Hole In My Boat

[antonblack]

I have a hole in my wooden dingy.
What can i do to put this right.
I have pictures of the hole which i can email plus i have a site with some pictures of my boat http://uk.geocities.com/antonblack@b....com/index.htm

If you have any idea what kind of boat this is too please tell me because im unsure myself.

Its a project im trying my hand at.

Thanks.

[duluthboats]

Where in the boat is the hole? Is there a fitting attached at this point?

[PAR]

This looks to be an area of rot at a seam in the plywood bottom near the forward end of the centerboard case, port side. How close did I come? Judging by the few other photos I looked at, you have other rot issues to deal with. Is that a 'glass sheathing on there?

From the looks of it there's putty, Bondo, filler and repairs of all sorts and ages in this well used craft. The hardware looks well worn as well. Seems a bunch of effort to get her back to a reasonable condition.

The rot has to come out. Grind, cut, hack and cuss until you are back to good wood (difficult to tell in sheathed ply, not so in solid lumber) Then you can address each repair area with techniques for the structure's needs. Filler, sheathing and paint will cover a host of sins, so the bottom should be the easy part. The centerboard case, keel, stern knee area and stem will need special attention (other areas like the chine log may need a good looking over too) as will areas being finished bright.

You could cut out the bad areas and slop on epoxy, filler and paint and get out sailing, but I'm not sure with the photos available. To answer your question about the bottom hole. It should have a repair panel scarffed in or at least butt blocked in, but could be 'glassed in with some tape and epoxy. It all depends on how much you have in time, money and desire.

What's this boat worth to you? How much skill, effort and money do you want to toss at this thing? A complete examination of the boat and it's structure is necessary, to determine the repairs needed. As a general rule, if there's rot seen there's much more unseen, inside joints, under structural components and the like. You may find it easier and cheaper to use this boat as a set of patterns (once disassembled) for new materials to be cut and a new boat will emerge in the same form. The rig looks worn out, how about the sails, deck and cockpit fittings, can you trust those stays and shrouds or will they need replacing too?

See what I'm driving at . . .

I do this sort of thing for a living and I specialize in sail, but I send a lot of folks home wishing they'd paid attention to their wife when they suggested not to buy it. Now that you do have it, you need to ask and answer some tough questions about what you want out of this boat. (I hope I didn't piss you of too badly)

[antonblack]

Hi and thanks for your reply.

Im stripping the boat back to the wood, i then plan to sand it then coat it with epoxy then paint it.

I spoke to a boat builder on the phone yesterday who advised me to cut the hole square then use scarf joints fixing it with epoxy at the joint.

I got the boat cheap and although paid 125. pound for it it is actually not too bad and comes with all the rig although this is neglected is not a dead loss.

I want it functional so i can enjoy it as its my 1st boat.

Im confident with some hard work and some new fittings on the rig it will be ok to use.

The sails are ok but the mast base baffles me as the mast just seems to sit on top of the mast base on the deck is this secure?
Plus how will it hold in place?

Im enjoying myself doing this and the idea of using the boat as a pattern is an excellent one but i just dont have the time yet as im moving to Italy in summer which is where i intend to use the boat however that may be an idea in the future.

So functional is the goal here not pretty or desirable but i think the boat will clean up well.

Thanks.