Hull crack restricted access

[colinr]

I have a small sailboat with a clinker fibreglass hull.
There a 4 inch crack along a chine line caused by the trailer support rubbing block.
There is no access to the inside of the hull at this point as there are bouyancy tanks running the length of the sides.

My question is will I need to cut a hole in the bouyancy tank to get access or could i repair it externally?

Colin

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Hull crack restricted access

Welcome to iboats.

A few pictures will solicit some suggestions for a sound repair.

 

[colinr]

Re: Hull crack restricted access



I have attached a picture of the crack.

The crack is thru the hull and I can put a blade inside the tank.
I could get resin and cloth thru the crack but don't know where it would finish up!

Col

 

[ghamby]

Re: Hull crack restricted access

You could use a glue syringe to inject epoxy resin into the crack. Make sure
the area is totally dry. To reinforce the area consider grinding down around
the crack and laminating in some glass cloth. This, of course, will bring up refinishing issues.
Can you cut an access port in the tank? Then you could do a proper reinforcement job without having to worry as much about cosmetics, and then
close up the tank.
While considering all this, let's get at the root cause, that trailer bunk!
It looks like it needs to be longer in order to spread the load out.
Has this cracking occurred elsewhere? This might have come from a lay up
fault in manufacturing. A sharp bend like that is prone to voids.
Keep us posted, good luck. GH

 

[colinr]

Re: Hull crack restricted access

Thanks for the reply.

I think I will cut a hole in the bouyancy tank to get access.
Refinishing the tank will be easier.

I have moved the trailer support to ease the load off the line but I will look at increasing the size to spread the load.

Thanks again,

Colin