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Neptune's Gear · 29-04-2016, 00:24

Great job!

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**neilpride** · 29-04-2016, 02:26

Amazing job!!

hope this thread open the eyes to those posters who still believe that a grid fin keel repair is just easy, without mention those plastic production cheap boats with masive grid liners glued to the inner hull, my 2 cents the Waquiez its going to be stronger in the keel area and trouble free for many years, thanks to Minaret and the care and detail in that job.. Congratulations...

**HappyMdRSailor** · 29-04-2016, 06:47

It's absolutely insane to see how much useless layup was slapped over...

I was going to call it "bad prep"

But it's really "NON PREP"

Insane... there... I said it again...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Damn! That minaret is an artist!

Thanks again for sharing the pics, guys.

Ann

INDEED Ann !!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by neilpride

Amazing job!!

hope this thread open the eyes to those posters who still believe that a grid fin keel repair is just easy, without mention those plastic production cheap boats with massive grid liners glued to the inner hull, my 2 cents the Wauquiez its going to be stronger in the keel area and trouble free for many years, thanks to Minaret and the care and detail in that job.. Congratulations...

Me too Neil !

What a fantastic display of what can go wrong, and the best procedure to right the ship... Truly awesome work...

**JPA Cate** · 29-04-2016, 15:53

I am in awe of minaret's depth of knowledge and skill.

....And, I wonder what other problems he'd anticipate from Hooked's Wauquiez, that have not yet required repair. In other words, what early warning signs should Hooked be looking for, and where?

Ann

malbert73 · 30-04-2016, 05:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by minaret

Interior 14 ply laminate in place. Enough for now, hope everyone enjoys, gotta go hang with the kids!

How do you get what seem like such low resin/cloth ratios by hand? Lots of squeeging? It looks so impressively lean and strong...

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**HappyMdRSailor** · 30-04-2016, 05:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

I am in awe of minaret's depth of knowledge and skill.

....And, I wonder what other problems he'd anticipate from Hooked's Wauquiez, that have not yet required repair. In other words, what early warning signs should Hooked be looking for, and where?

Ann

Ann... I got similar skillz... I only share the "amateur getting lost" panic questions to test minaret...

All this started with a hand hitting a sharp edged crack in a blind location... I suggest that improper layup was limited to this location due to the "one man working space" I think Bruno was just having a crap day like a redneck song, and simply didn't care about the result... Only coming to light after a very hard worked boat, and probably a decent keel strike... Beyond destructive inspection of stringer bonding layup in a few places, I guess it's the ol' eyeball??? Or tappity tappity with the hammeroo..

Quote:

Originally Posted by malbert73

How do you get what seem like such low resin/cloth ratios by hand? Lots of squeeging? It looks so impressively lean and strong...
Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

Nice looking huh... A definite art to the spreader/squeegee technique... It's SO EASY to overwork, under/over ratio etc... Superb example on these multiple compound surfaces... (pst... I'll bet he bagged it...

)

**minaret** · 30-04-2016, 10:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

I am in awe of minaret's depth of knowledge and skill.

....And, I wonder what other problems he'd anticipate from Hooked's Wauquiez, that have not yet required repair. In other words, what early warning signs should Hooked be looking for, and where?

Ann

Same as any boat of this vintage. I'm just here to fix the keel, if I start picking the whole boat apart Hooked will never get to go sailing! I'm the worst, I'd point out every infinitesimal flaw till the poor guy went mad. He's got enough on his plate, let's stick to the big picture here!

**minaret** · 30-04-2016, 10:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by malbert73

How do you get what seem like such low resin/cloth ratios by hand? Lots of squeeging? It looks so impressively lean and strong...

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It's all in the wrist!

No, honestly, there are ways. Method #1 is that if you want a 40/60 resin/fiber ratio, you start by patterning and cutting the glass for your layup. Then you weigh it on a scale. Then you weigh out your intended volume of resin. If you start with 50/50 by weight and squeegee thoroughly, you'll get to 60/40. This is much harder to do than it is to write. A few pointers include: stick to resin systems designed for laminating, with the correct viscosity. I recommend Silvertip for hand laminating, Proset for vacuum bagging or very high end hand lams. Wet out all pieces from the bottom as much as possible, ie apply each ply to the wet layup dry and roll the crap out of it for several minutes so it soaks up all possible excess resin from beneath before applying more from the top. Done right, this will almost eliminate squeegeeing. And, use a rubber squeegee instead of a cheap plastic spreader. I buy industrial rubber squeegee by the roll and cut it to desired length. There are many advantages to this, such as the ability to conform to compound curves. Also, if not vacuum bagging, stay right away from stitch matt products. It's just a resin sponge which doesn't add strength to the layup, only guarantees wasted material and a rich laminate. Stick with lighter tighter weaves with no stitch matt and use more plies.

**minaret** · 30-04-2016, 11:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by HappyMdRSailor

Ann... I got similar skillz... I only share the "amateur getting lost" panic questions to test minaret...

All this started with a hand hitting a sharp edged crack in a blind location... I suggest that improper layup was limited to this location due to the "one man working space" I think Bruno was just having a crap day like a redneck song, and simply didn't care about the result... Only coming to light after a very hard worked boat, and probably a decent keel strike... Beyond destructive inspection of stringer bonding layup in a few places, I guess it's the ol' eyeball??? Or tappity tappity with the hammeroo..

Nice looking huh... A definite art to the spreader/squeegee technique... It's SO EASY to overwork, under/over ratio etc... Superb example on these multiple compound surfaces... (pst... I'll bet he bagged it...

)

Having worked in more than one production setting myself before, I find it strange. IME, gel is not usually applied to the interior of the hull until after all structural members have been installed and laminated in place, including grid liners, stringers, frames, bulkheads, and the deck. For exactly this reason. In this case, it looks like they gelcoated the interior of the hull before doing any of this, and then did an extremely poor job of prep for bonding, or none at all. Makes no sense to me. I'll post you a pic of the shiny brown gel under the grid liner. Full length.

And no, I didn't bag it.

**minaret** · 30-04-2016, 11:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by malbert73

How do you get what seem like such low resin/cloth ratios by hand? Lots of squeeging? It looks so impressively lean and strong...

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And, lest I forget, the poor man's vacuum bag:

Finish with more than one peel ply, and let it wet out from beneath. Two peel plies will suck an amazing amount of resin out of your layup. Then it comes off with the peel ply.

In this case, these interior layups are not peel plied at all, as they will not require fairing. And I am past needing such techniques for leanness.

**minaret** · 30-04-2016, 11:40

Aft keel sump all glassed up.

Hooked · 30-04-2016, 13:27

I just bought 20 gallons of brown gel coat! Help me put that on, minaret? 😂😁😀
Maybe I can find Bruno....
I'm leaving that stuff uncovered I think. Leave it as a work of art. One does not paint over something like this.

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Terra Nova · 30-04-2016, 13:45

BTW for years I raced on a Centurion 42, Airstream, and think it is a great sailing boat. Surely yours is a keeper now that you've corrected the structural issues.