Deck Repair at Rudder Pin Penetration

Could someone advise on this repair? I just read Mbounds article, Get The Rudder Slop Out! (This Old Hobie Fall 2010) and contemplate repairing this part of the deck as part of the process. Here are a couple pics.



Anything special about this repair? I have never tackled deck repair (only rudder refinish with expoxy). A link/reference to forum thread works, or words of wisdom here.

Thanks very much!

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ScotsSailor
1986 Hobie 16

Well, it won't be easy.
I tried repairing a hull from and old Hobie at my school(I'm studying Naval Engineering and we have access to a fiber glass worshop)

The main problem i had was getting the epoxy socked-fiber into shape, problem we solved using a mixture of epoxy with silica. It made something like a paste that was as strong as epoxy-socked fiber when it solidified.

Hope this helps someone if it is not that useful to you

I don't think you are going to be able to rebuild that lip and restore any strength to it. As long as it is not leaking you should be okay. I think I would just sand it a little and make it look more presentable. Many older boats have the rudder pin section cut out of the lip as it appears with yours. They do it to get more rake from the rudders. That's not a big deal either. The addition of an inspection port on that hull implies there may have been some transom damage at one time or that there was a problem with the rudder gudgeon hence the "upgrade" to the one piece gudgeon. What year is your boat?

Scotsailor,
When I adquired my H16, the edges of the pontoons were damaged by letting the 16 bang against a pier from the previous owners. I fixed it rather easily. I used a regular 4' circular grinder to grind all the glue, bondo, RTV, and who-knows-what somebody had put there to fill the scratches. I cleaned/grinded the area until I found pure and clean fiberglass, then took 2" wide aluminum foil tape, and glued tape from-under the broken area and formed a cup shaped molding, then filled the mold with f.g. resin, let it cure, and then removed the tape and formed the original shape using the grinder and sandpaper. Then after I formed the rough shape, applied a few coats of resin with white powder to form a gellcoat-like coat, and then carefully formed and sanded the shape to match the original shape. It came out so good that I can`t now see myself where the damaged area was.
In your case, make the lip solid, shape the outer area using the other pontoon as model, and just drill a hole same size of the original. You can use white powdered resin already and the final product will be white already.

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Every second that passes cannot be recovered, so make good use of every one of them that you have left.

It's a 1986 H16. I installed the one piece gudgeons. The prior owner had issues with the original gudgeons, installed oversize screws etc., so the 4' hatch covers/inspection ports just made the whole project a breeze, as I was able to install lock nuts.

Indeed, those 4' hatches went in so nice and easy, that I installed 5" versions in front of the tramp. Did you know the 5" Fat Bag hatch bags can easily hold one of those soft sided collapsible coolers? Did you know that they can then hold five beverages (ok - beers, I admit it) and all the ice needed to keep said beverages cool, without leaking into the hull? Thanks for your advice.

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ScotsSailor
1986 Hobie 16

Johonnymoto, I was wondering if there was a simple epoxy solution. I am comfortable working with it, from the EPO rudder restore I did last year. Thanks very much for the detailed description of the project. At this point, I think that I will give that technique a go.

ItubeR, seems to have come up with a similar solution. - Thanks for the advice.

I will let you know how it works out.

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ScotsSailor
1986 Hobie 16