Recent content by Hacker

Lavac tried that as a vacuum seal but it wasn’t very popular ;)

@PaulRainbow whats the practical difference between the EchoMap and the GPSMap?

Ask @jwilson if his boat in Falmouth is available

Fothering was (and possibly still is) a standard damage control practice in the RN. I’ve never done it in practice (either from my armchair or on a boat). I merely suggested it as a technique that didn’t require entry into the water.

You could attempt to fother it by attaching ropes to each corner of a sheet/duvet and pulling it under water to seal the opening. It saves you having to enter the water.

Personally I would fix with epoxy/thickened epoxy having wiped the surfaces down with acetone. When clamped you should get squeeze out that will show all gaps are filled. When cleaned up and varnished it will be as good as any of the other corners.

Butyl tape. Put a bead around the frame and a small piece under the crew heads. Never sets and any squeeze out can be trimmed.

But if the original layup was epoxy then polyester has poor chemical bond characteristics. Usually easier to use epoxy as that bond to both polyester and epoxy.

What is the replacement ply for? If it’s just a pad on the inside of the boat (to screw something to) then an adhesive such as Sika 291 would be fine. If it’s to replace a structural piece then epoxy and thickened epoxy (as in post above). If it is an internal pad then give it a couple of coats...

If you align the grain (as you always should) then a circular repair is no more obvious than any other shape.

It’s another way but not necessarily the easiest. I teach wooden boat restoration and we teach all those, if I need to be quick (and time is money) I know which I will use. If I’m restoring something classic then I use the traditional methods.

Whilst that is the traditional method; the easy way is to get a Forstner bit and a plug cutter/ hole saw that match exactly. Saves a lot of chiselling.

If you are sanding the top then save the sawdust and mix it with glue. You could experiment with using superglue added to sawdust that has been packed into a groove. I’ve never tried that method but understand it works well.

If you had you would be aware of the internal mouldings. Having owned a Crabber 26 I can attest to the build quality (including encapsulated lead keel) which goes a long way to explain the price.

Have you been in one?