Weak Deck

[jake]

Hi All:

I have a '73 DSII and recently discovered that the front deck has a soft spot in it about a midship towards the gunwale. The boat has it's share of stress cracks. Is there a way to strengthen this without spending lots of money? Also is this a do it yourself project? I've spent a great deal of money on the boat in the last year as it sat for the last 5 yrs. I love the boat to death, I've had it since high school and plan to keep it for a long time.

Anyone have any experience with this type of problem?

Thanks!

Jake

[Peter McMinn]

I'm having a hard time picturing a midship towards the gunwale. Could you describe the position of the soft spot a little more? Is it on the cuddy or on the deck itself?

[jake]

Sorry about the confusion. It is on the deck, forward of the raised part of the cuddy cabin on the starboard side. It's not noticable while on the water going to attach the jib to the forestay.

While on land on the trailer it is very obvious. I walked up there to grab some ties to tie the standing rigging to the mast for trailering. I could feel the deck flex below me and there are some stress cracks in the area. I wish to strengthen this as I do not want to be walking around the bow area and go through the deck and end up in the cabin. I'm not sure if there is a way to stiffen up the deck? It seems as though this is the thinnest part of the boat when it comes to the construction of it.

Thanks!

Jake

[Peter McMinn]

Jake, don't you already have deck support in that area? Maybe this is failing? How close to the forward bulkhead?

Anyway, wanted to know location because it's possible to reinforce the deck by glassing in a girder across the underside of the deck. I did something similar with my cuddy and documented the process here:

http://forum.daysailer.org/forum/viewtopi ... cing+cuddy

I think your fix would be easier than mine, as you'd be working with a flat plane as opposed to the curviture of the cuddy.

If you want pictures, I can send them along.

[jake]

There are no stiffners other than the forward bulkhead as far as deck support goes. I've never worked with fiberglass before, is it easy to work with? Any suggestions on research materials?

I read up on your link. It sounds as though you ran supports up the sides along the inside of the cuddy, across underneath the deck, and you used a support in the center also?

I'll admit I'm a big guy, I'm 6' and 250 lbs. I was a tad bit smaller in high school when I purchased the boat.

Thanks again for the advice!

Jake

[Peter McMinn]

Fiberglassing is not difficult, but it does require planning and patience.

You'll need to buy fiber matting along with some high quality resin such as West System. I could give you instructions here, but those that come with the epoxy are detailed enough (epoxy=resin+hardener.)

Clean & sand the area to a bondable surface (dont expose fiber).

Have plenty of rubber gloves ready, plastic squeegies, wax paper, and good lighting.

If I were you, I'd buy enough material for practicing the lay up to see how the stuff handles and hardens (not talking basketball here).

That area you need to work in is pretty compact. If you can't get some little dude to do the work, you could put down a plywood platform--cut to the internal shape of the hull--so you can get in there and work in relative comfort.

1) Shape a length of 2X cedar to fit across the section you need to reinforce, epoxy seal it, and epoxy it into place using supports.
2) Fill in any right angles so air doesn't get trapped behind the glass. You can use saw dust and epoxy to make a paste for this purpose, or you could buy the expensive caulk version.
3) Cut pieces of matt no longer than 8", no wider than 4".
4) The tricky part: while lying on your back, you'll need to lay UP the wet pieces of matt, overlapping each by at least two inches, sqeegying the bubbles out. Use the wax paper to place over the wet matt to reduce sags and drips. Work fast and check often to assure a good bond.

Good luck and show us your progress!

:)

[jake]

Peter:

Thanks for the info. I'm probably going to keep babying the boat until the fall. The temperature has already been above 90 here and it'll just keep getting hotter until the fall (October). I don't want to get into this type of project and have to rush to complete it due to the epoxy drying fast.

Thanks again for the info.

Jake

P.S. I've been sailing since the first weekend in May it's been in the 80s and 90s

[jake]

Sorry about the last post, too much sun today. It should have said I've been sailing since the first week in March