Good day!
I found a Mutineer 15 behind a little trading post in rough shape. No
sails or
rigging, a good bit of
hull and
deck damage, missing
hardware, some rough
fiberglass repair by PO, rotted
wood, soaked foam... you get the idea. But she is exactly what I was hoping to find. I accept that getting her into Bristol shape could cost as much (or more than) a well-maintained one. People like to remind me of this. But I find this kind of
work rewarding and engaging and it will be a great way to learn more about
boat restoration, etc. It will also be the
boat my cousins learn to sail on. The
restoration process is happily underway, and the first real snag is the
hull and
deck joint.
TLDR:
This is an early model Mutineer 15 ('74, judging by the ID number). The rub rail was in bad shape, and needed to be removed for other deck and hull glass
repairs. Upon
removal, many of the staples holding the joint were broken, the glass 'lip' is split and fractured everywhere (I submit that at least some of this could have been caused by some clumsiness on my part). There is a disintegrating
gasket between the joint. The joint is not glued, as I read it should have been. Maybe early model Mutts didn't glue? Anyway there are only some rough staples holding the whole thing together. It seems I'll need to remove a lot of the lip, and glass/epoxy over the joint both inside and out. But how does one reinforce the inside behind the seats??
Since joint
work is new to me, I welcome any
advice from those wiser and/or more experienced.
Thanks for reading!
Christopher
PS. Done a lot of
research elsewhere, but just wanted to engage the community for some first-hand
advice.