Hole in boat

[treilley]

After sanding off the remainder of the barrier coat this weekend, I was surprised to find a hole where the gelcoat is very thin around the rudder tube. It appears there is no glass in this area at all. There is also a hole on the other side as well.

 

[Loren Beach]

Seepage or leakage to the interior not being mentioned, one could start to assume a void in that area, under that gel coat layer. Grind back and apply glass and epoxy as needed to fill and fair. If grinding into any layers of roving, grind out a scarf slope to give the new glass good adherence.

Interesting... the stuff you run across in a 20 year old hull. I have found equally odd bits here and there -- nothing structural, just signs that some workers on some days were in a somewhat of a hurry to go eat some lunch, maybe.


Sidebar: while our boat was in the yard a couple of months ago, there was an 80's model E-28 nearby getting all the old layers of bottom paint stripped, and I noticed that the owner had epoxy-faired in a small area right around the rudder tube entry. Interesting coincidence. His patch was not structural, either.

Best wishes,
Loren

 

[treilley]

I was able to poke a thin screwdriver about an inch into the hole. It appears that I could see the outside of the rudder tube inside this hole. I have not yet been able to get down inside the locker to see if I could see daylight in there. Does this go into the inside of the hull or is this just an unfilled cavity? I am actually hoping that I can simply pour some thickened epoxy in there once I have glassed over the hole in order close up the cavity bhind the hole.