Repairing fiberglass cracks

All, I am a bit of a newbie as I just bought my first boat, a Cal 27. This vessel is sturdy, but is in need of some mechanical and cosmetic repair, and I am looking forward to the challenge of bringing it back to a high level of quality. The first project that I will probably tackle will be to repair some of the cracks around the fittings and some areas that appear to have had instruments or other attachments removed. What is the best way to accomplish this task, as well as to clean up the Gel coat so it matches and looks great? Any advice would be helpful. Cheers, David ****************************************************************** DemandTec Email Notice This email and any attachments may contain confidential and/or proprietary information and is intended solely for the use of the addressee. If you are not the intended recipient we request that you notify us via email or telephone and delete all copies of the message from your systems. Additionally, although DemandTec has taken reasonable precautions to ensure the security of this email and any attachments, we encourage you to take similar precautions and accept no liability for any loss or damage resulting from its use. DemandTec, 1 Circle Star Way, Suite 200, San Carlos, CA 94070, 650-226-4600

Fellow Cal Listers; Now that we've sold our Cal 40, my 13 year old son and I are offering ourselves as crew for someone else in this year's Newport to Ensenada race. Of course, we'd prefer a Cal, but we're broad minded. Briefly, he's been sailing all his life and tried one N-E (we dropped out after 24 hours due to lack of wind). He and I were successful club racers doublehanding the Cal 40, but he still has to be considered novice crew. I have also been sailing all my life (which is considerably longer; I'm 50) and I have done three N-Es, two Atlantic crossings, and have been race crew on boats as diverse as Cal 2-27, Cal 29, Cal 40, Tornados, classic wooden schooners, J boats...you get the picture. I am by education a mechanical engineer, by career a marine engineer, and held a USCG Engineer's licence for 10 years. If anyone is racing this year and in need of crew, please contact me off list at ge… [at] elwersfamily.com Happy New Year! .

David, Not much you can do about those tiny tiny hairline spider cracks. Gel coat is very tricky, I found out the hard way trying to repair bow damage when a steel light buoy jumped out in front of my boat when I wasn't looking! I made the mistake of using epoxy putty-I forget what the product is called, it came in a little white box: then trying to get polyester gel coat to stick to it. You have to be as stubborn getting it to stick as it is stubborn not wanting to. I applied it many times till I got tired of it and learned how to accept imperfection. It's better to stare at tell tales then hull imperfections, I say! FAST IS FUN. If the cracks are bigger you might try west systems with an appropriate additive, like colloidal silica. Read pertinent repair manuals! I'd recommend painting the boat to coverup spider web cracks, with a good one part polyurethane! Looks great, makes boat look like new. Two part urethane is for experts or really stubborn boat fixers. Jerry --- On Thu, 1/8/09, David Chait <da… [at] demandtec.com> wrote: From: David Chait <da… [at] demandtec.com> Subject: [Cal_Boats] Repairing fiberglass cracks To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Date: Thursday, January 8, 2009, 3:13 PM All, I am a bit of a newbie as I just bought my first boat, a Cal 27. This vessel is sturdy, but is in need of some mechanical and cosmetic repair, and I am looking forward to the challenge of bringing it back to a high level of quality. The first project that I will probably tackle will be to repair some of the cracks around the fittings and some areas that appear to have had instruments or other attachments removed. What is the best way to accomplish this task, as well as to clean up the Gel coat so it matches and looks great? Any advice would be helpful. Cheers, David ************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* DemandTec Email Notice This email and any attachments may contain confidential and/or proprietary information and is intended solely for the use of the addressee. If you are not the intended recipient we request that you notify us via email or telephone and delete all copies of the message from your systems. Additionally, although DemandTec has taken reasonable precautions to ensure the security of this email and any attachments, we encourage you to take similar precautions and accept no liability for any loss or damage resulting from its use. DemandTec, 1 Circle Star Way, Suite 200, San Carlos, CA 94070, 650-226-4600

David Chait wrote: > > All, > > I am a bit of a newbie as I just bought my first boat, > a Cal 27. This vessel is sturdy, but is in need of some mechanical and > cosmetic repair, and I am looking forward to the challenge of bringing > it back to a high level of quality. The first project that I will > probably tackle will be to repair some of the cracks around the > fittings and some areas that appear to have had instruments or other > attachments removed. What is the best way to accomplish this task, as > well as to clean up the Gel coat so it matches and looks great? > > > > Any advice would be helpful. > David: The best advice is to look at Don Casey's books. He has written a lot about improving old boats. Here's a link to a description of his book on sailboat refinishing: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Sailboat-Refinishing/Don-Casey/e/9780071486583. (By the way, look at this link but buy it locally if you can). He has also written "This Old Boat" and a variety of others. You can search on his name. The Gougeon Brothers, manufacturers of West System epoxies, have some very good publications. You can start here: http://www.gougeon.com/. They also have a very helpful technical advisor staff, and the company is just packed with people who actually sail and build and maintain sailboats. Their site is on the Saginaw River where my other boat lies. They are the real deal. Epoxy is the "miracle goo" of the old fiberglass boat world since epoxies will stick to the polyester resins that most of our boats are made of (and to wood) much better than polyesters. My personal advice is to avoid that other miracle goo, 3M 5200, a polyurethane sealer/adhesive. There are suitable places for its use, but most people tend to overuse it. It's extremely tenacious and hardware that is bedded in it or other things that are sealed with it can be very hard to remove later. I have exercised the @#$%&***!!!! part of my vocabulary extensively while trying to undo some things secured with 5200 on our local schooner. The last bit of advice I have is to be aware that many panels on "fiberglass" boats are actually composites, with two surfaces of fiberglass laminates enclosing a core of plywood or balsa. The describes almost all decks, many bulkheads, and a lot of more modern hulls. The worst thing you can do is to let moisture get into that core, where it will cook away and cause rot. When you must drill a hole through such a panel, you should remove a surrounding ring of the core and seal it with epoxy. It's usually easiest to remove the core, fill the hole with epoxy so the core space gets filled too, then re-drill the hole, leaving a surrounding donut of epoxy. Chris Campbell > > > > Cheers, > David > > ****************************************************************** > DemandTec Email Notice > > This email and any attachments may contain confidential and/or proprietary > information and is intended solely for the use of the addressee. If you are > not the intended recipient we request that you notify us via email or telephone > and delete all copies of the message from your systems. Additionally, although > DemandTec has taken reasonable precautions to ensure the security of this email > and any attachments, we encourage you to take similar precautions and accept no > liability for any loss or damage resulting from its use. > > DemandTec, 1 Circle Star Way, Suite 200, San Carlos, CA 94070, 650-226-4600 > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG. > Version: 7.5.552 / Virus Database: 270.10.5/1884 - Release Date: 1/9/2009 8:38 AM >

It really depends if you bought the boat as a work project or to sail :-) Seriously, my boat isn't fiberglass but over the 19 years I have had it I have learned that small cosmetic imperfections should be watched periodically to see if they get larger, and not repaired until they do. I am presently watching a lot of paint fall off around my cockpit. I hope it all falls of so I won't have to remove so much this spring when it is time to paint it. Enjoy the boat and go sailing. Allen --- In Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com, "David Chait" <david.chait@...> wrote: > > All, > > I am a bit of a newbie as I just bought my first boat, a > Cal 27. This vessel is sturdy, but is in need of some mechanical and > cosmetic repair, and I am looking forward to the challenge of bringing > it back to a high level of quality. The first project that I will > probably tackle will be to repair some of the cracks around the fittings > and some areas that appear to have had instruments or other attachments > removed. What is the best way to accomplish this task, as well as to > clean up the Gel coat so it matches and looks great? > > > > Any advice would be helpful. > > > > Cheers, > David > > > ****************************************************************** > DemandTec Email Notice > > This email and any attachments may contain confidential and/or proprietary > information and is intended solely for the use of the addressee. If you are > not the intended recipient we request that you notify us via email or telephone > and delete all copies of the message from your systems. Additionally, although > DemandTec has taken reasonable precautions to ensure the security of this email > and any attachments, we encourage you to take similar precautions and accept no > liability for any loss or damage resulting from its use. > > DemandTec, 1 Circle Star Way, Suite 200, San Carlos, CA 94070, 650- 226-4600 >