Below are a couple of pictres showing my effort at fiberglassing the area where the mast step is. I had started right under the step and the rotted core material just continued. You can see a bubble right about inthe middle near the upper edge. I thought I had worked all the air out, stopped for lunch, came back and there was the bubble. Not sure what I did wrong.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46511467@N00/170925820/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46511467@N00/170925818/
Fiberglass Repair Recore of Mast Step
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Tim
- Shipwright Extraordinaire
- Posts: 5708
- Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2003 6:39 pm
- Boat Name: Glissando
- Boat Type: Pearson Triton
- Location: Whitefield, ME
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The work looks good, and fortunately it's easy to take care of that air pocket. Just grind it out and install small pieces of fiberglass as needed to refill the ground area.
Air bubbles like that are not uncommon, and can show up diabolically even for experienced laminators. Sometimes an area that you think has been rolled will lift again later, which is what happened in your case, seemingly. I don't know exactly what happened to form the air pocket, but it could have formed around an undersaturated area, or where a piece of debris was located, or any number of other things.
It happens. But now you can just grind it out and move forward without worry. Overall, it looks like you did a good job rolling out the material, so don't let that one air pocket get you down. Fiberglass is emminently repairable!
Air bubbles like that are not uncommon, and can show up diabolically even for experienced laminators. Sometimes an area that you think has been rolled will lift again later, which is what happened in your case, seemingly. I don't know exactly what happened to form the air pocket, but it could have formed around an undersaturated area, or where a piece of debris was located, or any number of other things.
It happens. But now you can just grind it out and move forward without worry. Overall, it looks like you did a good job rolling out the material, so don't let that one air pocket get you down. Fiberglass is emminently repairable!
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Appreciate Reply
Tim,
Thanks for the reply. I figured that I could grind out the area and redo it. Now I have the confidence to go ahead and start on the deck.
My next big delimma is that there is a lazerette in the aft section with hatches, it includes a well for the outboard. I found last week that the plywood deck inside is completely rotted out. This is a particularly daunting task because there's no way I can get the old plywood out and install new stuff without cutting the entire aft deck off, then I'd have to install some kind of support to reinstall it. Actually I guess I am accepting the job because with the help of my son I was able to remove all the screws and nuts that attached that section to the hull.
Thanks for the reply. I figured that I could grind out the area and redo it. Now I have the confidence to go ahead and start on the deck.
My next big delimma is that there is a lazerette in the aft section with hatches, it includes a well for the outboard. I found last week that the plywood deck inside is completely rotted out. This is a particularly daunting task because there's no way I can get the old plywood out and install new stuff without cutting the entire aft deck off, then I'd have to install some kind of support to reinstall it. Actually I guess I am accepting the job because with the help of my son I was able to remove all the screws and nuts that attached that section to the hull.