Through hull removal & glass in.

[sinnettc]

Thought I'd document the process of removing my through hulls and filling in the holes. Last summer, while we were on our cruise to the San Juan Islands, we discovered that we had a leak around the paddle wheel for the old Standard Horizon speed/depth meter. I managed to slow it down from a couple gallons a day to a couple cups a day with some MarineTex, but I obviously can't put the boat in the lake for the summer with a leaky hull.

Today I managed to remove the paddle wheel, which is where the leak during our San Juan Islands trip came from. Once I got it out I could see that there was an area where the 5200 had a bubble, which is probably where the leak came from. There was also still some water between the gaskets of the paddle wheel unit when I pulled it out of the fitting. Kind of surprised at that, but just another reason to go ahead and get rid of the whole thing. No holes below the waterline is a good thing IMO!

The depth sounder head proved a bit more stubborn than the paddle wheel so I left it alone. I'll grind away a bit of the epoxy first, then knock it out. Didn't feel like messing with it today as I need to remove the bottom paint before I start grinding.

I was somewhat surprised to discover that the through hull pads are solid glass layup (13/16"), not glassed in marine plywood. That will make things a bit more interesting since I'll have to fill the holes instead of cutting/grinding out the plywood and working directly on the hull.

 

[shnool]

Chris, Catalina started to use coremat instead of plywood for many of their buildups... it's lighter, and doesn't rot. If you can grind out on both sides, feathering out 1-2 times the diameter, you might be able to glass inside, and coremat between, then glass outside. Then epoxy, fill, fair, barrier coat, blah blah blah.

Just a thought, I've not done any glasswork yet, but it's in my future as well.

 

[Richard9547]

If one can taper around the hole both inside and outside, there is no need for fussing with coremat.
A solid glass plug would be fine.
The ounce or two of weight gain is nothing to worry about.

Even polyester resin will work there.
I always use epoxy for repairs.
But that's just me, I guess.

 

[sinnettc]

Well, that was fun. NOT.

The transducer was quite stubborn, even after I'd ground around the head on the outside. 10 minutes of waling on it with a dead blow hammer and a 2x4 finally convinced it to come loose though. I was a bit surprised to find a chunk of marine ply above the solid glass on that side, but it ground out fine.

Sorry, no photo from the other side, I forgot.

Glass in, foam plugs & wax paper to keep it from sagging. Pretty sure I got a bit carried away with the grinder. Having all that extra glass made it hard to judge where the hull was.

Filled & glassed on the inside too.

Not shown is a layer of West 610 thickened epoxy on the outside, followed by a layer of fairing compound. I had 2 of the West repair kits that come with the microballoons in a little container. I was really annoyed to find that I needed about 1/2 a container more to get it built up enough to have something to sand. Nowhere in town to buy it, either, so I made a road trip to Portland today and picked up a container of the filler. The new stuff was a different color (beige instead of reddish) but looks like it will do the job.

Presuming the weather cooperates I'll sand the patches this week, slap on a barrier coat/primer, remove the tarp, wash the entire boat down (@#$@ shop vac didn't have a filter and blew dust all over the deck) and hopefully be ready to paint the bottom with 3 more coats of vc-17m by the weekend. Clean up on Sunday and launch either Sunday afternoon or Memorial Day.

Probably would have gone easier and quicker if I'd had someone around who'd done it in the past, but as long as the water stays on the outside I guess it will do.

 

[Richard9547]

Looks like you are doing a great job, Chris.

 

[sinnettc]

Took my first pass at sanding. Turns out I had a low spot on both sides of the hull so I used the last of my epoxy and hit it again. Should be ready for a light sanding tomorrow, then barrier coat.

 

[aviatorjames]

That's a lot of work ...but well worth it not to have a leaky yacht!!!

 

[sinnettc]

Done!

Pulled the boat to the house last night and pressure washed the deck/cockpit. Today was spent washing, waxing, and painting the bottom. My tail is dragging.

The barrier coat was supposed to be sanding free, but it turns out it's kind of bumpy. I suppose if I was racing I'd have to sand it down, but I decided it wasn't worth the extra work.

Looks pretty good on the outside. Still need to wax the coachroof & cockpit, and the interior is a disaster. Admiral said she'd take care of the cabin so that will help. Launching tomorrow afternoon, whether it's done or not.

Just for future reference, star bright polish and the vinyl stripes/letters do not get along well. The wax doesn't set up and it's a total pain to get it off.

 

[shnool]

Launching tomorrow afternoon, whether it's done or not.

Finally, you are STARTING to make some sense.

The barrier coat was supposed to be sanding free, but it turns out it's kind of bumpy.

I noticed that the Interprotect 2000e isn't self-leveling, it's pretty much WYSIWIG, so if you use a roller, you'll get a stippled barrier (PITA to sand level cause its hard as a rock). You can roll the first couple coats, cause it can fill in between layers, but the last coat needs to be put on very smoothly (roll and tip works to smooth it though, or even brush it on it's better). I see now why some people opt for a gelcoat bottom. I DO think that the OCD racers are fighting for that .1 knot, are mis-focused if they are more obsessed with the bottom than their own sailing.

 

[tom h Capri 22]

I noticed the transducer you have glued in the bow, is that the Hawk eye depth gauge? If so how do you like it and where did you mount the actual gauge.

 

[sinnettc]

Shnool, I decided after the paint that I can live with the stippling. I've still got 2/3 of the can left so I guess if I don't like it I can redo it next year.

Tom, that's a Lowrance/Eagle transducer. I bought a demo SeaCharter chart plotter when GI Joes went out of business 4 or 5 years ago and that's the transducer that came with it. I got the epoxy from Lowrance. I've got a little transom mount paddle wheel somewhere that I haven't used because I don't want to drill any holes in the transom.