Various Surface Repairs (Part 1)

February 28, 2019

Returning from a business related trip, I took a few hours in the late afternoon to begin the gelcoat and fiberglass repair work required in a number of locations.  I began with the starboard side of the Allied 24, where most of the issues were concentrated.  Due to a combination of the age of the Allied and the original gelcoat being laid down in too thick a manner, there had appeared a number of cracks, chips, voids, and crazing across the side and aft decks, as well as the cockpit seating.  In addition, with the owner electing to have new winches installed, I could now repair the molded-in coaming boxes (storage for winch handles and sundry items) without worry of preserving the holes for which the winches are secured through.  

I began by solvent-washing the areas to be worked, and first targeted the top of molded-in coaming box and a few areas on the side deck immediately adjacent to the coaming box.  

I then patterned the repair areas to accept a layer of 10oz fiberglass cloth.  The repairs are not structural, but I did want some added strength and so chose to use this lightweight cloth.

I moved forward to three areas on the starboard side deck, just at the cabin's aft bulkhead.

I patterned these areas like I had done the coaming box.

Returning to the shop, I mixed a small amount of expose resin and wet the surfaces of these first few repair areas.  I then cut out the templates, traced them onto the fiberglass cloth, and then removed those shapes from the fiberglass.  

I then laid out the patterned fiberglass onto their respective repair areas, and ensured they were adequately saturated with epoxy resin.

To complete the repair, I mixed a cup of epoxy and thickened it to then fill the weave of the fiberglass cloth and other voids that the 10oz cloth itself would not fill.

I repeated the process for the three areas on the side deck just forward of the coaming box.

Next, I moved aft of the coaming box to a rather lengthy section of the starboard side deck where I had removed the damaged gelcoat.  I patterned this area with plastic sheeting, and prepared the fiberglass cloth from that pattern. 

As I had done in the previously described repairs, I wet the surface with straight epoxy resin and applied the fiberglass.

While waiting for the fiberglass cloth to tack up a bit, I worked on small patterns on the aft starboard cockpit seat.  With this complete, I then applied a skim coat of the thickened epoxy on the longer repair area aft of the coaming box.

I then moved on to cutting out the starboard cockpit seat patches, applied neat epoxy to the surfaces, and then laid down the fiberglass cloth.

As per usual, I applied a skim coat of thickened epoxy to these repair areas.

The final area of surfacing work would be the forward portion of the starboard side deck.  I had seven areas to attend to there, and got to work by solvent-washing the deck to remove any surface contaminates. I created patterns with plastic sheeting, as described earlier in the post, and used those to cut the 10oz fiberglass cloth.  There was one area that required a more substantial fiberglass fabric - the transition of the side deck to the cabin sides, and here I used 1708 biaxial due to the depth of the area I ground out.  I first wet the surfaces, and then applied a foundation of thickened epoxy (more so for the deeper repair area requiring the 1708 biaxial).   

Next, I applied the fiberglass cloth to the repair areas and made sure that the weave was adequately wet with resin.  I cleaned up the boat and the shop while waiting for the repairs to begin to set up and get tacky.  Applying the skim coat of thickened epoxy to the repairs immediately following placing the fiberglass cloth would have resulted in dragging the cloth across the surface.  I eventually was able to apply the skim coat of thickened epoxy - I used the combination of 406 colloidal silica and 407 low-density to thicken the epoxy resin - which completed the day's work.

Total Time Today: 3 hrs

Restoring Deadlights (Part 1) & Fairing

February 25, 2019

I grabbed a couple hours in the late afternoon to begin work on bringing back the deadlights.  That is to say, to bring them back to a point where they were ready for installation.  The previous owner had used butyl tape to bed the deadlights and other opening ports, as well as various deck hardware items.  Removing butyl tape is, well, whew!  A chore to say the least.  Acetone, as aggressive a cleaner as this is, barely raised its hackles.  I moved to a more pedestrian approach - using a hard-edged object to scrap most of the exceedingly sticky bedding compound from the deadlight frame.  

The picture below is of the port deadlight...the "before" shot.

The picture below is of the starboard deadlight...the "after" shot.  I made great headway with tongue depressor (stir stick) cut on a bias.  This tool allowed me to remove a majority of the material.  I found that Interlux 2333N (thinner for spraying or rolling paint/primer) worked well.  The slow flash-off characteristic of 2333N allowed ample penetration into the butyl as well as time to remove it with a rag.  I decided to leave the port deadlight for another session, and so turned my attention back to the boat.

The biaxial fiberglass that I applied to the five primary cockpit holes (to be filled) was fully cured, so I went aboard and removed the peel ply.  In the process of applying the epoxy resin and thickened epoxy, I strayed a bit from the perimeter of the area(s) to be filled, leaving epoxy resin to cure outside of the protective peel ply.  Well "protective" is probably not the best descriptor of the intent in using peel ply.  Peel ply allows some excess resin, if any, to leach through the fabric, prevents amine blush (wax contaminate) from forming on the curing surface, and also prints a "mechanical" surface on the cured epoxy that allows one to continue with lamination and/or fairing without the need to sand.  That said, I had areas to sand.  The first order of business was to go ahead and water-wash the surfaces.  I used a 3M Scotch-Brite pad, and with water scrubbed the surfaces to remove the amine blush.  I followed this with a towel to dry the surface in preparation for sanding.   For sanding the surfaces, I broke out the DA random orbital, and with 5" 40-grit pads got straight to work.  I removed any thickened epoxy that ran errant of the target area, and then brought down any areas of the patch that stood proud of the surrounding vertical surface.  I also worked the backsides of the patches, as well as the recent top skin that I applied to the core material on the aft bulkhead of the coachroof. 

With the sanding finished, I moved on to vacuuming the surfaces and solvent-washing them to remove any remaining surfaces contaminates.  I made my way back to the shop and mixed a batch of epoxy resin thickened with a combination of 406 colloidal silica and 407 low-density fairing compound.  Armed with a small squeegee and a 5" spreader knife, I applied the first layer of fairing compound to both the exterior and interior surfaces.  Sanding these surfaces will be next, followed by any required second application of fairing material.

Total Time Today: 2 hrs

Sanding Prep & Filling Cockpit Holes

February 23, 2019

I got a relatively early start this morning on the Allied 24, and had intentions of continuing work on closing in holes within the cockpit as well as fairing recent repairs I had made to the core in a multitude of places across her decks.  Since I wanted to begin closing the holes in the vertical surfaces of the cockpit seating, I knew I needed to sand the backside of those surfaces in order to add a backing layer of 1708 biaxial and this required sanding.  At one point, I think I had nearly all of my sanding tools in the cockpit with me, and the scope of the sanding soon spread into removing the old topcoat paint on the cockpit sole as well as the vertical surfaces of the bridge deck and seating.  On the recent cockpit sole core repair area, I sanded the areas that were proud of the surrounding surface, leaving a coat of fairing compound to finish the fairing work.  This coat of fairing compound would have to wait for another day however.

I then moved into the cockpit lockers to sand the interior of the hull and other adjacent surfaces.  I noticed the tabbing was pulling away from the bulkhead that separated the locker from the interior of the boat.

I grabbed an oscillating tool, cut through the tabbing at the transition of the hull and bulkhead, and then gently pulled the worthless fiberglass from the locker opening.  This will be added to the list of repairs to be made in the coming weeks.  I finished up sanding within the lockers.

I quickly hit the targeted repair areas (those openings shown in the picture below) with the DA random orbital sander, and just before calling the decks good for the day, I sanded the recently cored areas on the aft deck - either side of the lazarette. 

I moved down to the ground to begin to prepare for the glassing-in of the outboard opening (aperture)  in the overhang.  I applied the typical 12:1 ratio of taper-to-thickness rule, and marked the area to grind the taper within.  Since the glass here was laid up 1/4" in thickness, I applied a 3" bevel around the opening, grinding a taper ever-deeper as I moved toward the existing opening. 

I also prepared the interior surface of the overhang to accept additional structural support, and accomplished this by sanding down to "fresh" fiberglass.  The owner has selected a Torqeedo Cruise 4.0 pod drive, an electric-powered outboard, to serve as the auxiliary engine - essentially, to move on and off the dock/mooring ball.  The engine will be a fixed-mount installation, and will require adequate support and structure as I close-in this area.  For now this would be the extent of the work, with more to come.

The taper is complete on the outboard side...

...and the interior surfaces are prepped for additional work.

While I was on the ground, I figured that I would proceed forward and grind a similar 12:1 taper in the areas of the old head discharge through hull.  Some time ago, I removed the original bronze through hull, which had been sealed from the interior with a pipe fitting.  The previous owner had a porta-potty in use for the head.  A small port-potty would certainly serve the owner well, but definitely had to be a new purchase!

I also ground a 12:1 taper around the old through hull water inlet - also for the head.

I cleaned things up inside the cockpit and within the cockpit lockers by vacuuming thoroughly and then wiping the surfaces, those which were to accept new fiberglass, with a solvent.  I then used a large sheet of plastic sheeting to take patterns for the new biaxial cloth.  I traced the areas to be glassed-in, labeled them, and then cut them out back in the shop. 

Using pieces from my biaxial scrap pile - cuttings that were left from larger installations - I prepared the layers for the work back up on the Allied 24.  There would be a layer of 1708 applied to the backside of the existing hole, along with a sheet of peel ply for that "backing plate".  I also prepared a layer, and in some cases two layers, for the outside, which would also have a sheet of peel ply applied. 

Firstly, I wet out the backside surfaces with neat epoxy - epoxy resin without any fillers added to thicken it.  While the straight, or neat, resin was tacking up, I made my way back to the shop to wet out the first two backing plates.  I placed the first two on the interior surface of the holes to be filled, ensured the peel ply was thoroughly wet out, and then headed back to the shop to repeat for the other holes.

The process went smoothly, and I was able to get the 5 backing plates on in short order.

A view of the backside of the area to be repaired.

I then headed back to the shop to mix a pot of thickened epoxy - again, I thickened the epoxy resin with 406 colloidal silica and 407 low-density filler - returned to the boat and applied this thickened epoxy to the remaining cavity at each hole location.  The thickened epoxy was applied to the exposed surface of the backing plate and brought up fair, or level, with the prepared surface of the existing fiberglass.

With the holes ready to receive new biaxial fiberglass, I returned to the shop to wet out the various pieces.  Some holes required a couple layers of glass, and this was due a more sever taper that I had ground into the surrounding surface.  All holes will get a coat or two of fairing compound to complete the fairing process.  I applied the new cloth, and finished the work with a layer of peel ply.

I moved on to the last of the day's tasks: getting a coat of fairing compound on the aft deck core repair areas.  I wiped the surfaces down with a solvent, headed back to the shop to mix a pot of thickened epoxy, and with a firm squeegee roughly 12" in length applied the epoxy.  I worked the thickened mixture into the remaining voids, and generally leveled the starboard work area so that it was fair to the surrounding deck surfaces.

I repeated the process on the slightly larger port side. 

I then finished both with a layer of peel ply.  I will come back and sand these areas, and if I'm lucky, no further fairing will be required.

Total Time Today: 7 hrs

Coachroof Top Skin Installation

February 18, 2019

Today's focus was completing the top skin on the coachroof repairs.  I had removed a significant amount of the core from the coachroof, as well as extricated a lot of nonsense from the integrated mast support beam, in an effort to rebuild the coachroof and provide structural support.  In previous work sessions, I recored the work area and gradually built up the mast support beam with G10 fiberglass board, 1708 biaxial and thickened epoxy.  Today, I would now be able to apply the top skin - a couple layers of 1708 biaxial fiberglass.

I started with prepping the surface by sanding some high spots and a few areas that I wanted to ensure had a surface that promotes good mechanical adhesion with the epoxy resin.  When I completed this task, I thoroughly vacuumed the surfaces and wiped them clean with a solvent.

In an effort to ensure that the top skin is as uniform as possible, with maximum structural strength, I rethought the template, and thus the layers of fiberglass.  I cut new layers that would ensure good overlap of the preceding layer consisting of two or more pieces. 

I worked in a steady progression of wetting the surface with neat epoxy, filling any voids with thickened epoxy, wetting fiberglass and applying fiberglass, and then smoothing any rough transitions with thickened epoxy.  The size of the layup significantly diminished my ability to pause for pictures. Pleased with the install, but already looking forward to additional work on the mast step to complete the coachroof repair. 

Total Time Today: 5 hrs

Cockpit Seating Repair: Old Icebox (Part 3) & Bulkhead Core

February  16, 2019

The goal over the long weekend is to complete the major core work (icebox, cabin aft bulkhead core, and coachroof), and then to get into templating the primary bulkheads and forepeak collision / anchor locker bulkhead.  I tackled the work in phases by first prepping the work areas, and then executing the work required.

I started by water-washing the core installation on the cabin's aft bulkhead, drying the surfaces and cleaning the surface with a solvent wipe down.  

While I was prepping the surface for fiberglass and epoxy resin work, I went ahead and used the narrow belt sander to due some last minute surface prep.  These areas were in the transitional between the aft bulkhead in the cabin and the underside of the side deck extending aft.  I thoroughly vacuumed the surfaces and wiped them down with solvent.

With the bulkheads prepped for additional work, I moved onto the old icebox repair.  I sanded and generally prepped for installation of the top skin.  

The next area to be prepped was the coachroof itself.  I sanded the remaining low areas: the integral mast support beam to either side of the mast step support structure.  I went around the tapered perimeter once again with the belt sander to ensure I had an adequate taper to lay glass onto and tie into the existing surfaces.  I cleaned things up, per usual vacuuming and solvent wipe down, and then measured for new core and fiberglass to be placed in the integral mast support beam.

Back in the shop, I cut out the new core to be installed, as well as small patches of 1708 biaxial to be placed in a couple areas - 4 layer thick.  I then wet out the underside of the core as well as the small biaxial patches, and with the remaining epoxy resin, I wet the surfaces within the integral mast support beam.  

I returned to the shop to mix a batch of thickened epoxy - thickened with 406 colloidal silica and 407 low-density.  I troweled a bit on the surface and then placed the core material in position, firmly pressing the core into the thickened epoxy.  Next, I placed the biaxial patches into position, layering them (4-deep), and then finishing with thickened epoxy to bring the surface fair with the surrounding already installed new core.  I finished the installation with a layer of peel ply to avoid having to water-wash and sand for additional lamination work.

The coachroof was finished for the day, so I moved on to the old icebox repair.  I made my way back to the shop to wet out the first layer of 1708 biaxial.  With the first layer ready to install, I then mixed a small batch of thickened epoxy, and used a squeegee to press it into any voids or low spots to prep for the fiberglass.  Now that the surface was prepped, I laid the first layer of glass - actually two separate pieces made up the first layer. 

I then wet out the second layer of fiberglass and laid it into position.  With a fin roller, I worked out all of the trapped air bubbles, and finished it off with a sheet of peel ply.

The old icebox was finished for the day, so I moved on to the cabin aft bulkhead.  I wet out the starboard side with "neat" epoxy.  I returned to the shop to wet out the starboard side's panel of 1708 biaxial.  With that done, I mixed a small pot of thickened epoxy, returned to the boat and applied the thickened mixture to ease the transitions in order to allow the wet fiberglass to lay out smoothly.  Next, I applied the biaxial fiberglass, smoothed it out and released the trapped air bubbles, and ensured good uniformed adhesion.  I finished it with a layer of peel ply.

I repeated the process for the port side, to include a layer of peel ply.  The only remaining significant top fiberglass work to be done is the coachroof, and this should be completed in the next work session.  From there, the numerous small holes and voids are to be filled, bringing things closer to fairing work and primer!

Total Time Today: 5.25 hrs