waterproofing a dagerboard trunk?
Tom Wolverton
suspect that the daggerboard trunk is somewhat leaky. What is the best
way to seal the inside of this up? I was thinking of taping off one end
(the bottom end) and filling it up with lam. resin for a minute or so and
then removing the tape so the resin could flow out - thus wetting the
entire inside surfaces. Is this the way most folks do it - or is there a
better way? (Besides, ripping out the whole trunk and rebuilding it.)
Thanks.
Bruce W. Given
wol...@impulse.net says...
>
>I'm restoring a wooden SeaShell sailing dingy that has a dagerboard. I
>suspect that the daggerboard trunk is somewhat leaky.
I guess I don't completely understand the problem here since even a
somewhat leaky daggerboard trunk should reveal itself by, well-- leaking.
If the case has been leaking you'll have to decide: is this water passing
by well protected and sheathed wood through a defectively caulked joint,
or is this water passing by bare wood? If the latter, you know what's
going on in there (euphamism: "soft wood"). "Soft Wood" needs replacing,
not sheathing. As clever as your idea is, I suspect the first time that
case takes any torsion from the daggerboard doing what its supposed to
do, your seal will crack and the wood will continue rotting, oops--
'scuse me, getting softer. Someone on this newsgroup has a signature
line to the effect that the trouble with good ideas is that they quickly
degenerate into hard work-- I'm afraid that's very true for your
situation. I'd vote for the slow, hard, right way-- unless you've merely
got a void in the caulking.
Eric Blumhagen
Tom Wolverton <wol...@impulse.net> wrote:
>I'm restoring a wooden SeaShell sailing dingy that has a dagerboard. I
>way to seal the inside of this up? I was thinking of taping off one end
>(the bottom end) and filling it up with lam. resin for a minute or so and
>then removing the tape so the resin could flow out - thus wetting the
>entire inside surfaces. Is this the way most folks do it - or is there a
>better way? (Besides, ripping out the whole trunk and rebuilding it.)
>
>Thanks.
The first thing you should do is turn the boat over and see if you can
find any cracks or other leaks. If you do, then fill those up first, and
then see if the boat still leaks. I would recommend either epoxy or
polyester (whichever the boat was originally constructed with) mixed with
microballons or milled glass fibers so that the consistency is about like
syrup. Push the goop into the holes as far as it will go, then sand the
excess off.
If there are no apparent leaks, and water is still coming in, then it
might get tricky. I would probably smooth some of the above mixture around
the edges of the trunk, and sand it down smooth after it set up.
Another very good way to find leaks is to blow air into the hull (if it
has tanks or air space by the trunk) with a shop-vac or something, and put
soapy water around the areas that you think are leaking. If air comes out
through the water, it will be obvious, and the search for leaks is vastly
narrowed down.
--Eric
PS Please don't flame me about the epoxy/polyester issue. I firmly believe
that unless there is very good reason to the contrary, repairs should be
done with the same material that was used to build the boat.
--
| We have been put here on this earth | Eric Blumhagen |
| to fart around, and don't let anyone | blum...@u.washington.edu |
| tell you differently. | |
| --Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. | |
Mark Anderson
In article <wolvert-2401...@sb-7.impulse.net>,
wol...@impulse.net (Tom Wolverton) wrote:
> I'm restoring a wooden SeaShell sailing dingy that has a dagerboard. I
> suspect that the daggerboard trunk is somewhat leaky. What is the best
> way to seal the inside of this up? I was thinking of taping off one end
> (the bottom end) and filling it up with lam. resin for a minute or so and
> then removing the tape so the resin could flow out - thus wetting the
> entire inside surfaces. Is this the way most folks do it - or is there a
> better way? (Besides, ripping out the whole trunk and rebuilding it.)
>
> Thanks.
Clever idea but I agree with Bruce Givens that you need to locate the
problem. If the boat wasn't originally an epoxy sealed boat, (sounds
likely since it's leaking), I'll assume that the centerboard trunk was
built in the more traditional way. Therefore you may be able to dismantle
the trunk as needed and replace and rotten wood and/or rebed/recaulk the
bedlogs, or wherever the leak is. A look at a book on centerboard trunk
construction in a traditional boatbuilding book may help clarify things.
I'm also assuming the trunk is fully accessible as you said that you're
working on a dinghy. Any epoxy repair, even if dismantling is done first
may ultimately be unsuccessful because the wood, not being sealed will
continue to swell and shrink with changes in moisture. A benefit of
traditional construction is ease of repair, vs. a benefit of epoxy sealed
construction which may be infrequency of repair..
--
Mark
"The trouble with good ideas is that they soon degenerate into a lot of hard work."