[Public-list] Hull drying

[Todd Redhead]

Hello Michael,

I ended up doing a fairly major hull repair this spring on mine.  Here is
what I found. A previous owner had done a hull repair at some point in the
past but it was done quite poorly - they just layed up layers of fiberglass
one on top of another.  They did not grind the gelcoat nor did they properly
remove the antifouling.  This past winter I got some water in the bilge that
froze and started the process of losening the repair.  When I ripped the
repair off - it was from the front leading edge of the keel to about 1/2 way
back, water started dripping out of a couple of chips in the gelcoat.  As I
ground off the gelcoat to prepair for the new patch repair - I found more
and more water oozing out of the fiberglass.  I also drilled a couple of
holes to try to hit pockets of water, but did not find any.  However, the
holes ran like taps.  As ground away the gelcoat I found that some of the
glass was saturated with water, so I continued to grind. After about 3/8 of
an inch I found there was no longer any glass, just resen.  The resen was
cracked like a smashed window.  Of course I had to pick at it (like a scab)
and soon pieces of it were coming off.  All the time water was dripping and
oozing from this area.  After about 1 to 1 1/2 inches of resen I hit the
iron.  However, what I found was that between the iron and the resen was a
layer of sand - clean sand.  This is were the water was coming from.  It was
draining out of the sand.  It drained for about 5 days before I got smart
and shop vac'd out the bilge area which still had some water in it from some
spring rains.  After drying out the bilge it still took about 2 days before
the sand stopped dripping and I was able to dry it well enough with a heat
gun to do the patch repair.  I'm not sure if the sand was put in the bottom
of the hull before the iron was dropped in or if the sand is from 30 yrs of
sand/grit washing into the bilge.  However, the space it fills seems to hold
a lot of water.  

Others may be able to better answer your questions, but that is a
description of what was found in my keel.

Todd
Strathgowan #400

-----Original Message-----
From: public-list-bounces at alberg30.org
[mailto:public-list-bounces at alberg30.org] On Behalf Of Michael Taylor
Sent: Friday, July 15, 2005 1:01 PM
To: public-list at alberg30.org
Subject: [Public-list] Hull drying

Hi all,

We are presently on the hard stand waiting for the keel to dry out.  There
are spots along the bottom of the keel where there is fibreglass damage. 
Addtitionally there are drips coming out of the holes drilled and tapped for
a new rudder shoe.  

I,m concerned about how long the keel is taking to dry.  Ive been waiting a
week and I have to put the boat back in the water before it has properly
dried. 
In the fall I'll get the boat out again and let it stand.

My question is whether others have had this problem. 
What sort of damage might be caused from water trapped in the fibreglass?
How long might it take to dry?

Thanks 

Mick #231






	

	
		
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