Gulf Coast 18 Fiberglass Repair and Other Refitt Tasks

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by M.B. Naegle

I thought I had uploaded these already, but here's some 'demo' progress on the transom.

In the second shot, along the bottom of where the transom came out... is that rotten core in the hull? Is the hull cored, or solid fg?

[M.B. Naegle]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

In the second shot, along the bottom of where the transom came out... is that rotten core in the hull? Is the hull cored, or solid fg?

I don't think so. The bottom is a thick sheet of glass and I assume the ribs have wood inside, but they don't connect to the transom and they seem solid with no cracks or delamination. The rot seems to have only been in the transom and the only damage to the bottom of the hull (related to the transom) was where the inner skin ripped off of the corner.

[M.B. Naegle]

The transom is all gone now. It ended up being rotten throughout (big surprise, I know) with the bottom 6" being nothing but dirt. On the bright side, that makes it easy to clean out of the corners.

The back of the cockpit and the top seam is ground clean, and I just have some grinding to do on the Inside of the hull corner to be ready for new glass. The back of the cockpit had lots and lots of body filler type resin reinforcing between the two surfaces and there was even a colony of some kind of ants living in there.

Even without the transom, things are still fairly solid, so I'm not going to worry too much about temporary bracing. A lot of that is in the corner, so I'm not going to taper it back just yet.. My plan is to cut out and dry fit the new transom, glass it all around and get it sealed in place with the inside seam glassed, then when it's dry I'll taper the corner back and start building up the whole surface. There's between 1" and 2" of the corner remaining, so part of the new glass will need to wrap around. One odd thing about the old transom is that the wood didn't go clear to the corner, but had a 1/4" to 3/8" gap in places, so there's some room to improve on the new one so there's a cleaner inside corner with less pockets for dirt and water to build up in.

BUT, before that happens, there are a couple small hole in the bottom to patch while there's easy access, and unfortunately after washing all the junk out of the bottom (after pictures were taken) I did find some holes in the back of a couple stringers, they still feal solid, so I plan to start drilling holes until I find clean dry wood and decide how to best fix them. The stringer on the far port side is solid and looks like it was replaced in the past.

[M.B. Naegle]

One other thing I'm thinking about with the "access" issues. In addition to adding bigger holes in the gainwales and covering them with wood panels, I'm thinking about adding an access hatch to the bottom of the cockpit tub right up against the transom, this would aid in sealing the transom seam, bolting the rudder hinge in, and help in retrieving anything that falls into the bottom of the boat, as there's no way to do that now.

If I do that, I'll glass up the current round hole in the side of the cockpit tub which only allows access to the port side, and won't be necessary with the gainwale panel. When it was added, they punched out one cube of floatation foam and left it rattling around in the bilge, so I'll glue it back in place with that hole sealed.

[Spot]

Originally Posted by M.B. Naegle

One other thing I'm thinking about with the "access" issues. In addition to adding bigger holes in the gainwales and covering them with wood panels, I'm thinking about adding an access hatch to the bottom of the cockpit tub right up against the transom, this would aid in sealing the transom seam, bolting the rudder hinge in, and help in retrieving anything that falls into the bottom of the boat, as there's no way to do that now.

If I do that, I'll glass up the current round hole in the side of the cockpit tub which only allows access to the port side, and won't be necessary with the gainwale panel. When it was added, they punched out one cube of floatation foam and left it rattling around in the bilge, so I'll glue it back in place with that hole sealed.

I think an access bottom center of cockpit tub transom or cockpit sole would be a great idea. Is your foam polystyrene or polyurethane?

[Rumrace]

I’m getting excited now. I believe she will ride the waves again. Nice progress.
Toss old foam away. Seems they used carved blocks not blown in. Supports the cockpit weight and hull flex I imagine.
Round access holes are a marine norm. The big ones are oval. That said you can buy they collar and panel. The round are 1/4 turn and the ovals usually have a keyed or non keyed latch. I’ve 3D printed som fist sized ones and the are available 3D data to print them on several sites.
If foam is encapsulated in fibreglass it but a lot of cheap boats on the market. It was to replace balsa. Balsa is cubes glued on Matt
Foam and plywood keep the two glass surfaces separated. This lack of connection leads to delamination especially as the only water proof material flexes and cracks the gel coat.
I’d cut new block to connect or support the cockpit from side and bottom of the hull.
It’s a solid hand laid hull I can see in your photos.

[M.B. Naegle]

Originally Posted by Spot

I think an access bottom center of cockpit tub transom or cockpit sole would be a great idea. Is your foam polystyrene or polyurethane?

The cubes are polystyrene (foam cup stuff), while the bow foam is the yellow spray-in stuff. The cubes are semi-loose with just a band of fiberglass holding each one in place.

I'm doing some shopping to see what the largest hatch I can get is, that also doesn't cut too much into the corners so the floor is strong. I'll need a bigger one anyway as the center stringer will essentially divide the opening, so I'll need enough room to fit my arm on either side of the stringer.

[Spot]

Originally Posted by M.B. Naegle

The cubes are polystyrene (foam cup stuff), while the bow foam is the yellow spray-in stuff. The cubes are semi-loose with just a band of fiberglass holding each one in place.

I'm doing some shopping to see what the largest hatch I can get is, that also doesn't cut too much into the corners so the floor is strong. I'll need a bigger one anyway as the center stringer will essentially divide the opening, so I'll need enough room to fit my arm on either side of the stringer.

Two smaller rounds might be easier that a larger round or rectangle.
The 'foam cup' foam will melt with acetone, gasoline, or polyester resin.
You can use 'Gorilla Glue' to attach either foam to itself or each other.

[M.B. Naegle]

Got sidetracked with some other projects, but this is still going on.

I found a hatch for the floor and got it cut into place. Also cut the openings in the sides, and am using a piece of that to fill the old port hole in the side of the cockpit.

I'm about 95% done grinding before I'll start laying glass.

[Spot]

Looking good!

[M.B. Naegle]

Another development, while I know I said I'd wait, is I found a motor for the boat. It was cheap and in decent shape so I grabbed it. It's perfect size for the boat, but it's a "classic" so pretty old, but I like it. It's an old Wizard 5hp (made by Mercuryin the 50's) and it fits well hanging over the transom. The prop clears the hull bottom when it swings up so I won't need a bracket to hang it from, so no extra holes in the transom.

I haven't found any indication of previous names on the boat, but havn't made up my mind what to call it yet. The short list so far is::

Beulah - name of a great grandmother, because that side of my family was a bit well off and into the east-coast yacht scene cira 1900-1950

Salem - name of the ship the Naegle family emigrated to the US on from Bavaria around 1830. Can't remember which port they embarked from, but they got off in New Orleans.

Plecostomus - (as in algae eater fish) probably bad luck, but given all the holes and moss on the boat when I got it, kinda seems like the boat would rather be on the lake/ocean bottom.

[Rumrace]

I had a Pleko which got so big he’s in the Toronto Aquarium now. I had him in a 300 gallon tank with some tiger Oscars.
He was approaching a meter long and he did not like being moved.

If your hobby is restoring neglected glass I’d say you are becoming an artistic expert.
I wish I still had a pair of ports to give you but I did a major purge a few years ago. If there are any parts as big as 10” square you need 3D printed in PC ASA and or TPU just ask. I can print sheet brakes pulleys electrical water bits. I print 4 Benniteau hinges they bought in pot metal which break. I can print some nice ASA access ports. The ones in the chandlers are. ABS which is being phased out for ASA. ASA is amazing strong near PC and it’ s UV resistant where ABS fades quickly.
TPU has various hardness 95,90,85 are most common. Heat chemical fuel resistant so gaskets plumbing exhaust intake. A friend had two pieces of teak trim bark every time some used the coach roof entry. I printed a 2mm tapered strip and tucked it between. Zero noise now and you can’t see the piece. Plastic is cheap and I tend to use the most expensive brands. I print a toy train and instead of making it with typical PLA I print it in ASA white so the train nuts can do their thing. The end result is like cast aluminum.

[Spot]

Originally Posted by M.B. Naegle

Another development, while I know I said I'd wait, is I found a motor for the boat. It was cheap and in decent shape so I grabbed it. It's perfect size for the boat, but it's a "classic" so pretty old, but I like it. It's an old Wizard 5hp (made by Mercuryin the 50's) and it fits well hanging over the transom. The prop clears the hull bottom when it swings up so I won't need a bracket to hang it from, so no extra holes in the transom.

I haven't found any indication of previous names on the boat, but havn't made up my mind what to call it yet. The short list so far is::

Beulah - name of a great grandmother, because that side of my family was a bit well off and into the east-coast yacht scene cira 1900-1950

Salem - name of the ship the Naegle family emigrated to the US on from Bavaria around 1830. Can't remember which port they embarked from, but they got off in New Orleans.

Plecostomus - (as in algae eater fish) probably bad luck, but given all the holes and moss on the boat when I got it, kinda seems like the boat would rather be on the lake/ocean bottom.

I like Salem. How's it coming Miles?

[Rumrace]

M.B. What do you have for sheet brakes or pulleys. I’m in the process of assembling another printer and this beast will print my new PC Carbon Fibre blend. Feels like nylon but UV resistance way ahead. I have designs for single or double brakes as well as simple sheet grips. If you need a set I’ll print you up some late summer. Each brake need two bearings a bolt with acorn nut.
The line snugger you just pull in and find on each side taper to hold the line pull up to relaxes. If you need them you can pay the post. Will need gauge for either
I have the bolt patterns for both.

[M.B. Naegle]

Originally Posted by Spot

I like Salem. How's it coming Miles?

Slowly. The hot weather has been keeping me on indoor projects lately, however I did get the transom cut out. I need to trim it a little and then I can put a layer of glass over it.

While I was cutting it out, I also got the rudder cheeks cut out. I'm looking into different epoxy sealers now to see which will give it the best chance of survival. I want to give the same treatment to the teak hand rails and the covers for the gunwales.