First things first. I took a hose to the boat inside and out. It looked like it had been sitting for a couple years and out here in the desert, a layer of dust is a daily occurrence. Once the boat was washed down, I had a good look around. There are several items I want to attend to but the first structural thing I noticed was a bulge in the rub rail 5 feet back from the bow on the port side. It looked like the boat had rammed a dock or piling. The previous repair was made with a load of silicone in the space between the top of the rub rail and side of the boat. So I removed the entire rub rail from the boat. On further inspection, I found the deck & hull had separated about ¾ inch for about 2 ½ feet along the port side.
It seems that the entire boat was joined with small ¼ inch staples. The same staples were used to fix the rub rail to the deck/hull join. If it weren’t for the expanded foam inside the deck/hull join, I doubt if the deck would have made it this long. All the staples were rusted out and the ones that I couldn’t pull out were simply deteriorated to the point of mere rust spots.
So I decided to make a fiberglass join around the entire boat. The rub rail seemed in reasonable condition but I have yet to clean and recondition it.
So the question now was just how to glass the join. I have read various things about the differences between polyester resin and epoxy. So I hauled my boat over to a fiberglass supplier, “Sticky Stuff”, in Glendale (immediately west of Phoenix) for some answers. I was told that I needed to use polyester resin with fiberglass matt. So I bought some matt, resin, hardener and the rest of the stuff (gloves, brushes, etc.).
I bought some 2 foot long clamps at Home Depot and started to work. I had a major problem getting the matt to turn around the lip at the join. The matt was too thick for me to get right (1 ½ oz). The first attempt I mixed way too much resin and laid out a 4 foot strip of matt. It went so badly, I had to sand all of it off the next day. So I decided to try 8 inch strips of matt at a time. The resin lasted just long enough to manage that length before starting to set up and go to gel. Still a really messy job. But it did work and I am working my way along the join. I lightly sand the previous day’s piece and re-resin while I am doing the next strip.
I really can’t imagine doing the entire boat like this. There has to be an easier way but I am committed to making the entire boat’s deck/hull join secure. I want this boat to stay together in heavy seas. So it goes.
I am considering using a light application of fiberglass Bondo putty to even out the join followed by a wider strip of cloth this time (rather than matt). I will have to wait and see, but that is where I am headed.
It is that time of evening again when the temperature outside has dropped from 115 degrees to just about 100 degrees so I am headed out to do the next strip of matt.
