fiberglassing wooden boats

[MLickley]

I am reading Allan H. Vaitses book on Fiberglass repair, my local boat repair shop says that Allans method of fastening with staples is not needed. I wonder why it seems like such a good way to ensure that the fiberglass remains bonded to the hull. Builder said he does not use poly ester which was what Allan was using.

[Dave Fleming]

Well for a newbie you sure know how to wave a red flag at the bull.
I'm sittin' this one out.

As the old fart puts his feet up on the table and lifts his rum glass to his lips......... ;)

[MLickley]

My reason for posting is, my newly aquired 15 foot Century Sea Maid has a new bottom but out of the water for years, when i put the boat in the water in a few minutes had several inches of water in it. I want to be able to trailer the boat and put it in the water and not need a large pump to keep it afloat.

[Jim Goodine]

However, some of us have had excellent results if done properly on such a small boat. I was faced with the same problem of wanting to trailer a boat that was meant to take up in the water. Mine had been out of the water for years and was in rough shape. After consulting with the epoxy folks at West Systems, I ground off all the paint on the hull and deck, and put 6 oz cloth in epoxy. It has been trailed and sailed extensively in fresh and salt water, stored outside under tarps, and still has the paint job that I put on in 1997. I think that without the epoxy on the hull, this boat would have been so difficult to restore and use that it would have continued to rot into the woodpile.
My boat has a fairly round hull and is only 16' long. The cedar (on oak) planks are only 3/8" X 1 1/4", so I expect that this is a forgiving structure. But on the other hand, I paid $350 for it with all sails and spars in great shape so I wasn't going to be out a lot if it failed.
Now I'll sit back and watch the fireworks that "glassing" threads always generate. Love this forum and see you all at the WoodenBoat Show. Don't forget to get your advance tickets before the 28th of June.

[On Vacation]

I will jump here and help deflect the missles for you. It is posssible. Is it plywood or solid or laminated planking? Under zero circumstances use poleyester resin. If you wish problems you ain't seen nothing yet. I say this with a smiley face smile.gif .

Stapling fiberglass to a boat to keep it on it is the only way you will in most applications with
polyester. Stapling in some jobs will help to stick it till wetting out is done but removed before curing out.

Lets start over in this post. We are friendly persons here, but many are doing planked vessels and it just doesn't work in way to many cases.

The type of glass will also make the difference of the longivity of your job. Tell us more. I will comment on small boat glassing of your particular situtation.

[ 06-22-2002, 08:50 AM: Message edited by: oyster ]

[On Vacation]

Well, I will express my views on this subject of what I would do and have done in the past. I am going to get slammed for this, but it is possible. But you have to either have more than a one time experience at this particular job and more than a resin manufacturing company of any make's engineer to be successful at this job.

Here is what I have found. First thing you Must, Must Must have is a covered shed completely enclosed or in a warm climate with a better than a make shift open storage building. If working with a dirt floor it will be to your advantage more than a concrete floor. Yes it is a little messier to work on but that also can be eliminated with plywood and work to your advantage.

Strip all the paint off the bottom with a sandblaster. The very next thing you should do is grind the bottom with 36 grit hard pad. Burring will occur and in a solid planked boat you will get cracks. Don't panic. All this should be done in a period of a month. Take 5200 and trowel the bottom and glue and nail good 1/8" on small runabouts or larger 1/4" plywood to it while tacky. Let sit for one week. Grind down edges and fill seams and you can glass it. Use 1208 biaxall and 4 oz to fill on top on large boats and just 20 oz. and 4 oz finishing cloth for small boats a neat job and then use 2001 interprotect system and then bottom paint.

The biggest problem with many failures have been just plain finishing cloth on bottoms of boats and many wishing to get out cheap with polyester resin. Wet out your surface completely and allow to become tacky before applying glass if you are working with your boat rightside up. Dry fit you glass before you start your project. Patience, Do the amount you can work with and use a 2 to 1 resin.

You also can get by with just glassing the bottom if dry with 1208 or 1808 if it is planked and then finishing cloth to fill the weave. Yes I am completely nuts but this question has come up so many times for so many and if you must do it, then this method will work. Doing it outside creates so many failures along with the improper materials.

Okay I am ducking. Fire one!! :D

[ 06-22-2002, 09:43 PM: Message edited by: oyster ]

[MLickley]

Thank you all for your responses. A few more details the boat is a 1941 Century Seamaid it is 15ft mahogany planked. It is currently not covered with fiberglass. I am told that I need to turn it upside down for that I will have to remove the inboard motor. I want to do it right and will probably limit my work to stripping the paint and let the builder in Sacramento do the fiberglassing. I really want to be armed with good information so that I get the best possible result. The boat is in very nice condition so I don't want to do any thing that will decrease its value. So nice to so quickly get all your help.

[Scott Rosen]

Oyster seems to have the situation covered. I won't say you should NEVER glass a planked boat. There are some circumstances where it can be beneficial. But your case sounds as if it would be a big mistake to glass the hull. You have a new, sound bottom. Glassing a planked hull should be a remedy of last resort for a tired and beatup old hull.

Mahogany takes up pretty fast when it gets wet. If you can't stand to pump or bail for a day, then you should consider a different design with a different construction method for trailering. cold molded or plywood construction are ideal.

[Keith Wilson]

I know the conventional wisdom is "never glass a boat planked in anything other than plywood". However, around here (MN), fiberglassing the bottom of small powerboats planked with solid wood is fairly common practice and seems to work fine if done well (good surface preparation, epoxy resin, boat kept on a trailer). With a relatively small lightly-built boat, the strength of the glass/epoxy and the strength of the epoxy-wood bond as compared to the forces from expansion/contraction of the wood is proportionally much greater than with heavier planking. The fact that the boat never stays in the water long enough to get really wet, and dries out between periods of use, also helps. IMHO, the folks in the shop at Sacramento probably know wht they are talking about.

[mmd]

IMHO, a sixty-year-old mahogany speedboat should not, never, none, zip, nada, etc. ever have any 'glass slathered on it. Don't get me wrong - I designed for FRP, have built in FRP, and appreciate the advantages of FRP, but I tend to view sheathing an existing carvel hull with it as a last-ditch effort to get another year or two out of the ready-for-the-firepit old clunker. If you appreciate the old mahogany speedster, restore it properly. If you can't do that due to lack of skills or finances or the boat does not suit your needs, sell it to a wooden boat nut and buy a 'glass or strip boat that suits you better. If you 'glass the boat, you will be it's last owner and we all lose a nice woodie.

[thechemist]

There is a Century discussion list on Yahoo where you can get more data from other Century owners.