Hello everyone.
I have a 14' duratech that has been, to say the least, neglected.
At some point in its life it was run onto a submerged obstacle. There is a crease in the hull near the keel that starts at the bow and continues back. About 6' from the transom it changes into a rip and runs the rest of the way back. The crease near the bow rebounded with some persuasion.
Prior to my accquisition, this rip was cut out and poorly repaired.
The boat then sat out, rightside up, and uncovered for many years.
Leaves/dirt plugged the drain and frost action in the winter stretched the transom and finished the job of loosening the already poorly installed patch.
The seats are gone and so are the 2 short pieces of Deck behind the split front seat.
The patch was installed with much larger rivets than the original construction and they were much too far apart. The larger rivets took too much material out of the ribs and weakened them, resulting in several fatigue cracks near the keel.
At the least, I know that I need to expand the old patch and radius the corners.
I have already removed it and inspected the hull.
Other than the one hole there are 2 potentially major issues I see.
The first is that the ice bulged the lower section of the transom out. While I can and have driven this back in most of the way, I would be willing to bet that ALL of the transom rivets are compromised.
The second issue is that below the waterline, most of the rivets are eroded fairly severely and should be replaced.
If the sealant between the seams is shot, can anything be done short of removing ALL of the rivets and basically rebuilding the boat from oddly shaped aluminum sheets?
I have been working with wooden boats for years but this will be my first forray into the aluminum repairs.
I have access to a pneumatic rivet hammer and other tools but lack the experience.
I very much like the lines of this boat and would like to save it if I can.
I will try to post some pictures
I have a 14' duratech that has been, to say the least, neglected.
At some point in its life it was run onto a submerged obstacle. There is a crease in the hull near the keel that starts at the bow and continues back. About 6' from the transom it changes into a rip and runs the rest of the way back. The crease near the bow rebounded with some persuasion.
Prior to my accquisition, this rip was cut out and poorly repaired.
The boat then sat out, rightside up, and uncovered for many years.
Leaves/dirt plugged the drain and frost action in the winter stretched the transom and finished the job of loosening the already poorly installed patch.
The seats are gone and so are the 2 short pieces of Deck behind the split front seat.
The patch was installed with much larger rivets than the original construction and they were much too far apart. The larger rivets took too much material out of the ribs and weakened them, resulting in several fatigue cracks near the keel.
At the least, I know that I need to expand the old patch and radius the corners.
I have already removed it and inspected the hull.
Other than the one hole there are 2 potentially major issues I see.
The first is that the ice bulged the lower section of the transom out. While I can and have driven this back in most of the way, I would be willing to bet that ALL of the transom rivets are compromised.
The second issue is that below the waterline, most of the rivets are eroded fairly severely and should be replaced.
If the sealant between the seams is shot, can anything be done short of removing ALL of the rivets and basically rebuilding the boat from oddly shaped aluminum sheets?
I have been working with wooden boats for years but this will be my first forray into the aluminum repairs.
I have access to a pneumatic rivet hammer and other tools but lack the experience.
I very much like the lines of this boat and would like to save it if I can.
I will try to post some pictures
