Sunday, June 10, 2012

The Hull


Once I had the keel removed, I placed the hull back on the trailer, keel side up, so I could inspect and refurbish the hull. The first thing I wanted to do was strengthen the join between the hull and the keel trunk so I laid Glass Cloth along both sides of the keel trunk. The first attempt was to place a strip of Glass Matt in between the Cloth in a fold. That proved to be a real pain to get it to lay the way I wanted as the Cloth would not fold well and kept opening up. The second attempt was done by laying one piece of Cloth followed by a strip of Matt and another layer of Cloth. That seemed to work better but was not the finished seam that I really wanted. Oh well, I have moved on. I now only need to sand the second side as it has an unfinished Cloth edge up in the trunk. I am not sure I needed to do that but as I was already there and considering the state of the hull in all other aspects, I figured Why Not?

Secondly, what I found was not in anything I had read about. At the point where the support brackets for the mast support beam connected to the hull and at the spots where the support brackets for the keel truck sat on the hull, the hull had given way and bowed outward (like a bubble).  In the case of the mast support beam brackets, I just left them alone but on the bottom of the hull near the centerboard keel trunk, it looked like 4 speed bumps in the hull perpendicular to the length of the hull. I could not sand the high points down as that would have gone through the hull so I attempted to reduce the height on these bumps by ramping up from both sides. I did this on one (as it was near 3/8s of an inch) with layers of Glass Mat in a series of ever shorter layers. Then I finished off with layers of fiberglass bondo. The result was not a racing hull but clearly, an improvement. 

After accomplishing this effect to my satisfaction (when it comes to sanding, I am easily satisfied seeing no need to spend more effort than absolutely necessary), I was ready to paint, or so I thought. But when I inspected the bow, I found that it had been rammed into something (a dock?) and had 2 areas, one 7  inches long and one 4 inches long that had been shattered, filled from the inside with silicone, patched on the outside with bondo and glassed over with one layer of cloth. After sanding away the layer of cloth, the bondo cracked and literally fell out. So I ground down the area with my DeWalt grinder and a 60 grit sanding wheel. Then I applied one layer of cloth & West Marine Epoxy resin to the outside to give me something to work on. I could not now get to the inside without removing the bulkhead I had so substantially built previously.  Then I began to build up the bow with layers of Glass Matt. After getting about ½ the fill I wanted, I laid another piece of Glass Cloth. Again, more layers of Matt and finally 2 more layers of Cloth. I am just about there now and am going to lay a couple more layers of Matt and follow with one more layer of Cloth. The bow is now as hard as a rock and should withstand an amateur docking (of which I am capable). I have even considered putting a strip of oak on the bow but that is just too much effort to look pretty. I hope to finish that today and go over the hull one more time with 100 grit just to smooth it out that little bit more. I am not interested in using 200, then 400, and then wet sanding as I am not building a racing machine.   
As far as paint goes, I have purchased from West Marine, “InterLux Brightside” topside (meaning deck or hull above the waterline) Hatteras white. I plan to roll this on by hand. As this boat will only sail for a few hours per trip (and likely in inland lake waters), be washed off and trailer kept in the driveway, I see no need to use true bottom paint. I can’t find much reading material about painting boats even in all the small boat building articles available, at least none I can understand and apply to my situation. Most all send time on the prep work which the effect depends on the amount of time you put in (refer to my previous statement that 60 – 100 grit is good enough for me). I used this paint once before on my Laguna 18 because someone ran into me on the freeway (another story) and I absolutely loved the color. I think this paint will give the boat a softer “New England Classic” feel about it. Well here are the pics so far. I will add to this post with more pics as I finish off the hull. I just wanted to get this post started with pics up to now.

                                                        
                                                         Finally !!!    A painted Hull !!!    

                                                                
 I want to thank the guys for helping me flip the boat back over so I can now finish off the inside.
Mike Parker, Scotty Baker, Barry Brooks & my neighbor Gary. Thanks guys !