I just brought home on old Silverline Dolphin Senior 14.5 that is severely waterlogged (weighs about 600lbs). It has been neglected, but I am hoping to restore it and have my first sailing adventure (never sailed before). I have water running to and out the aft and I put an attic fan into a porthole that is forward to force air through the hull. I have flow! My question is: does anyone know if this boat has balsa wood in it and; therefore, am I wasting my time? If I loosen and remove the bolts on the rudder plate, will I have a problem or are there nutserts in the transom? I still have to figure out where all of the leaks are but I don't find any holes in the fiberglass. Is there a way to inspect where the daggerboard goes through to check for leaks? I am gonna stop here and go back to being the stupid new guy and hope for a reply. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Mark
Waterlogged
- Thread starter DolphinNewbie
- Start date
Welcome to the forum, Mark! Sounds like a project ! Now that you have a flow of air through the spaces under the liner, try to get a little more positive pressure by closing the exit hole then mix up some soapy water and spray it around every hull penetration and suspect seam (centerboard trunk, hull-to-deck joint, etc); look for bubbles.. Mark every one and fix while you are waiting for the thing to dry out. I am not familiar with that boat so I don't know construction details.. 'd suspect that the rudder bolts are thru the transom? The transom may be completely saturated and needs replacement too.. Best to start with a complete inspection of the boat.. Folks here can contribute better if we can see pictures of the suspected stuff.
Again, Welcome.
Again, Welcome.
There are a lot of us on here who have restored many boats. I'm currently at 7. So you are likely to get some good advice but...pictures will help us make better guesses when trying to help you figure out the best solutions.
For example, a pic of your center board trunk might allow us to suggest a way to inspect for leaks. Similar idea for the transom bolt question.
For example, a pic of your center board trunk might allow us to suggest a way to inspect for leaks. Similar idea for the transom bolt question.
My last boat had balsa that turned to mush. In fact, I was surprised whenever I drilled and found dry balsa in the deck. I repaired and sealed off key areas in the deck such as under the mast. It kept the boat alive while avoiding major surgery. I really pushed that boat through some heavy weather. The rudder gudeon (bracket) tore in a storm. That's 1/4" stainless! When I cranked down on the bolt for the new part water came out of the transom. The wood was saturated but it held up better than the metal bracket. I finished out the season by using some large backing plates. It's hard to evaluate a project over the internet but I just wanted to say that this isn't necessarily a death sentence. Every situation will be different
More pictures are needed. Full cockpit, mid deck, foredeck and and bottom hull around dagger board please.
@rgranger Your thoughts once additional pictures are posted?
crazy dave
@rgranger Your thoughts once additional pictures are posted?
crazy dave
Since there is no access from the front side, I suspect the rudder plate is held on by lag bolts into plywood encased I the transom. Alternately, there could be a plate embedded in the fiberglass that has threaded holes.
@kloudie1 The bolts feel like a UNC shoulder bolt (soft metal or aluminum). I'm going to follow your hunch on the threaded nutsert in the transom and just back one out. My question for anyone: is some kind of threadlocker (Blue, Red, Marine) or caulk used to make those penetrations water tight? I don't see a gasket or caulk behind the rudder plate.
Whether you can salvage her, or another with a bit fewer problems, that really is the perfect starter size boat. Lots of fun to run into docks, or aground, and even turn her over, weather and water temperature permitting. And certainly much cheaper to repair than a larger boat.
I've done the rudder bracket repair on numerous Sunfish. Easy repair after you get access to the back of the bracket.
One of the two of the best ways to get there are using one of these:
WEST MARINE 8" Screw-in Deck Plate or the six inch one. The size of the hole does not correspond to the size of the deck plate, and not all deck plates use the same size holes for a given size. Something to be cognizant of prior to cutting the hole.
Buy or rent, borrow, or steal a hole saw to make the hole. Alternatively, a router can make a pretty good cut.
After you cut the hole a $20 bathroom fan and a length of exhaust hose can be used to move air way up into the unreachable caverns and voids within the hull.
Save the piece of deck that comes out you can use it to do the second method which is to cut the hole and fiberglass the cut out portion of deck back. We did not do that often as the boats were used for sailing lessons and far from pristine so not worth the time and effort generally. Occasionally the fiberglass guy we used would be there working on a boat in the marina and he would glass one back in while he was waiting between coats or for his project to cure. He could do the whole deck repair in about a half hour, and it would be difficult to even find where the repair had been made.
So, save the cut out section even if you do the deck plate you may want to glass it in later.
Another tip I've been given if you are still trying to get water out of the hull is to drape the boat in black plastic and set it out in the sun. Keep a gap between the plastic and the hull as the heat can cause the finish of the hull and fiberglass to separate and bubble up. This happened on a couple of boats we had "For Sale" signs taped to the hull. Cut holes around any access ports to the interior stick the vent hose with a bathroom fan as far as you can into the hull and circulate air.
One of the two of the best ways to get there are using one of these:
WEST MARINE 8" Screw-in Deck Plate or the six inch one. The size of the hole does not correspond to the size of the deck plate, and not all deck plates use the same size holes for a given size. Something to be cognizant of prior to cutting the hole.
Buy or rent, borrow, or steal a hole saw to make the hole. Alternatively, a router can make a pretty good cut.
After you cut the hole a $20 bathroom fan and a length of exhaust hose can be used to move air way up into the unreachable caverns and voids within the hull.
Save the piece of deck that comes out you can use it to do the second method which is to cut the hole and fiberglass the cut out portion of deck back. We did not do that often as the boats were used for sailing lessons and far from pristine so not worth the time and effort generally. Occasionally the fiberglass guy we used would be there working on a boat in the marina and he would glass one back in while he was waiting between coats or for his project to cure. He could do the whole deck repair in about a half hour, and it would be difficult to even find where the repair had been made.
So, save the cut out section even if you do the deck plate you may want to glass it in later.
Another tip I've been given if you are still trying to get water out of the hull is to drape the boat in black plastic and set it out in the sun. Keep a gap between the plastic and the hull as the heat can cause the finish of the hull and fiberglass to separate and bubble up. This happened on a couple of boats we had "For Sale" signs taped to the hull. Cut holes around any access ports to the interior stick the vent hose with a bathroom fan as far as you can into the hull and circulate air.
For above water fittings I'd use BedIT. For below, Id use 3M 4000UV or 4200. Loktite has a version of 4200 that is WAY cheaper and has proven itself in the marine environment. You'll find that after you install your first access port, you'll end up doing more to get to hardware inside the hull.
Cool little boat by the way
Cool little boat by the way
I pulled the rudder plate and rudder bracket and cleaned up. Gonna replace the cotter pin with a hair pin and add nylon washers where I see wear on the rudder plate. Decided I need to make a redundancy in case I drop a bushing or hair pin in the water.
