Hull Repairs Accomplished

Two of the three hull problems...  the aft end of the
cockpit, starboard side...

First, let's take a look at the hull before I did the gelcoat repairs. This first photo shows the hull damage on the aft, starboard side of the cockpit. This photo was shot after I ground out all the loose gelcoat.  At this point, the hull was ready for some new gelcoat in these damaged areas...

The weather cleared up enough later in the day yesterday for me to try my hand at these fiberglass hull repairs.  I made a few beginner mistakes but have learned from these mistakes and I'm now ready to tackle more repairs before next season.  I am probably the only one who will notice the mistakes I made so I will let the problems sit until I tackle more hullwork projects next season.  The sailboat is good to go for this season!

The repaired hull...  the damaged areas were all along
this side of the cockpit...  note the waterproof camera
mounted on the rudder...

The mistakes I made were definitely beginner-type mistakes.  First, in my rush to get started, I forgot to ensure the can of gelcoat was mixed before pouring out the portion I needed to use for these small repairs.  I did ensure the hardener was mixed well however.  Because I forgot to mix the entire can before pouring out the needed amount, I think the gelcoat was much looser and more 'water-like' than it should be.  This caused runny repairs.

I also made a mistake in failing to tape off the area of the repair.  If I had taped off the area, the tape would have held some of this liquid gel over the repair.  My gel ended up running down the top of the curved hull.  It was a big mess and I was afraid I may have made the damaged areas worse!

The repaired hull...  the damaged areas were
all along this side of the cockpit...
nice and smooth now!

Once I sanded down the repaired areas, I realized that my repairs looked much worse than they really were.  They were far from perfect, but good enough for a first try.  If I had added another coat of gel to these damaged areas, I could have eliminated the problems caused by my initial mistakes.  Time, however, was not on my side.

Today is supposed to be a mostly sunny day although the clouds are already rolling in overhead.  The next few days are forecast to be rainy.  When it finally clears up, we will be packing up for our trek to the lake house.  So, I have little time.

Today I waxed and polished the deck of the hull and I plan to work on the bottom after I post this update.  The boat is taking shape and starting to look great.  Although the deck of the boat is most visible, the bottom side is incredibly important.  The smoother and slicker the bottom is, the faster the boat will move in the water.

I simply added a piece of wood onto the side of the rudder
hardware so that I can mount a camera here...

I've also included a couple of photos of the camera mount that I built for the rudder.  I'm looking forward to trying this out.  My only concern with this mount is the tripod head clamp...   this is definitely the weakest point of the mount.  I'm afraid that if I try to clamp down too tight, the clamp will break.  In the future I will design a heavier-duty clamp for this mount.  This same clamp is used on the camera mount for the mast.

I suspect the rudder camera mount will take the most abuse of all the camera mounts I designed and built so that is why my concern is directed here.  The transom of the boat can easily be mostly submerged with water rushing over the rudder which more than likely can easily push that clamp right off the rudder mount.  Rushing water always has a lot of force.  As I'm writing this I am wondering about adding some extra protection with small bungee cords...   hmmm...  that might work!

A closer view of the camera mounted on the rudder...

Once I get the entire sailboat assembled again, I will shoot a few more photos of the three other camera mounts...   one on the end of the boom looking forward...  one mounted low on the mast just above the deck looking aft....  and one mounted high on the mast looking down on the boat.

Let's hope the weather cooperates this week while I am finishing up all this prep work for our trip.  And, let's hope that the weather is beautiful while we are at the lake!

Of course, even after we return from our trip to the lake, we plan take the sailboat out for other outings this summer.  All this work on the boat will pay off in less than a week though...   the boat will be on the water by the end of this week... can't wait!