree with Peter on this. All the books say to use epoxy to repair and I have been using it with great success to repair cracks and fill holes on my boat. I use a Dremel tool to clean out the cracks and give me enough depth and width so the epoxy has something to bond to. You mix the epoxy with a filler, like West System 405 Adhesive Filler, to the consistency of peanut butter and fill the cracks.

Ric
s/v Blue Max
#2692

 

[tiempo2010]

Peter
Pretty much and polyester will not bond well to itself either unless it is
green. Epoxy has much better adhesion for secondary bonding. Doesn't smell
as bad either.

 

[tim_klynn]

I had similar cracks at the stanchions on my boat as well.
It looked to me like the raised lip where the top deck bolts through to the hull is filled with something like vermiculite and fiberglass resin. The mixture is more brittle than the surrounding fiberglass and cracks at the inboard side of the underside of the lip. My cracks did not extend through the gel coat.I pulled the stanchions then I widened the cracks out to remove any loose material, filled the cracks epoxy + milled glass fibers (after roughening it and cleaning it). Next I added several layers of fiberglass cloth embedded in epoxy, fairing out the layers progressively wider as I went to leave a thin edge. After rebedding the stanchions it was good to go. I did all this at the start of last summer and the fix has survived a lot of non sailors pulling hard on the stanchions when boarding, without cracking so far. -Tim