Hull leaks

[Daydream believer]

Interesting. So the outside was sheathed with glass and resin, but inside the hull was simply treated with resin- no glass.
I’m thinking about going to take a look at a boat, with a view to buying. This too has glass/epoxy on the exterior but not inside. Carvel built, copper riveted. Nervous.

Yes, but the resin internally was not like the resin you get when you mix 2 parts of ordinary west 2 pack. This was more like antifreeze consistency (but clear in colour). It had intense seeking properties & one flood brushed it on the surface. It was drawn into the wood & into any crack or void. When hardened the surface had a hard crystaline feel. The fumes were viciuos & wessex would only sell it to me once I demonstrated that I already had air assisted masks for my spray shop, to remove the fumes that were trapped in the hull area. I also had fans each end to blow the fumes away & the workshop doors wide open.
When done it took white Leyland floor paint very well, on the areas that were exposed to the cockpit & saloon. I did not coat the underside of the deck & cabin roof as these were new plywood, fitted after the hull was completed & sheathed externally. I did not feel that I wanted to use the product in an enclosed environment due to the fumes.

The problem with not sealing the inside, is that moisture can get behind the outer sheathing. I believe new boats can be sheathed externally, but I do not know if new boats are sealed internally. I would also point out that my boat was sand blasted first. This made an excellent surface for bonding. Much better than a flush sanded one, as the resin can soak in better. All paint, grease & loose wood was removed with a vengance.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

XODs don’t get sandblasted, but otherwise the process is similar, but minus the glass cloth. That’s not allowed in the class rules, and in any case it might have too much of a weight penalty. You need the right moisture content, and the right type of resin, as DDB says. Not just an epoxy varnish, so to speak. It's the boats that aren’t treated that have the maintenance issues, not the epoxied ones.

 

[jamie N]

This is a very interesting reopened thread that's become relevant to me. A few months ago I did a sail around Orkney, with very little leaksge on the boat. I think that we all know what's 'normal' for our own boat, and all was well. Last week, I was leaving Rispond Bay to got to KLB, around Cape Wrath, when I 'felt' the bilge pump going off every 1-3 minutes.
This is bad.
Down below beneath the water tank it was apparent that a keel bolt was allowing a lot of water in.
OK, quick change of plan and I sailed back to Inverness via Scrabster & Wick. Alongside Wick, over a 36 hour period, the pump activity reduced until it was every 2 hours; being alongside had 'healed' it.
Wick to Inverness was very windy and bouncy, with the pump back to every minute or so, and now alongside again, it's back at every 4-5 minutes, and relaxing a bit as I feel the time between pumps will further increase.
There's a second automatic pump, so pump failure's not a problem, and the boat will be lifted out in a month.
The plan is to release the keel bolts, and raise the boat an inch or so, then resealing again. I have been considering West stuff, but know very little about it, so will investigate much further.
I will give it a very good coat of looking at when I next back at the boat, and can see exactly where the leaks are.