Ariel #24

[Tim Mertinooke]

After prepping the area, I coated it with epoxy and placed the first saturated piece of laminate on. I then applied three more layers. I decided to do four layers at a time as I have not laminated with epoxy before and I don't want it to "cook" which would weaken it. The only problem I had, and it really wasn't a problem, was the layers were trying to slide (very, very slowly) down the vertical repair. I just kept rolling and spreading until it stayed in place on its own (10 minutes.)





In a couple hours I'll laminate four more layers.

[Tim Mertinooke]

In total I applied 16 layers of fiberglass. The reason for the high number of layers is that I decided to use the 3oz. cloth I had on hand. Perhaps not the best choice of cloth and it was time consuming, but the repair integrity will be good. In fact, I am willing to bet that part of the hull is the strongest part of the hull. The area is pretty fair, but once the last few layers kick I'll smear on a thin thickened epoxy coat. This will be allowed to cure overnight, then I'll remove the amine blush, sand, fair with one last thin coat of epoxy, sand smooth, paint, then I'll be done!


16 layers of fiberglass reinforced epoxy.

[Tim Mertinooke]

I coated the repair with a thin layer of thickened epoxy to make it fair. It required only a little which is satisfying. Tomorrow I'll sand, see how fair it is overall. If it needs one more thin coat and sanding it will get it, if not I'll be done!

[Tim Mertinooke]

I removed the amine blush this morning, sanded the area smooth and then put the last sheen of thickened epoxy to fair it perfectly smooth. Once it cures I'll rough the area up a little then slap on the red bottom paint. How long does one need to wait before the repair can be painted?





Look at that!

[frank durant]

NICE work !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CapnK]

Great work and execution, Tim. Yer boat, she's happy.

Re: glassing the rudder - the local shrimp boat captains might have a technique which you should ponder. When their old wooden hulls get glassed, they do it this way, which, since it works good for working vessels of indeterminate age which get not a lot of attention so long as they float, should be a good option for us recreational boaters:

Apply 3M 5200 to the wood with a trowel, smoothing it out to have an even coating.

Smoosh a layer of cloth into the 5200, wetting it out fairly well and evenly. I imagine that you'd want to take the time/effort to make it nice and even as possible.

Once that layer is applied all over, poly/vinyl/epoxy in a normal manner over top of the now-glass-reinforced 5200.

The 5200 will bond with the resin well, while allowing for some flex and/or expansion in the wooden substrate.

I think it might also be effective at sealing off all the little crevices where water would otherwise try to get around and under a stiff layer of FRP.

As far as I know, this treatment does not need a completely dry wood underneath it to be effective - shrimpers cannot afford to leave their boats on the hard for months waiting for complete drying. If you have any questions, I will go and pose them to the boatyard which does this job to see what they have to say about it.

My internet access is, at best, intermittent of late, so don't despair if you ask and the answer is slow in coming - I am at the whim of the 802.11b/g Gods,.

Keep up the good work!

[Tim Mertinooke]

Kurt thanks! After a little more research about laminating the rudder I decided to leave well enough alone at least for this coming season. I'm going to leave it as is for now and put it back on once I finish attaching the rudder shoe, strap, etc. My season will be realtively short this year in the water. We are putting the boat in toward the middle of June and will take her out in the beginning of September. My wife, son, and I will have two months every summer to really use her and this summer being our first with the boat will be a series of shakedown cruises aimed at seeing what we want onboard, what needs to be fixed, replaced, etc. I'm going to pull her out in September so that I have a couple months of epoxy weather to do more projects. We live about two hours from where we will keep the boat during the summer and having her on a trailer allows me to bring her home for just a tank of gas. It has been priceless to have her in the yard in terms of getting work done. The following summer after sprucing her up and working through some more projects this fall she'll go in in May and come out the middle of October. We plan on doing a nice extended Maine cruise that summer with the time we have off. Anyway, I'll check the condition of the rudder after my "short" season this year and gauge what to do next. If it's in great shape I'll leave it alone, if not I may just use your idea it sounds pretty bulletproof.

[Tim Mertinooke]

While waiting for the epoxy to do its thing yesterday I scraped the bottom paint off of a couple spots at the aft end of the keel just above the rudder strap (see pic one.) What I found was interesting and perplexing (two feelings I have often these days working on A-24) at the same time. There is a purple substance that I have also found a few other places on the boat filling what appears to be a hole or something. This filler material is extremely hard. In the center of the material as seen in pic two and three there is a hole. I was able to shove an exploratory stick way up, so there is clearly space there. There are two areas like this. Does anyone know what I am looking at? Do these holes allow water into the bilge? How did A-24 stay afloat before me?




The hole can be seen in the center of the purple filler and goes straight up.



Here is a closer shot.