Haul out

While bringing the boat up from La Paz to Long Beach, we hit a set of waves that ripped the skin of the port ama.  We did a temporary glassing in MX but it was just a rush job, and not professionally done, and it was feared that water may be trapped under the glass which would cause a whole ‘nother set of problems.

It was decided to remove the quickie repair and do it again professionally in Long Beach.  At the same time we would structurally reinforce the hulls so that it was much stronger.

Copied from the invoice of the boatworks that did the work……

Hull repairs
Upon the vessel’s arrival and prior to haulout, we visibly inspected the reported areas of the hull damage in an effort to determine if the vessel was structurally sound enough for hauling out with only slings.   After haulout, we further evaluated the condition of reported areas of damage, and reviewed the owner-supplied construction drawings.   We found that there was a fillet in the areas of cracking.  This fillet had no structural fibers in it, and the fillet was excessively large.  Over time, this non-reinforced fillet had cracked.  Upon grinding out the cracking fillet, we noted cracking in the underlying fiberglass skin.

We conferred with a Naval Architect regarding the cracking who requested that we grind out the failed fillet so that the underlying fiberglass skin could be viewed. We ground out the failed epoxy fillet and noted cracks in the underlying fiberglass skin, but did not note any visible evidence of wood rot, or structural failure.

As recommended by the Naval Architect, we ground off the surrounding fiberglass skin approximately 4” – 5” outwards from the junction of the hulls to bridge deck, and also sanded off the paint outboard of the removed fiberglass skin approximately 2” – 3″ so that we could get good continuity between the wood, the existing fiberglass skin and the new fiberglass laminates that are applied using WEST system epoxy.  WEST system bonds very well to wood and the old fiberglass skin.

Installed a properly sized epoxy fillet that is reinforced with micro-fibers. Applied two layers of DBM fiberglass roving @ +/- 45 degrees over the junctions of the hulls to the underside of the bridge deck, using West System. The areas were sanded, primed, epoxy filled, and moderately faired.

(Owner comment:  After viewing the repairs, the Naval Architect said the boat’s life had been extended 15 years at least).

Labor ………………. $7,540.00
Proj. Mgmt. ……… $754.00
Consumables……. $829.40
Supplies ………….. $2,212.06
Section total  =  $11,335.46

Replace propshaft zinc
Upon the vessel’s arrival and haulout, we noted that the propshaft zinc
was extremely deteriorated and close to falling off. We removed the
propshaft zinc, cleaned the mounting location of the zinc to remove
surface corrosion, purchased and installed a new zinc.
No Charge