[Rhodes22-list] Bilge Water, Bob Mellor, David Culp

[Tootle]

Bob,

Another ingredient to the ultimate success of your rebuilding work is using
a sealing coat of epoxy over all your work and before your bottom or other
paint.  The most available is Interlux Interprotect 2000E.  This is a two
part system that seals older fiberglass that has become porous.  See
technical info at :  http://www.yachtpaint.com/usa/

Another source of a marine two part system at less costs is:
http://www.bluewatermarinepaint.com/  
Keeping in mind that at this company, sealer and primer are two completely
different products.  Sealer is used on old fiberglass boats to penetrate
into the glass and repair materials.  Primer is probably the same product as
Interlux 2000 since this company’s formula and plant originated the product
that was sold to Interlux.

When looking at literature on the subject, remember that Don Casey is the
current media writer.   Allan H. Vaitses is the how to guru.  See his book,
The Fiberglass Boat Repair Manual.  Another older authority is Ken Hankinson
whose books are available thru Glen-L Marine:  http://www.glen-l.com/

And above all, keep in mind Lou Rosenberg our current resident old Rhodes
repair guru.
         
Ed K
Greenville, SC, USA
Addendum:
Summer sailing destination:”By the way, we made Newfoundland in good time
aboard the Swan, and spent some enjoyable days cruising the island's rugged
south coast. It's a remarkable part of the world, made more interesting
because the small towns that dot the coast have no access by road. Weekly
ferry service is their only link to the outside world. The high-sided fjords
and windswept bluffs of this region make for some compelling scenery, but
you only want to be out here if your sail inventory is in good order. “
quoted from Brian Hannock’s article on:  
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-maintenance-articles/19739-headsail-reefing-basics.html




David Culp wrote:
> 
> Thanks for the background information Stan:
> 
> What you say makes perfect sense and I will put water back in the bilge if
> it becomes necessary to locate the leak again.  In the meantime, further
> information will shed more light and perhaps help others in the future.
> 
> First, this boat was in the water for 2 years without being pulled by the
> previous owner.  Before purchase, a professional, underwater survey was
> done
> in an attempt to assess the condition of the bottom hull.  The report
> found
> that the hull was in good condition for the most part with the existence
> of
> 5 small blisters.  After purchase, I had the bottom inspected again and
> repainted of course.  The inspection revealed 5 small blisters and in
> addition, 20 very tiny ones.   All were easily ground out and repaired. 
> The
> shop personnel told me that this was absolutely nothing to worry about and
> things were generally in good shape. However, they did point out that the
> seal area on the port side of the trunk where it appeared that some
> blistering had taken place was a concern and they attempted to do
> something
> about it.  In other words, a lot of grinding was done in the area of the
> trunk seal and it was resealed.  At least, we thought we got it.  Maybe we
> didn't.
> 
> After finding water flowing into the bilge, I pulled the boat and
> yesterday
> was able to get underneath and do a thorough inspection of the suspect
> area.  I have found in that same area on the bottom of the hull that looks
> absolutely normal by the way, that when you run your fingers across it, it
> feels just like wallpaper that has come loose from a wall.   The area is
> not
> right up against the trunk, but if memory serves me, it is this same area
> of
> concern in the seal area.
> 
> Perhaps I am naive, but I am not overly concerned about this.   As Stan
> says, I believe some " dental work" is all that is necessary to fix this.
> For whatever reason, I have some de-lamination in the seal area and it
> will
> have to be repaired.   I'll make sure that we take a very close look at
> the
> whole trunk seal area to make sure it's not happening in other areas.
> 
> The lessons for me from this reinforce what I have always thought:
> 
> Periodically inspect the bilge for water.  I look in there after every
> sail.  Stan made it easy to do and I was on top of this problem right
> away.
> 
> No matter how wonderful you think your bottom job is, the boat should be
> pulled at least once a year, the hull cleaned and inspected even if you
> just
> do it yourself.  Again, Stan has made taking the boat in and out of the
> water easy so there is no excuse not to. I found this problem by just
> running my hands over the hull.  Tapping around with a blunt object
> looking
> for dead spots is effective also, I'm told.  I would also take this
> opportunity to lower the mast and examine the shrouds, stays and the other
> structural hardware to insure its integrity.
> 
> Finally, I have found that when my sailboat is in the water, I am only
> interested in one thing-sailing!  When it's on the trailer, then I can
> discipline myself to look around and fix the little things. I will be
> doing
> this while the boat is out this time.  I am also going to pull the sails
> off
> and send them to Sail Care to be refurbished.
> 
> So looking at the silver-lining, at least I got a good summer out of it
> and
> won't miss much with the boat out of water for the winter.  It needed to
> come out anyway so the sails could go to Sail Care.
> 
> Stan, I would love to buy a new boat from you.  Unfortunately, my budget
> doesn't allow it at present.  However, how are you coming with the
> "racing"
> version?  I love my boat as it is, but I have to admit it would be fun to
> have it set up more like a racer.  I took a bunch of stuff out of the boat
> to expose the trunk including some wood structure to trouble-shoot this
> problem.  This reduced the weight and then we sailed it over to the ramp
> to
> take it out.   Wow, this is potentially a very fast boat!  I could really
> tell the difference even by just the small amount of weight that I had
> taken
> out.  I can only imagine how much fun it would be if you really stripped
> it
> down.
> 
> Thanks to Stan and everyone and I will let the list know what the final
> verdict is when we open it up.
> 
> David
> 
> 
> Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2006 07:47:05 -0500
> From: "stan" <stan at rhodes22.com>
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] RE: Bilge Water
> To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Message-ID: <005b01c71610$11189520$f76cf4cd at rhodes>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
>        reply-type=response
> 
> David,
> 
> You cannot determine a leak by seeing where water is coming from inside
> the
> boat.  A mistake many make - forget it.   The few exceptions are: any
> water
> oozing out around the cb trunk/cap neoprene gasket or around any thru hull
> fittings.
> 
> Leaks through the fiberglass hull are extremely rare.
> The only ones I have ever seen are where someone had inadvertently drilled
> a
> hull through the glass.
> 
> In older boats (ones where we had the hulls built by contractors) we have
> found some faults in the sealing of the centerboard trunk (a separate
> molded
> entity) into the bottom of the keel (which is part of the fiberglass hull
> lay-up).   The positive way to determine if this is the source of a leak
> is
> to put water into the boat and see if any water leaves the boat at this
> joint seam around the bottom of the cb slot in the keel. If this is the
> cause of a leak, where water actually leaves the hull (not where it runs
> along the hull and finally drops off) is the fault area.  If this is the
> problem location, a dentist can fix it.  Drill out the problem area and
> fill
> it with an epoxy such as Marine Tex or others.   A water test by putting
> water back inside the boat will show whether the epoxy filling has stopped
> that particular leak area.
> 
> As far as we know, none of the boats that have had their cb trunks
> installed
> at our plant have ever leaked, not that we are suggesting you buy a new
> one
> of course....
> 
> You can call me if you want to go over this.
> 
> stan/gbi.
> __________________________________________________
> Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
> 
> 

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