Coronado15 Rebuild

There now is a "solvent" of some kind to soften the 5200.
I can get the name if anyone wanted to try.
It should be easier to separate the deck from hull. But you are suppose to score the 5200 spray or coat the 5200, then score deeper until you can separate the joint.
Might be difficult with the rolled edge of the deck.

The deck at the centerboard trunk appears to be the same construction, you might be able to start separating it from the bottom of the boat thru the slot. With the boat upside down.

There is a description of separating the deck from hull in the C15 Yahoo groups file called "Maintenance". At the end the author says he does not recommend doing it.

 

Yes there's a solvent to help loosen 5200 (I have some out in the garage; it can be useful.) The 3M 5200 adhesive is not used to bond the deck of these boats to the hull. At least not the 1st generation boats.

I've read through the articles on the Yahoo Groups page (I was one of the first 10 people to join.) Those articles were written some time ago; during an era when the average condition of the fleet was probably better. I'm not surprised that someone recommended NOT separating the deck and hull. It's a big project.

 

HA, I say thanks to Canracer, cause I wouldn't have tried half of this stuff if I hadn't see what he went through. So here's your update.

I believe the floor (where I replaced) is now adequately supported. Here's how I did it. I cut two strips of 1/2 " mg doug fir. 4" high and about 2 1/2 feet long. I then used tape and epoxy to make tabs on the top and bottom so both strips looked like an I beam. ( I did this on my bench with a trash bag liner so epoxy wouldn't stick to bench) I then slid the "ibeams into the boat working through the open transom. I glassed them to the underside of the floor about 5" off center. To do this I soaked a strip of epoxy & tape and rolled it around a small roller on a long handle. I then put the close edge in place and pushed the roller away unrolling the tape and pressing it in place. This layer of tape overlaps the pre-made tab and the sub-floor. Securing the "i-beam in place. I attempted to do the same on the hull to beam joint but there was a problem. Near the transom these new beams where tall enough to touch top and bottom, but as you move forward there was almost a 2" gap. The tabs, though flexible, didn't reach the hull and I couldn't get the tape to stick. This caused much frustration. I finally decided with the limited access and the poorly shaped i-beams... I had to try something else. However, I had already epoxy'd everything to the under-floor, and removing was not going to go well. So I made another set of supports and shaped them better to the hull, 6" tall forward, 4" tall back.. lots of test fitting and fine tuning on the belt sander until they fit tight. I decided to sister them together with thickened epoxy and then tab the non-adjacent corners. I did the same pre-fab tabs except only on one side.. Slathered it all up and put the pieces in. Strings from the gooey tape kept getting wrapped around the roller and so, once I had it all rolled in place, I'd remove the roller and the strings would pull the tape back out..This was quite frustrating. I managed to get it in place with this technique, but not without a bit of wasted strips and extra tape glopped and slopped in places. To help smash it all together and hold it in place I decided to cut and replace my foam while the epoxy was still wet. I initially had used 2" builders foam, but that was too hard to squeeze in through this opening, so I bought a sheet of 1" and cut it to fit the spaces left after my supports went in.. I installed 3 layers in the the three sections created by the supports. I checked it this morning and everything seems to be tight. I'm not gonna lie though, it wasn't fun and it doesn't look nice and pretty.

on another note.. Trailer is fully repaired from the accident and ready to have the boat put back on her.

Transom is shaped and I have a plan going forward for that, I'll share that maybe later today or tomorrow.

 

Good news about the trailer. Working with epoxy involves a unique kind of anxiety. When things start going south, that clock is always ticking.

 

Hello 5monkeys, How is everything going? That hurricane just blew by and we've been without power for 3 days now. Right now I'm "sheltering" at the sailing club. Charging the laptop and phone. Wishing I could find some ice. Will check the freezer here and the bait shop down the road.

How is the transom project? Looking forward to the update.

 

Things are going ok, but slower than I would have wished as far as the boat goes. We have a ghenoe, I affectionately call the dinghy ( it's same LOA as the c-15) So we tossed the outboard on that just to get out on the water.

The transom is all ready to be installed.. I just have to jump in.. I've got the joints scarfed, I've coated all of the surfaces with epoxy I drilled and screwed the joints together to hold it properly while epoxy cures. I even over-drilled the holes for the drain/scuppers/ and tiller hardware. Then filled them with Epoxy. I'll probably re-drill prior installing. It fits pretty snug but doesn't want to pull all the way back along the boat bottom. The top doesn't have that issue cause the cockpit holds it in position. I'm thinking about putting a long plank along the back end and through bolting through the plank and the drain plug to a wall anchor (molly bolt?) to pull the hole thing into position while it cures.

I'm travelling to NY for work this week, so if things go well, I'll be home this weekend and can maybe push forward.

I'm glad to hear you are safe after Ida. Looks like she really made a mess of things. I hope you get power back soon and thanks for checking in on my progress.

 

Things are close to normal here after the hurricane. My street was without power for almost 6 days. That experience was a real eye opener. The County hired contractors to remove the vegetative and other miscellaneous debris from the large piles along our roadsides. That project begins today.

The transom install sounds like it's progressing. If there's no pressure to get into the water, then there's extra time for pondering those next few steps. Did you know that a thin wax layer ("blush") forms on the surface of cured epoxy? The pre-coated transom parts should be cleaned and lightly sanded before they're epoxied together. Maybe you already know this stuff; It was on my mind so I thought I'd mention it.

 

Cleaning for blush is just scrubbing with water.
Some people sand, some don't - it can't hurt.

Blush doesn't always happen, but it will interfere with bonding if it is there.
So clean anyway.

 

I've been wondering if a slot could be cut into the top edge of the transom, and then the new pieces could be dropped down into position through the slot. Know what I mean?

 

The transom internally is tapered.
How are you going to accommodate that?

What are you going to do to replace the strength you just cut out?

Below you can see the top of the transom, looking up from the bottom. About 4" of the transom was cut off. You can see the ply glued to the back of the transom (hull skin) on the right. I don't think you could get pressure to get it glued to the hull skin aft of the seats.
You can also see the ply glued to the deck skin. And the white 5200 bonding the plywood on the deck ( end of the interior transom).
Let me know if the picture doesn't make sense.


Looking from on top.

 

Good pictures upchurchmr. I'm not sure how much strength all that extra adhesive is contributing. It adds a bunch of extra weight, for sure.

You get what I'm saying. Pull the old transom out the way that 5monkeys did it, and then drop the new transom (or at least the top half) down through a slot that's cut along the top edge (shown in your second picture..)

 

I'm surprised to see that the plywood transom was not attached to the sides of the hull. There's huge amount of adhesive on the top but an empty gap along the sides. The bottom edge was probably the same, no adhesive and exposed end grain.

 

I don't think you can insure any adhesive on the sides of the ply going thru a slot.
I also don't think you can repair the slot and provide the original strength.

No where in the boat was the plywood covered on the end grain.
Makes me wonder what current boat builds are made like (not speaking of the Coronado 15 of course).
I saw similar pictures of the Mutineer 16.
This was the origin of my desire to remove the deck, in order to replace all the ply and seal it properly.
I wonder how long a boat would last if it was built "properly", given my boat is 34 yo.

 

I think the use of internal wood has been abandoned in modern C15 construction (not sure though.) When I cut into my hull and started to post on-line about the problems, I was careful not to be too critical. They built boats to a price point and that's probably how everyone was building boats. My hull is a 1984, so that makes it 33 years old.

 

I looked at a boat with the flat decks, a later build, and it had exactly the same construction as mine.
The reason I saw it was that the wood in the transom was being replaced.

The facts about the build are the facts. Price point or not.
Who are you protecting?
I just mentioned the poor construction was the reason why I wanted to remove the deck.

It's funny (sad funny). In other threads I have commented about "traditional" wooden boat construction being a cause why so many of the old boats are gone - rotted beyond saving.
And if not gone, now requiring huge amounts reconstruction, with the expectation it will have to be done again.

Now I find that fiberglass boats have essential structure made in a different but just as rot prone manner.