Coronado 15 Repair Help

Hi, I purchased a used Coronado 15 and I am really excited about sailing it. It needs some work though. I was wondering if I could get a bit of advice on how to fix things. If you can offer any suggestions or pictures of how things should look I would be very appreciative. Questions:

What is the inside of the boat supposed to look like? Their appears to be a bulkhead someone made with a layer of fiberglass with spray foam behind it in my boat. I'm a little worried the mast needs more support then what is their. The fiberglass has cracked, but I'm a little unclear if it has a purpose. Do I repair or remove? A bunch of rotting wood was built up between the bulkhead forward of the mast and the floor of the boat, but it was spray foamed in place and didn't seem to be doing anything so I tore it out. I'm leaning towards removing the existing fiberglass bulkhead, replacing with plywood and coating with epoxy and ensuring the mast is well supported, but maybe that's unnecessary?

Someone put non-stainless steel screws in the centerboard holder and the rusted in place. I tried drilling and using an easy out but no luck. I plan to drill the screws out and replace with some sort of thread insert, but I"m worried the threads holding the screw are a thin walled insert themselves and don't have much material I can drill through. Any suggestions?

The boat has a hole on the top side in the middle of the seat. Pictures online show a metal pole going through the hole. Does the pole brace against the hull folding in or out? I'm not sure how to anchor it from behind, but I could probably put a pole in and attach a collar to it if I just need to brace it for a compression type force. Any ideas how to fix this?

Any idea where to buy a drain plug?

Thanks so much for the help. If I've ask something that's already been answered please point me in the right direction.

 

Where is Moses lake? USA, Australia?

You should join the C15 group on Yahoo groups and look at the C15 website.
Coronado15 – Home of the C15 national association http://www.coronado15.org/
Yahoo! Groups https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/sailC15/info

Similar questions have been asked and discussed.
Additionally there is one active thread about an ongoing C15 repair.
Coronado15 Rebuild https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/coronado15-rebuild.54844/
This one will lead you to an older completed thread.

If you are in the US, you could look at the West Marine website for drain plugs - picture #5 above.
Picture #4 above is where a traveler for the main sheet has been removed - it was originally a 1" stainless steel tube.
In picture #3, if the fasteners are that rusted then someone replaced the stainless steel ones with plain steel. Sorry, I misread your post - you said they were non stainless. If someone used epoxy or thread locker compound to make sure the fasteners don't come out, then you can apply heat to the fastener to soften it. I generally use a strong soldering iron to the head of the fastener. You can also use a torch if you can keep from burning the fiberglass.
The bulkhead originally was very thin. Seems to be primarily for keeping water from getting into the rest of the boat.
When the wood supporting the mast base rots (just behind the bulkhead) the hull deflects and cracks the thin bulkhead.
You will need to get inside, remove the bulkhead (cut it out), remove the mast support, build a new mast support and install it.
There is a piece of plywood glued to the hull below the mast support (it also extends forward of the bulkhead) which you will need to replace before installing the mast support.
Extending forward of the bulkhead is a stiffener between the hull and the bulkhead which is probably what you removed - you'll need to replace that also.

Most of this info comes from other people's repairs - I haven't needed to do this much on mine - because someone did it before.
It would have been done before 2006 and it is obvious it will need to be done again, since they didn't use epoxy to install and protect the new mast support.

If you come up with a threaded insert repair for your centerboard, please let me know exactly what insert you use. I would like to do the same, just haven't found an insert I like, and I don't know exactly what those rusted screws are biting into.

Good luck, please post your repairs.

Marc

 

Welcome to the forum. Thanks for the pictures. You have the right idea about those rusted screws. Drill them out. They are threaded into heavy bronze blocks glassed in place just below the cockpit. They are not to difficult to remove and you might want to take them out permanently because they weigh a ton. That round hole is supposed to be there. It's a connection point for the original traveler bar. Someone might have converted this hull over to stern sheeting, it's a popular upgrade. Looks like your mast support (compression post) is gone. Don't try to sail before replacing it (it's essential.)

Not sure what's going on with that bulkhead. Maybe you could post a few more pictures that might tell the whole story. Looks like it might have cracked and someone tried to repair it with thickened epoxy.

 

I had a bunch of C15 project pictures posted but I think Photobucket has shut down the party until they get some cash.

 

Thanks for the info folks. I will figure out how to get a better angle and take some more pictures. I"m in Moses Lake, WA, USA.

 

It looks like some mast support is present, but I'm not sure it's sufficient. I see some cracking around the mast step on the deck, and that makes me think it's not supported adequately. The wood is soft but not totally rotted out. What do you think of this idea: Cut the bulkhead along the blue dashed line in last picture, put a fiberglass encased fir support in, cut out the weird fillet the previous repair made over the spray foam, re-fiberglass the whole thing back together. I don't want to do unnecessary work, it's a $150 boat, but I'd like something that is pretty solid to sail. What's your advice?

 

Some other little questions:

I see a bunch of hairline cracks on the deck. Can I ignore these or do I need to do something about them?

Any Cool ideas for what to do with the compass holder? I could put a compass in obviously, but my local lake doesn't really warrant navigational aids.

The rudder that came with the boat was falling apart, so I made a new one out of red oak. I'll coat it in fiberglass as I found out red oak isn't as good as other types of oak for water. The tiller head on the old rudder was attached with one bolt so it could swing up. I plan to do the same thing. I saw some pictures online of other rudders though and they have what look like plates that attach to the tiller head and go down further into the rudder to swing. Do you see any issue with attaching it directly to the rudder, or is that going to cause me problems? The tiller that came with the boat was broken and measured 41 inches, they put the swivel stick at the end. I was thinking I'd extend the tiller to 47 inches and then put the swivel stick back 6 inches so it's out of the way if you want to hold the tiller directly. Would that be better?

Thanks for all the help.

Canracer, you have a great thread. I've found it really useful.

 

You got this boat for $150 and that's pretty cheap. But it really needs work. Sand paper, epoxy, fiberglass cloth, and some marine plywood is stuff that's not extremely expensive. You'll have to put in some work though.

My advice; you shouldn't sail it in the current condition. The mast could easily punch a hole right through the cockpit.

That bulkhead (painted yellow) with the big crack and the foam, should be removed. Mark a line on the bulkhead about 1" from the hull inside surface and make one long cut. The bulkhead is also attached to the inside surface of the cockpit (where the back of those bolts are visible) so make a cut along the outside edge. It's paper thin so any jig saw or angle grinder will work. A jig saw makes much less dust. (don't try without a good respirator.) I wouldn't be surprised if you were able to rip the bulkhead out by hand.

Here is a picture of my compression post before repairs. It was falling apart.


The new compression post: In the background (left of post) you can see that about an inch remains of the bottom edge of the old bulkhead. Forward of the post you'll see a bulkhead that was installed in the bow.

 

To increase work space I cut panels out of the cockpit.
With the hull upside down, I got a picture of my head next to the centerboard trunk. You don't have to do this kind of work but I had a big project planned and needed the work space.

 

Another look at the new compression post.

 

Behind the compression post, expect to find damage like this. That crack is at the forward edge of the centerboard trunk, and it can continue through the hull and cause a leak. When all that wood gets soggy, it starts to move and eventually everything starts to break. All this bad glass pulls right out and this stuff can be rebuilt.

 

This is the same area. I epoxied into place "cheek blocks" to distribute the lateral forces (lift) of the centerboard. The spot that I circled in the previous image is at the lower left corner. Also you can see one of the stringers that was glassed in place for overall hull strength. They are each about 5' long.

 

I had to make this stuff up as I was going along, so there's no way that I'm saying "this is the right way to do things." But in my opinion, the stringers are a good addition to the hull. Some things I'd change but not the stringers.


Looking aft (before compression post installation): I added about 7 layers of 10 ounce cloth (more under the post) as a replacement for the plywood strip. The "cheek blocks" on the centerboard trunk look uneven but that's a trick of the camera. The stringers are glassed into place their entire length and those "tabs" are to support reinforcements that were added later in the project.

 

A straight line cut was made just forward of the compression post. Someone started this project by removing a strip of plywood. The plywood strip is about 6" wide and maybe 5' long (and about 3/8th" thick.) It soaks up water, then it becomes spongy (it rots) and that's when stuff starts to really fall apart. It's not much trouble to remove and replace with solid fiberglass.

 

The aft end of the plywood strip is unsealed end grain and it's just below that crack (not a coincidence.) This is where water tends to pool.