leaking P bracket, boat in the water ...

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PWR

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I have a leaking P bracket on my Sadler 25, caused by a rope wrap on the prop last weekend. The P bracket itself was reglassed last year when I replaced the cutlass bearing, but the rope wrap caused the glass to move, now seawater seeping in, not fast but worrying. Other factors - the boat is on a drying mooring depending on tides it may be dry for up to 2 hours twice a day. I think that the P bracket is not bolted to anything inside the hull but has short cross bolts of some kind holding it in place laterally (i.e. left to right) over the hull gap and then the whole lot glassed in. See picture, the little glassed over stud in front of the stainless steel fuel tank is what I mean.

What is the best short term approach? Sponge out, dry off with acetone, apply fibreglass strand mat and resin, do a few layers, leave to cure as long as possible then cover the lot with 2 part epoxy?

Assuming (think positive) that solves the short term problem monitor it for leakage then take the lot out at the end of the season and put in a proper set up with some internal fixing inside the hull to better secure it?

Thanks for any advice.

(PS - also posted on the Sadler & Starlight forum, there may be some people who contribute on both)
 
Last edited:
PWR said:
I have a leaking P bracket on my Sadler 25, caused by a rope wrap on the prop last weekend. The P bracket itself was reglassed last year when I replaced the cutlass bearing, but a recent rope wrap caused the glass to move, now seawater seeping in, not fast but worrying. Other factors - the boat is on a drying mooring depending on tides it may be dry for up to 2 hours twice a day. I think that the P bracket is not bolted to anything inside the hull but has short cross bolts of some kind holding it in place laterally (i.e. left to right) over the hull gap and then the whole lot glassed in. See picture, the little glassed over stud in front of the stainless steel fuel tank is what I mean.

What is the best short term approach? Sponge out, dry off with acetone, apply fibreglass strand mat and resin, do a few layers, leave to cure as long as possible then cover the lot with 2 part epoxy?

Assuming (think positive) that solves the short term problem monitor it for leakage then take the lot out at the end of the season and put in a proper set up with some internal fixing inside the hull to better secure it?

Thanks for any advice.

(PS - also posted on the Sadler & Starlight forum, there may be some people who contribute on both)
Click to expand...

a claim form
 
PWR said:
I have a leaking P bracket on my Sadler 25
(PS - also posted on the Sadler & Starlight forum, there may be some people who contribute on both)
Click to expand...

I fear you will need rather more than 2 hours 'dried out' to make any sensible sort of even a short-term fix. I had the same problem on my Sadler29 many years ago and it was a several-weeks-ashore job.

(BTW, your post on the Sadler forum does not indicate what type of boat ....you may want to edit the post to say it is a 25 in order to get helpful advise).
 
I ran it tonight to assess the amount of water coming in, which is maybe .2 of a litre in 5 mins with engine in neutral, somewhat more if running in gear at low revs. I hope to get a work around fix that will allow me to get in and out of the harbour at the weekend, and ideally for the rest of the season, then do a proper fix when the boat is out of the water in the Autumn.

She took on about 35 litres from Sunday to now, so .4 litre per hour since moored.
 
VicMallows said:
I fear you will need rather more than 2 hours 'dried out' to make any sensible sort of even a short-term fix. I had the same problem on my Sadler29 many years ago and it was a several-weeks-ashore job.

(BTW, your post on the Sadler forum does not indicate what type of boat ....you may want to edit the post to say it is a 25 in order to get helpful advise).
Click to expand...

have done that now, ta for suggesting.
 
A1Sailor said:
Are you planning on using the engine (well, the prop) before you get it fixed?
Click to expand...

I was thinking along much the same lines. Forget the racing, get it fixed. You are knowingly sailing your boat around with a leak and insecure bearing support. Perhaps subsequent damage would not be covered by insurance.
 
PWR said:
I have a leaking P bracket on my Sadler 25, caused by a rope wrap on the prop last weekend. The P bracket itself was reglassed last year when I replaced the cutlass bearing, but the rope wrap caused the glass to move, now seawater seeping in, not fast but worrying. Other factors - the boat is on a drying mooring depending on tides it may be dry for up to 2 hours twice a day. I think that the P bracket is not bolted to anything inside the hull but has short cross bolts of some kind holding it in place laterally (i.e. left to right) over the hull gap and then the whole lot glassed in. See picture, the little glassed over stud in front of the stainless steel fuel tank is what I mean.

What is the best short term approach? Sponge out, dry off with acetone, apply fibreglass strand mat and resin, do a few layers, leave to cure as long as possible then cover the lot with 2 part epoxy?

Assuming (think positive) that solves the short term problem monitor it for leakage then take the lot out at the end of the season and put in a proper set up with some internal fixing inside the hull to better secure it?

Thanks for any advice.

(PS - also posted on the Sadler & Starlight forum, there may be some people who contribute on both)
Click to expand...
Same thing happened to me a few years ago couldnt get at bracket inside of boat(behind fuel tank).If its just a crack all the way round where it meets the hull and otherwise seems secure,just get some fibreglass tape and polyester resin and just wrap it round whilst stipling in the resin go round several times working upwards and fair it in to the hull.No doubt someone will say I should of used epoxy but its lasted 7 years so far.The work was done between tides.
 
If you are on a drying mooring I assume you are a bilge keeler so why not get it onto a beach where you could get longer to asses the situation. The amounts of water you are talking about I would say is more than a slight worry.
You could be causing more damage if the bracket is loose or out of alignment.
 
Your boat is sinking. Get it out of the water NOW. Even running the engine, you are damaging the cutlass bearings with the chance of catastrophic failure.

This is not something that can be done on a tide. The p bracket will need cut out, all delaminated/water saturated fiberglass removed and then the p bracket aligned with shaft decoupled from the engine and bonded into place with either a steel plate or marine ply backing with the whole lot fiberglassed with many layers of csm/wr for strength.
 
I'd be thinking proper repair asap and I wouldn't be using the engine. Flexing broken grp will open up the laminations in a normal layered structure, on the Sadler I'd be more concerned as I believe the hull is a foam sandwich? It should be solid laminate around the P bracket but there is the possibility of water getting into the foam making it a bigger job.
 
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