Did my boat grow???

[bhartley]

Slowly Miranda is starting to look like a real boat again. I have a problem though that needs a clever solution. It looks like my coaming shrank or my cockpit grew...



Or... more likely, they never really fit but were so covered with so much glump that you didn't notice. The coamings are in marginal condition (split), but I need to reuse them. The starboard coaming has been professionally repaired at some distant time with 6 vertical bars the height of the teak. The other was repaired by me by drilling a hole at the end of the split and using Gorilla Glue and clamping.

There had been a small block tacked in place with small screws on both sides. (shown stuck in place in the photo). There is an almost 3/8" gap on the aft end of the port side coaming where it meets the perpendicular piece of teak at the end of the cockpit. The fit is a little better on the starboard side.



The coamings were put back in their original location (with the holes in the fiberglass filled and redrilled). The forward end of the coaming attaches through the cabin sides which makes their position quite fixed.

The questions are: 1) how would you brace the split end to keep it from re-breaking (or just leave it be) and 2) how would you fill/cover the gap?

I have plenty of teak to make a similar brace or something else entirely.

Lastly here's a shot of Miranda's port side to show that she is moving forward. Lockers need to be painted, a little fairing is left to go on the bottom and some bottom paint and she'll be done (with a few other odds and ends). The welder comes tomorrow to take final measurements on the trailer.

It's too hot here to sail (and there's no wind) so I just keep working...

Hope someone is getting to sail somewhere!

Bly

[Tim]

A thicker piece of trim across the aft end of the cockpit might be an easy way to hide the gap you have. Alternatively, you might add something like a 1/4 round molding at the corner to accomplish the same thing.

If you were to make a new piece of trim for the aft end, it would look nice if it were wide enough to extend down even with the bottoms of the coamings.

Coaming splits like yours are almost ubiquitous with this sort of design. I wouldn't rush to add extra pieces over the top unless the cracks are bad enough to require stiffening. If they're successfully glued at this point, I'd lieave them alone until something more drastic becomes necessary.

[Figment]

Coaming splits like yours are almost ubiquitous with this sort of design.

Ayup. both of mine are split. The port coaming is actually split at both ends.

[dasein668]

Coaming splits like yours are almost ubiquitous with this sort of design.

Ayup. both of mine are split. The port coaming is actually split at both ends.

Mine too. New in 03.

[Jason K]

Both of mine split as well when I mounted them. Worst sound in the world. I'm living with it and only one person has been rude enough to point it out. So far, the cracks have not spread.

(A call to the manufacturer revealed that there was no warranty coverage.)

[Ric in Richmond]

Mine too...live with it..

[Quetzalsailor]

Ours were cracked, too. I raked out the cracks with a hacksaw blade as deeply and as far as I could stand to. I used a metal-cutting blade (thinner) and one of those damnable little handles. Filled with stiffened West epoxy. Varnished. So far, so good; one year.

You'd be impolite to notice, but the repair is visible. I considered splining the cracks but decided to try this repair as less invasive (and easier).

As an aside, our 1970 North East 38s' coamings are quite high and contain drifts which stabilize the higher, forward ends of the coamings. The drifts are concealed under a strip of trim.

Doug

[Ceasar Choppy]

A question for all you guys who's "new" coaming has split: Did you put the coaming on when the boat was out of the water or in?

Back when I owned my Renegade 27, I replaced the coaming boards, but didn't put them back on until I was back in the water for a while. There was a minor crack where the wood was a little too long in one place, but otherwise, I was surprised how well it held up.

The reason I ask is that I'm wondering if the cracking might be due to stress on the coaming once the boat changes shape when in the water and the rig properly tuned?

Perhaps this is best discussed in the Boat Nerd Section? :)

[dasein668]

Mine cracked on one side while installing it. The other side cracked the following season when reinstalling after varnish.

[Steve Laume]

It could be, that after years of sanding the wood has gotten thinner. That Typhoon teak starts out at a heavy 7/8". I had a boat that the combing boards had diminished to nearly 1/2" in places. At that point it would split pretty easy. A good practice is to always take the jib or genoa sheets to the winch first before going to the combing cleat. It is tempting to take a working jib sheet straight to the cleat but it puts a lot of strain on the combing board. You have got her looking very pretty.

[bhartley]

After 3-4 different plans, I ended up with a flat vertical piece of teak to cover the gap and to provide a small amount of strength to the end of the coaming. The piece was clamped and glued with Gorilla Glue (and, yes, I did move the screw holding the coaming first!). The coamings can still be removed if needed.