Coronado15 Rebuild

I guess it's worth mentioning again. Keep epoxy out of the threads of those centerboard bracket bolts or the bolts might never come out again.

 

def. some more clean up to do in there, I like the cold chisel Idea better than the grinder..too close to my face right around that CB. Overall 'm feeling more optimistic today about some of that work down there. I may ignore the stringers for now, I'll try to get what I can get on those reinforcement/pads etc...

 

What is a reinforcement pad?

 

on the inside of the hull, there are built up sections, I suppose to add some strength seems to be some kind of glassed over foam.. it's nicked and damaged in some places and seems to be just crumbly dried up foam inside....

 

Ok, I thought you could have been talking about a couple different things, but I know what you mean now.

Honestly, I think you should cut back those glassed in foam stringers by at least a foot or two. I noticed from your pictures that they are in very bad condition. In their place, you could add in solid fiberglass. It's a strategy that did not occur to me when I was at that point. If given a second chance, I'd seriously consider it.

It's an area that is deteriorated and that will just soak up a bunch of water if given the chance. It would be a breeze to remove and then seal off the new end. A good place to make the cut would be just aft of where that center board trunk block is installed (I just previously added that picture.)

After removal, you'd have a clean slate to add new glass. Those plywood cockpit stringers (like the one you said was 65 percent damaged,) will be useful as a "form" for the new glass. The glass should be strong enough that it takes over the job of the stringer. Just move the stringer into a correct position, and start laying on the glass (all surfaces, like you are making a box.) Overlap the cloth to get the strongest result.

I'm planning to go back a few posts and check out those questions that were posted.

 

The ends of my foam stringers were in better shape than yours, but they didn't look great either. I decided to saturate the porous cloth with epoxy and then lay down a ton of glass. Now I realize that it might have been a good idea cut back the stringer ends and then build up this area with glass, from the hull up.
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So I'm clear... I can be slow sometimes . The "foam" encased in fiberglass on the hull, is also a stringer... and should be ground out and built up... I can cut that back as far as I can reach and then perhaps lay down some biax matt to replace...as for the plywood(at this point brittle driftwood). I'm not sure what to do with those, I can try to glass what I can reach, but that isn't very much.. it would at least give me something to attach the bulkhead to.

 

Yes, that is a foam stringer, and the other thing made of plywood is a cockpit stringer (this is a best guess because I don't see that it's attached to the hull, but it is glassed into the cockpit.)

You can cut the foam stringers back if you want, I think it would be a decent plan. One cut across and that stuff will pull out easily with your hands and a putty knife. A little scuffing of the new surface and it would be a great foundation to start laying down cloth. I used heavy woven roving for this (something like 18 or 24 ounce cloth.) It's cheap as dirt, strong, and it builds up fast.

My suggestion is to leave the plywood cockpit stringer in place and use it as a support for the new fiberglass. When your done, that whole area will be better than new and the condition of the plywood will no longer matter.

Am I being to bossy? I'd hate to come across as overly pushy about all these details.

 

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You aren't being too bossy, It's not always easy to describe this stuff.. when you say the plywood provides support for the fiberglass (replacing foam)stringer.. I read that as, Tab the cockpit(ply-driftwood) stringer to the hull (foam/now fiberglass) stringer. Which goes along with your picture, I think.

 

This is what I see in my head. Cut back that foam stringer to just past where that "cheek block" is, clean up all surfaces (as best as possible,) then wrap everything with as much fiberglass as possible. New fiberglass cloth everywhere, on every surface and as far back as possible, and as far forward as possible. Layer onto layer so that it's sturdy. Like making a rectangular box (along each side of the trunk) that would be strong enough to stand on.
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But that's just one guy's take on it. There is no instruction manual for this sort of thing. It all has to be invented as you go.

 

And clearly we've geeked out on this thread and bored everyone else away ;-) I'm sure some will be helped/encouraged and if not at least we will be.

 

This thread has been viewed almost 6,000 times. Lot more eyes than just yours and mine checking out this project. Most of the other people here are professional naval architects, and boat builders. I'm glad they let us hang out here at all.

Folks will be finding this thread, and checking it out, for years to come.

 

That other build thread on my C15 has almost 100,000 views. With good pictures, it becomes interesting.

I guess I just realized that working that far back in the hull might not be possible. You'd have to get at least one arm in there at the same time as your head.

That's why I did this.