Holed Hull Repair - Part 1

I am going to describe the step by step repair of a hole to the port bow of Pig Pen, FS 812. Clicking on the pictures should enlarge them for a better view. The repair was done by Dave Brooks of Brooks Boatworks in Clearwater FL, 352-398-3048. Dave has 30 (or so) years of experience doing all sorts of boat repairs and restorations. An easy little job like this is nothing for him to tackle.

If you like reading about fiberglass repairs you might like this one; Centerboard Repair which is the first of a three part series.


Hear is the hole made by the stem fitting of another Flying Scot during the 2010 Great 48 at Lake Norman YC



The hole from inside the cabin, light spots are delaminated glass, actually 24oz. roving. Early Scots were made with roving before they switched to a better fiberglass fabric


A jig saw was used to cut out the damaged area



Damaged area cut away ended up about 4 x 6 inches


The two pieces which were cut out


A temporary mold was made out of 2 layers of door skin. The smaller layer was traced (exact shape) from the cut out hole and the second layer was larger to overlap the bottom and both sides. We could not overlap the top due to the outward flare of the hull. It was covered with masking tape then waxed so the resin would not stick to it


The mold is held in place with a strap and masking tape so we can apply glass to the inside. To help the mold conform to the curve of the hull, it was scored vertically with a knife, not shown


The mold from inside the cabin and after the surrounding area was thoroughly sanded with 40 grit. It is a little hard to see the sanded area but the idea is to get through all of the surface texture of the 24 oz roving.


The first layer of 17 oz fiberglass was the exact size of the hole


The next layer of fiberglass was larger to overlap the cut out by about 2 inches all around. Note; the cloth being used has a layer of mat sewn onto one side. Mat is needed to get a proper bond so when using a cloth without the mat you would need to lay in a layer of mat separately


Fiberglass mat was then applied so the end result with be more smooth and finished, this step is optional but what the heck


After the resin cured we removed the mold leaving the fiberglass covering the hole from the inside

This wraps up the work from the inside, I won't be painting it since it is out of sight, for the most part. You can see the rest of the job Hole Repair Part 2

Flying Scot Centerboard Repair

I recently purchased another Flying Scot that had a beat-up centerboard in need of repair. Unlike most of my other boat repair projects, I remembered ahead of time to take some photos (clicking on a photo should enlarge it) throughout the process. This post will be short on words and long on photos, here goes;

This is the before photo. The forward leading corner would be at bottom left, if it existed. Many groundings have worn this corner away so it now is a gradual arc. Tapping the board in the area of the lead ballast insert indicates almost complete delamination.



This shows the leading edge which is worn away enough to expose the edge of the lead ballast, also being worn away. The wear was enough to reduce the weight to 96 lbs, the legal range is 100 to 110 lbs. according to the Flying Scot Class rules.



Let the sanding begin...



With the leading edge opened up rocks, sand, resin pieces, etc, have been accumulating in the void between the fiberglass and the lead. I decided to do the repair "the right way" which always means "more work" so I cut the glass at the perimeter of the lead ballast. The surfaces will be cleaned, prepped and rebonded later.



Opened up with lead visible, note the only area still adhered was the small dark area of the lead, at top left.



Here we are the same stage on the other side which was about 60% delaminated instead of nearly 100%.



The lead has been sanded smooth and clean and was roughed up (small lines) to allow better adhesion of the epoxy resin we will use to re-attach the fiberglass.



Unthickened epoxy then thickened epoxy was applied to both the lead and glass surfaces and we are ready to position the glass piece in place.



A few clamps and some lead weights to keep the pressure on and we wait for it to cure.

We will continue the repair with Centerboard Repair Part 2

RX for PIG PEN

It’s been a little while since my last post. That means there has not been enough sailing happening, at least for me. Kim on the other hand, has had a few outings on the Sunfish and is really having fun and is doing well in her first season on that boat. We haven’t named it so maybe for the time being it will be referred to as “that boat”. I personally think calling that thing a boat is being quite generous but she is having fun, so we’ll go with it.

A few people have been inquiring about PIG PEN so I thought it might be good to do a progress report on the repairs. To recap a little, we last raced Labor Day weekend and were involved in a collision (I did my 720) where we were basically T-boned on the port side about where the skipper normally sits. The breeze was about 15-ish and the other boat was at about full speed (beating to weather) so it was a pretty solid impact. That sound of crunching fiberglass….. I hate it when that happens.

Port rail damage about where the skipper sits

The hull cracks from below looking up

I have included some photos of the damage and a few more of the repair. Unfortunately, I did not think of the camera when doing the fiberglassing so that part is left to your imagination. Also, I decided to repair the deck but left the cracks in the hull alone since they aren’t too bad and I’m lazy. The deck repair was essential for two reasons; one is that it is cored with balsa so needs to be kept dry. The second and way more important reason was to keep the splintered fiberglass out of my ass.

The first step was to remove the aluminum rub rail and then pick away the loose gelcoat and fiberglass resin to get down to a solid base. That turned out to be a little iffy since removing all of the fractured glass would have left an oval shaped hole about 1 by 2 inches. I was surprised at how much was broken when I started picking at it. Instead, I left some damaged glass to be the base to support the first of 3 layers of 18 oz. biax cloth. The third layer of cloth was sufficient to build up the area to just above the surrounding gelcoat. Once cured, it was sanded smooth and the flange was filed and shaped to accept the rub rail.

The patch after sanding smooth

One other thing I noticed was the balsa core became delaminated from the fiberglass deck in the surrounding area from the impact. It’s not very noticeable unless you get your eye close to the deck and sight it fore and aft. There is a small “hill” where it should be flat but fixing it would have meant a patch about 4 or 5 times as big and it is unnecessary except possibly for cosmetic reasons.

From the stern the small "hill" is visible to the right of the patch

The next step was to straighten the aluminum rub rail. I expected this to be a snap but as with most “simple projects” it took a little longer than I expected. It’s a little hard to describe but if you picture the rail in its mounted position it is easy to bend it away from or towards the boat. However, it is tricky to get it to bend up or down without it rolling over and bending side to side instead. A vise, two c-clamps, a hammer, some beer, some trial and error and about an hour later it was acceptable.

With the rub rail installed it looks ok, for an old, semi-ugly boat. Actually the photos make the repair look worse than it is. If you run your hand over the patch it is very smooth and fair but in the photos it doesn't look that way, I thought about painting over the patch (and several others on the aft deck) with some white primer I have on hand but decided against it. PIG PEN is a 1965 model with a very faded yellow deck so I may pick up some pale yellow paint to match a little better. Kim seems to enjoy looking at paint color chips in Home Depot so that may be in her future.

Near deck level of finished repair

From above...

Once the work was completed I decided to look inside the hull to see if any resin had dripped through the repair area, I had forgotten to place a rag to catch them. No drips but the 3 fiberglass straps that hold up the Styrofoam blocks were all detached from the hull. They remain attached to the underside of the seat, so not a big deal but it would have been nice to know when I had the batch of resin going. OK, so I’ll use 5200 instead…..

Port side strofoam blocks hanging down a bit

Yep, dried up in the tube….

Maybe some duct tape....