Hi. I have a Prindle 16 that is in need of extensive hull-repair. I have experience in fiberglass work, but fear i need to do more work than just fiberglass. The top part of the hull is coming loose from the hull and thus water gets in and the boat squanders. It also has numerous soft spots. I have considered just drilling holes in the top, setting her side-up and injecting epoxy all along each side, and then just fiberglassing the hell out of her. But; i have herd about foam injections; would it be plausible to just fill the entire hull with lightweight, industrial foam and create some unsinkable, incredibly buoyant vessel? Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated; i have enormous time on my minds and a few dollars to spend. Thanks alot! Great sailing everyone.

You should add "undrainable" to that list. The boat will be heavy and as water gets inside over time, it will not be easy to remove it.

Do like I did with my Hobie 17. Find a good used hull. I got mine for $550 and has lasted 6 years with no problems.

Doug

Get a chainsaw.

Cut the hull into little pieces.

Take it to the dump.

True!

Even the lightest foams (about 30kg/m^3) will add about 25kg to your platform from my estimates. I think the epoxy expanding foams weigh in the order of 300-800kg/m^3, which would add about 240-640kg to your platform!!! That will probably be close to sinking the boat rather than making it unsinkable. It certainly wouldn't sail on one hull...

If the deck is parting from the hull, cut it off and inspect from the inside. You'll get a better idea of the work that's needed and you'll be able to glue the deck back down properly later if you decided it's a feasible project. It could be a very good investment of an hour or so cutting the deck off, even if just to see how it was built and what went wrong.

The sounds of it though are that it should be dumped. If it's single skin it will be easier to fix than if it is cored.

I don't feel like you are getting the best responses here.

First, The idea of filling it with foam is not a good one. You will weigh the boat down and make it less bouyant. Nothing lighter than air. Ok maybe Hydrogen and Helium but don't try filling hulls with that.

Now to fixing your boat. You have to decide how extensive the damage is and if it is worth fixing.

To fix the spot where the lip is separating, cut a hole on the opposite side of the hull big enough to get two hands through and access the whole area from the inside. Cut it nice and oval and save the piece. Fix the other side with at least 4 layers of fibreglass overlaying the crack on each side by at least three inches. Don't forget to sand with 100 grit prior to putting the fibreglass on.

Now where you cut the hole in the boat build a lip around the innerside of the hole with a couple layers of glass. After the lip sets up sand it and then glass in the panel that you cut out.

Fill everything with Formula27 and sand. Now you can touch it up with gelcoat to make it look pretty.

The soft spots are often not worth fixing. You can leave them alone if they arn't in a load bearing area. If they have to be fixed you can get to the underside just like my previous method and remove all of the loose stuff and then set up at least 4 layers of glass from underneath the problem area. You may have to cut through the first layer and scrape out all of the old loose foam to get to the area that needs to be fixed.

Good Luck,
Mike Hill
www.stlouiscats.com

What's "Formula 27"? Never heard of it.

Rob, all this stuff is expensive and takes time. If there is anyway possible, buy another hull. You'll be better off in the end.

Formula27 is available at West Marine. It's a polyester based filler. I've had good luck with it. And it dries offwhite so it's easier to gelcoat white over it.



http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/sto...160/4?iorb=4764

Thanks much.