Help needed to source fiberglass repair to hull

[Revellers]

I have looked everywhere, Scouring the internet for hours on end.

I am repairing a not so much bargain 34 ft sailboat i have bought. But shes worth the effort

The moulding from the hull which is fiberglass is joined to plywood for some reason ? Dont know why its not all grp

The ply is shot in areas which has to be replaced .

There is a molding which joins the 2 together is a d profile trim made from resin about 2" wide which i cant seem to find a supplier,

theres the d mold plastic window trim i could use but would it be strong enough . would prefer to find the resin based one.

im open to any helpful advice .just want to get the job done and get the old girl up and running or should i say sailing again

 

[Tranona]

Not unusual for a boat to be built with a GRP hull and a wood superstructure because hull moulds are relatively cheap and easy to make, but complex superstructures are difficult to mould in small volumes.

What design of boat is it and who built it?

Suspect that covering piece was custom made - easy enough to mould in GRP with a simple female mould, or you might be able to cover the join with wood. Have to say, though, looking at the rot you have exposed rings alarm bells as generally wood and ply superstructures and decks on GRP hulls have not lasted well. Once water gets in and starts rot it spreads without much external sign and you only discover the extent once you start cutting bits out to replace.

 

[Revellers]

Hi thanks for the speedy reply.
the boat is a one off racer the prevoius owner told me,
shes based on a moody 33.
the ply that rotted is the back 10ft theres 2 layers of 9mm ply .
the hull is cored and when i poking i thought this has gone all the way down into the hull
but where the hull joint is its sealed with resin.
whats your thoughts about using the uvpc dmould window trim ?

 

[chrishscorp]

whats your thoughts about using the uvpc dmould window trim ?

UPVC may prove to be quite brittle in time, however in terms of finding a ready made nicely finished item for you to use to make a female mould with to then make something out of fibreglass it would be ideal

 

[Daydream believer]

Search the internet to find the correct foam & use that to shape a mould. Then make your own GRP section. That is what boat builders do.
But I have to say, albeit from a small picture, that that ply looks past its sell by date.

 

[Graham376]

UPVC may prove to be quite brittle in time, however in terms of finding a ready made nicely finished item for you to use to make a female mould with to then make something out of fibreglass it would be ideal

I agree. UPVC window trims are often foam interior with a thin skin which is fine for domestic use but won't take impact damage well.

 

[pvb]

the boat is a one off racer the prevoius owner told me,
shes based on a moody 33.
the ply that rotted is the back 10ft theres 2 layers of 9mm ply .

I've never ever seen anything like that. It looks like a DIY bodge. You'd be well advised to check the integrity of other parts of the boat.

 

[Tranona]

Hi thanks for the speedy reply.
the boat is a one off racer the prevoius owner told me,
shes based on a moody 33.
the ply that rotted is the back 10ft theres 2 layers of 9mm ply .
the hull is cored and when i poking i thought this has gone all the way down into the hull
but where the hull joint is its sealed with resin.
whats your thoughts about using the uvpc dmould window trim ?

This makes more alarm bells ring (or the same ones ring even louder!) What did your surveyor say when you bought the boat? I f you have not had a survey then get one fast before you do any more work as suspect what you see is only the tip of the iceberg. You need to know the condition of the rest of the hull and superstructure before you even think about repairing what you can see.

I too am intrigued by the history of the boat. Cannot imagine anybody wanting a racing boat starting with a Moody 33 hull, never mind building a wooden "shed" on top of it. As I suggested earlier, wood superstructures and decks on GRP hulls, even the best professional ones were not a good idea in the first place and time has shown the sceptics to be right. They were popular with DIY builders because they allowed individual designs to be built on proven hulls and while the hull may still be sound (although yours maybe not if water has got into the core) 40 years+ exposure to the elements will have taken their toll.

 

[Revellers]

Search the internet to find the correct foam & use that to shape a mould. Then make your own GRP section. That is what boat builders do.
But I have to say, albeit from a small picture, that that ply looks past its sell by date.

will look into this sounds the way forward thanks for the advice

 

[Revellers]

This makes more alarm bells ring (or the same ones ring even louder!) What did your surveyor say when you bought the boat? I f you have not had a survey then get one fast before you do any more work as suspect what you see is only the tip of the iceberg. You need to know the condition of the rest of the hull and superstructure before you even think about repairing what you can see.

I too am intrigued by the history of the boat. Cannot imagine anybody wanting a racing boat starting with a Moody 33 hull, never mind building a wooden "shed" on top of it. As I suggested earlier, wood superstructures and decks on GRP hulls, even the best professional ones were not a good idea in the first place and time has shown the sceptics to be right. They were popular with DIY builders because they allowed individual designs to be built on proven hulls and while the hull may still be sound (although yours maybe not if water has got into the core) 40 years+ exposure to the elements will have taken their toll.

i will post some pictures a bit later .

i bought the boat down in gosport 3 yrs ago shes been on a bouy for about 12 yrs paid £800 , was going to sail her up to hull and get lifted out for the refit.
ended up putting on back of a truck last summer and shes now in south ferriby cost was £1200.

its going to be intresting and hard work but im into the boat i own a mooring in torriveaje spain lets see what time will bring

shes 34ft l and beam is 3.5mts with a draught of 6ft2inch

 

[Rappey]

Looking at the picture would I be right in thinking the grp part ends not far above the waterline and the rest of the freeboard is ply ?

 

[Revellers]

Yes the freeboard is ply two layers of 9mm about a foot high, where the mold ends should be where the deck should be but it looks like she's been extended to give extra height.

 

[Revellers]

 

[Thistle]

This makes more alarm bells ring (or the same ones ring even louder!) What did your surveyor say when you bought the boat? I f you have not had a survey then get one fast before you do any more work as suspect what you see is only the tip of the iceberg. You need to know the condition of the rest of the hull and superstructure before you even think about repairing what you can see.

I too am intrigued by the history of the boat. Cannot imagine anybody wanting a racing boat starting with a Moody 33 hull, never mind building a wooden "shed" on top of it. As I suggested earlier, wood superstructures and decks on GRP hulls, even the best professional ones were not a good idea in the first place and time has shown the sceptics to be right. They were popular with DIY builders because they allowed individual designs to be built on proven hulls and while the hull may still be sound (although yours maybe not if water has got into the core) 40 years+ exposure to the elements will have taken their toll.

I'm with Tranona on this. My feeling is that the best investment in a boat like this could well be a pair of running shoes to help you put distance between you and it.

 

[Revellers]

I'm with Tranona on this. My feeling is that the best investment in a boat like this could well be a pair of running shoes to help you put distance between you and it.

I've had a good poke around and to be honest. All the toe/run rails need replacing. They are in teak and this is where the problems started with ply. I'll keep poking around tho.
Im thinking of replacing the toe gun rail which is 1inch deep and 6 inch wide with iroko. It runs the full length of the boat Just wondering if any one has any thoughts on this

 

[Tranona]

Well, at least it is not a Moody 33 hull although I don't know what it is. It is probably a DIY by somebody who thought they knew better than a proper boat builder. Before you waste any more time effort and money on it you really should get a professional opinion on the wood superstructure and deck. Every time you add something about what needs doing rings alarm bells. Neglected (poorly built?) wooden decks, never mind raised ply topsides on a GRP hull that has been neglected is a recipe for disaster.

Leaking toe rails is the best indication of terminal rot in the deck and topside edges - that and where your raised topsides meet the GRP hull are the weak points, just as you have discovered. The fact that water has penetrated the core of the GRP just makes things worse. Just to show what I mean, invest in one of these (the small one) google.com/search?q=ball+pein+hammer&oq=Ball+pein+hammer&aqs=chrome.0.0i512l2j0i10i433j0i512l6j0i10.6016j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 and use it to tap along the ply raised topsides just above the GRP hull and below the toe rail. Any sound areas will ring clear and rotten will be dull. You cannot mistake the dull sound, but check it on the rotten areas you have found already at the stern. You can do the same on both the deck and the grp hull. On the latter it will tell you where water has penetrated the core.

£800 was far too much money to pay - £8000 paid by the seller to take it away would still not be worth it. Boats come with the fixed cost of storage and then cost of disposal when they turn out to be beyond economic repair, so as Thistle says, find a way of getting out of it as quickly as possible!

 

[Concerto]

Revellers, your best bet would be to break the boat up and sell is as parts. The mast and boom have some value, along with winches and blocks. If the engine works, then you can sell it as working or if not as spares/repair, not forgetting the propeller. The instruments and electronics are probably old, but someone might want them. Other items like the cooker and toilet may be wanted by someone. Even the keel might be sold or sold for scrap. Then cut the boat up and burn what you can, recovering any metal fitting to sell as scrap. This should still show you a profit over your current expenditure. Then go and buy a boat in better condition and go sailing.

 

[Daydream believer]

Im thinking of replacing the toe gun rail which is 1inch deep and 6 inch wide with iroko. It runs the full length of the boat Just wondering if any one has any thoughts on this

Forgive my ignorance, but what is a "toe gun rail"?

 

[Tranona]

Phonetic spelling for "gunwhale" (mixed with toe rail). Look at the photos. Big bit of teak all round the deck edge.

 

[Daydream believer]

Phonetic spelling for "gunwhale" (mixed with toe rail). Look at the photos. Big bit of teak all round the deck edge.

Thanks.
The size -6inch * 1 inch- confused me. Seems a large section of timber for a toe rail on a boat that might have been built light for "racing". More like a bulwark, than a toe rail. Plus the picture does not suggest a timber quite that large.