Refilling joints inside H18 dagerboard wells?

Hi! has anyone done this repair? I´ve removed some material that was filling the joints...It was all cracked and chiped (Looks like it was a previous owner repair or original) and now I need to fill them again and make them water tight. Resin and fiber cloth seems imposible to work in there...
Silicone does not seem a good and durable option...
Is there any material you could recomend? How about some 2 part adhesive that has the texture of playdoh? It would be easy to apply with a finger this way!

P.D. Mat Miller please help me out if you read this
Any information about theese joints...and how to do this job would be apreciated
Thanks

There's a thread on this elsewhere on this forum, and on other forums.

Anyone remember where it is? Matt? Hobie Nick? Anyone else done this repair? Any comments or hints?

In brief, go in through the portholes, take a Dremel tool (or a rounded sandpaper block) and sand down the 'glue' that was used to join the deck to the hulls. The idea is to remove all the lumps and other unevenness, so that when you glass, the glass will attach securely and bond strongly to both the hull and the deck.

Yes, it's tough to work inside the front porthole, and if you want to do it at the stern as well, you'll need to cut and install new (smaller) portholes.

After sanding, take a 6" wide strip of fibreglass, in total about 30 - 36" long, and glass that to each hull-deck joint, centred on the cross bars. This will be a labour of love - I had a good local glass shop quote me, and they wanted more than the H18 is worth! Why? 'cos a lot of the time, they will be working with a flashlight and a mirror, one handed, inside a 5" or 6" porthole. Makes sense. Good luck.

_________________
2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'

Not inside the hulls

From the outside if you push your hand into the dagerboard well there is a small lip at the top and the bottom ....
This lip is filled with some kind of resin that has cracked and fallen off in many places...


You can just se it in this photo

I don't remember seeing this thread on this forum. I'll do some searching today on "The Other" forums and see what I can find. I am planning on refinihsing my hulls this fall so this repair is somthing I am interested in.

On my boat I noticed I have lots of sand an pebbles in the bottom seam that I would like to remove when I do it. I do know that my concern is getting any extra material on teh surface that contacts the dagger boards as that can be a very sensitive area for the proper function of the boards.

As for the proper material I know you can get resins that have a playdoh texture, but I woudl be concerned about adhesion without proper surface prep. You need to get in there and remove the gelcoat and slightly rough up the surface for the resion to adhere to.

I'll get back later today (lunchtime on the east coast) with more info if no one has beat me to it.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

I've done some searching haven't found any more information out yet. If I come across anything I'll let you know.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

I have sanded in there with a dremel...
and plan to take a small brush and spread resin arround the joints...
I have some particles to add to paint to make a non slip surface...do you think theese would be any good to make the resin thiker?

The first question,
How old is your boat?
Second question, top or bottom seam?

I am assuming that the boat is old and that you are looking at the bottom of the trunk. Older 18's had a Hull-trunk-deck style construction with a seam at the top and bottom of the trunk.

The bottom seam is under water and prone to big leaks, the top seam is also subject to leaking, but is above the waterline when the boat is parked. We used to do this repair with Marine Tex epoxy. You can use WEST or any other quality marine epoxy, but you will have to add filler to make a peanut butter consistancy putty.

Sand the area with sand paper on a stick. Use a putty knife to squish the marine tex into the joint. You can use a dowel to push the putty into the front and rear of the trunk. It sticks to everything so tape off the areas you don't want it to stick, like the area the board slides on. Take the tape off before the resin sets up and you will be good to go. The top seam works the same way. Turning the boat upside down will make the Marine Tex "flow" into the seam better.

Hammond thanks for the help but
when you say filler you mean white paste putty no? I dont add the putty hardner no?

The formula would be = Resin + Resin hardner + Filler (NO filler hardner)
and mix untill peanut butter texture
correct?

Don't add the nonslip compound to the resin to thicken it. I would add micro ballons or scilica powder. Both very light and strong.

If you can find the putty epoxy, that would be nice. It is easier to control and mold. It won't run and it will not as easily stick to unwanted areas. Just make sure you do the surface prep.

It sounds like you're on teh right rack.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

We just did one of these repairs in the shop here in Santa Cruz. The joint is difficult to get to as you have discovered. In order to get the glue to go where we wanted it we stuck a vacuum pump in the drain plug and pumped a little vacuum. That sucked the epoxy right into the hole we wanted to seal. We first mixed a batch with no fillers so the epoxy would penetrate deep into the wound. Then we added some 404 filler to the mix. Due to the fact that you cant see the repair, we did not gelcoat it or finish it--just smoothed it off. We did exactly as you did to prep the repair. We took a dremel and ate away some material. I have done this with polyester resin and milled fiber and microbaloons and it works fine. I've even used a shop vac before. That is actually a bit much pressure, so vent it slightly at the drain plug. Hope that helps.

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Sail Revolution
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