Any Idea what this could be?

[mounty95]

I posted here back in the beginning of May about taking ownership of an Ericson 30+ that is in need of a home before it is cut up. I am still on the fence with the taking on of this project and am curious about this one potential problem. On the starboard side of the hull below the waterline there is this perfectly round hole that I am not sure why it is there. I can't seem to trace it to a hose or anything on the inside and wondering if anyone has a clue what it could be. Obviously it can be filled, patched and we can move on, but wanted to solicit opinions as to what might have been there or what was supposed to go there. So much has been taken off of this boat that I really need pictures and descriptions of what everything is and were it should belong to get a total picture of what I have or don't have. Your opinions are always welcome. Here is a picture to show it.



Thanks for any advice.

 

[toddster]

Depth or speed sensor?

 

[mounty95]

Depth or speed sensor?

Would there have been wires that would have come down to this through the hull? It seems that a majority of the electronics have been stripped of the boat. Did Ericson put a depth or speed sensor here initially? What should I look for on the inside?

 

[toddster]

There might not be anything left. The wires are usually hard-wired to the sensor. The speed sensor is in a similar location on my boat. Inside, it's in a small bilge under the hanging locker.

Although that looks pretty rough... Coincidentally, I just removed mine yesterday. One clue is that the old sensor hole was countersunk into the hull to make a flush mount. I'll need to enlarge the hole for my new one, which is larger in diameter and does not have the beveled edge for the countersink.

 

[Pat C.]

My original speed sensor was in that exact location before I moved it to the foot locker at the base of the V berth for easier access. The only way to access it in the original spot was the starboard lazarette, but forward beneath interior cabinetry (in other words, it was not accessible). The yard fiberglass guys sealed the remaining hole up quite easily.

 

[mherrcat]

Looks like a lightening strike may have blown the speed transducer out of the hull...

:0

 

[bayhoss]

I'm leaning in the same direction of Mark with the lightning strike. Are there cracks around the hole?

Best,
Frank

 

[exoduse35]

Single 10 gauge shotgun blast... run before the other barrel goes off!:0

 

[mherrcat]

Single 10 gauge shotgun blast... run before the other barrel goes off!

Ha! That does look about right. Maybe #8 or #7 1/2 from about three or four feet away.

 

[mounty95]

Here is a more straight on shot. I can't find the other side of this inside. When you put your finger up inside the hole there is nothing by core material (no piece of fiberglass or wires). A lot of stuff has been stolen from the boat and a speed sensor in this location and pilfered sounds right.

 

[Maine Sail]

I posted here back in the beginning of May about taking ownership of an Ericson 30+ that is in need of a home before it is cut up. I am still on the fence with the taking on of this project and am curious about this one potential problem. On the starboard side of the hull below the waterline there is this perfectly round hole that I am not sure why it is there. I can't seem to trace it to a hose or anything on the inside and wondering if anyone has a clue what it could be. Obviously it can be filled, patched and we can move on, but wanted to solicit opinions as to what might have been there or what was supposed to go there. So much has been taken off of this boat that I really need pictures and descriptions of what everything is and were it should belong to get a total picture of what I have or don't have. Your opinions are always welcome. Here is a picture to show it.View attachment 11389Thanks for any advice.

Looks very much like a lightning strike exit wound...

 

[Loren Beach]

Sensor Surmises

Here is a more straight on shot. I can't find the other side of this inside. When you put your finger up inside the hole there is nothing by core material (no piece of fiberglass or wires). A lot of stuff has been stolen from the boat and a speed sensor in this location and pilfered sounds right.

View attachment 11393

You might be feeling the edge of the backing plate. Plywood, maybe.
Stolen sensor perhaps -- considering the value (near 0) of very old instruments & sensors, that would have been one dumb crook indeed.

LB

 

[Bob Hunt]

Looks very much like a lightning strike exit wound...

The attached pic shows actual lightning strike exit damage. Lightning exited the boat's anchor-well drain hole that is shown upper left. The typical morphological characteristics of lightning strike exit damage are:

1. Blackened laminate;

2. Fractured gelcoat surface;

3. Outward forcing of laminate surface.

Bob Hunt

 

[mounty95]

So the question or solicitation of opinions is this: what would you do to rectify? Would you cut a plug to fit in the hole and glass it? I think a 3/4" thick round piece of wood would fill the hole and then glass it.

Other options are welcome as well if it was a speed sensor and the wiring is accessible although I really don't remember seeing it.

 

[Slick470]

take a look at Don Casey's book on fiberglass repair. Hell, if you want to buy this boat you should look at the consolidated boat repair book he did. It covers all kinds of repairs you will find yourself getting into. Oddly though it doesn't have a chapter on plumbing, which I always thought was weird, but otherwise it's a great resource.

If I remember right, for any fiberglass repair you want to grind out around the hole 12:1 and then laminate it back up with fiberglass. Simply plugging the hole will not provide enough bond to the adjacent material. I have almost zilch experience with actually doing this though, I only know what I've read, so YMMV.

 

[Maine Sail]

The attached pic shows actual lightning strike exit damage. Lightning exited the boat's anchor-well drain hole that is shown upper left. The typical morphological characteristics of lightning strike exit damage are:

1. Blackened laminate;

2. Fractured gelcoat surface;

3. Outward forcing of laminate surface.

Bob Hunt

And here's more "actual lightning damage"... This happened to a boat a few hundreds yards from ours on the same night we were hit. We lost 25K in systems and electronics damage but our hull was 100% un-damaged. This guy not so lucky boat took on massive amounts of water and suffered a near total loss..

 

[toddster]

You can also download and read the West System fiberglass repair manuals for free. Of course, they assume that you will be using their products.
http://www.westsystem.com/ss/use-guides/

 

[Bob Hunt]

Lightning damage...

The pic looks like typical lightning damage that entered the hull from the outside. The typical morphology is a small hole with blackened laminate and a chipped gelcoat. Sanding into the area usually reveals a black crack that wanders through the laminate and little else. It's not uncommon to see very fine lines in the bottom paint radiating from the main defect like the spokes of a wheel.

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/image/143541418.jpg

Bob Hunt

 

[Bob Hunt]

So the question or solicitation of opinions is this: what would you do to rectify? Would you cut a plug to fit in the hole and glass it? I think a 3/4" thick round piece of wood would fill the hole and then glass it.

Other options are welcome as well if it was a speed sensor and the wiring is accessible although I really don't remember seeing it.

Here's how I have repaired many holes in hulls that were below the waterline. And there have been no failures.

First of all, using a random orbital sander and 36-grit sandpaper produce an evenly tapered cone in the laminate. Just imagine that there is a hole in the center of the cone in the pic.



If there is a hole, apply duct tape or high density polyethylene to the inside of the hull. Then, using 1.5-oz. mat and your favorite resin, mold the primary bonding layer to the entire surface of the cone using a serrated roller.



Then mold additional layers of the mat gradually filling the cone. Begin with a small circle and then increase the size of each layer so that the layers of mat are parallel with the hull's surface. Overfill the cone with layers of mat and resin until the final layer is slightly proud to the hull's surface.



Then sand the surface of the cone that you have filled with new laminate until it is fair with the hull's surface. At this point, since I've used a vinyl ester resin, I would finish the repair by applying new gelcoat and then sanding it fair as well. The job is done.



Bob Hunt

 

[mounty95]

Bob,

That is an awesome demonstration with pictures and language on how to resolve. I feel very confident in this job should I decide to take this boat on. Still considering. Nothing is final. An engine and sails are my biggest projects with everything else just hopefully falling in line in terms of have to fix, should fix, can wait to fix.

Thank you everyone for the comments and advice.