O'Day 19 fixer-upper advice

[Tim11415]

I just bought a 1980 O'day 19. It's been sitting for at least 5 years and while the hull seems good it has some delamination on the gunwhales and some spieder -web like cracking on the deck (particularly near the gunwhales). It also has one crack about 6" long and maybe 1/16th" wide which is near the mast on the top of the cabin. I'm new to this type of repair and wondering what is best to use. Marine epoxy for the little cracks and gunwhales? Is fiberglass work going to be necessary?I also think I'll need some halyards and sheets and wonder if there is any info available for what to get or if I should just measure what's there and replace it. I'd also greatly appreciate any other advice for things to check and expect prior to getting her in the water and if there is anyone from the Bucks County, PA area who knows these boats I'd love to get in touch.

 

[svey]

Investigate before purchasing!?

I would have asked those questions before purchasing any boat.If you can access the cracks from the other side you can do a better repair. I sand back to clean fiberglass, removing any trace of paint, dirt and damage material and put a fiberglass&epoxy patch on the under side of the deck. On deck once the back patch has dried I sand a put an epoxy+microballoon patch that I can sand as smooth as it needs to be.Spiderweb cracks are usually gelcoat that has been applied to thick. You can widen the crack with a utility knife fill and reapply gelcoat matching the color. But that is mostly cosmetic work.Delaminating portion can be filed and glued with epoxy but if you have rotting wood you have to remove everything before encapsulating.

 

[Tim11415]

Thanks svey

Thanks for the advice. I guess you're right about asking before purchase. I did some research about the seriousness of the damage and repairability and I spoke with a surveyer but the cost of the boat was low enough that the surveyer's price would have been prohibitive and the repairs seemed like something I could handle with some good advice like yours.Is there a particular product I should look for as far as the epoxy/fiberglass repair or should I just use epoxy followed by the fiberglass patch? Thanks again.

 

[svey]

Epoxy and fiberglass

You can read the Gougeon brother's technical paper. You don't have to buy their epoxy but they wrote a lot of stuff about boats and epoxy.The only important thing is to get fiberglass that will be wetted by the epoxy. You have to get the fiberglass that will match you need. I wouldn't use fiberglass mat because it does not offer much structural strength woven is better. You might need the structural strengh of biaxial fabric. It depends of the damage.

 

[Dave K, O'day 192 #313]

Crack near mast

You might want to investigate the crack near the mast step carefully. I believe this model may use reinforcment in the cabin top rather than a compression post to pass the load from the mast to the hull. I'm including a web site address where a fellow brings an O'day 19 back from the dead. He is in Texas but perhaps he could help with some of your concerns.http://www.shortypen.com/boats/oday19/