Hi everyone, This is my first post, and I'm happy to join this community!
If there's a sailor's equivalent to a gardener with a brown thumb, that's me. Most of what I've learned regarding boat repair over the past several years has been learned by doing it the wrong way first.
But I REALLY love the 1965 Columbia 31 that we bought a few seasons back, and I'm trying hard to give this boat the VIP treatment she deserves. The prior owner grew up on boats, and executed an outstanding refit in 2003 so that in many ways I am fortunate to be starting with essentially a new boat in a classic design.
I've hit my first major snag, and it's keeping from launching the boat, so I thought I'd seek the advice of this community to make sure I go about this repair in a sensible way. I'll try to post some pictures later, but for now let me start by describing the issue.
Last season I noticed some softness developing underfoot in the cockpit sole, and later in the season the sound proofing over the engine compartment showed signs of water ingress. So last month I removed the top layer of sound proofing to inspect, and found some pretty extensive core rot going on (and one portion where the entire lower layer of glass must have flexed clear off). I intend to address the rot from below (post-launch) by removing bottom layer and core until I hit all dry core, glassing up a patch ashore, and then glassing that into place. But first, I aim to get the exterior of the cockpit sole watertight so I can launch, and complete the underside repairs while in the water.
So I've taken up all the cockpit sole hardware (2 drains, a round bronze access hatch, and a small bronze port light/inspection window), sanded through the topcoat and the grey primer to the white surface (which I assume to be gelcoat over the top glass layer). Thus far, the access hatch appears the most likely culprit for water ingress, since some radiating hairline cracks in the topcoat appear to directly overlay associated cracks in the gelcoat. [Again, I hope I am right in assuming that's gelcoat] I can also see that the hatch used to be bedded through a different set of holes that have been filled with something that does not look like epoxy. I have a mind do drill out those old holes and fill them with west epoxy to ensure they are not contributing to the ingress.
As usual, I find I'm far more confident tearing things apart than putting them back together. I have my replacement topcoats ready (Interlux Pre-Kote and Brightside polyurethane), as well as an Interlux non-skid that I was going to coat over that. But is there a product you know of that can make easy work of sealing over those hairline cracks beneath the paint (in the gelcoat?)? In a couple of spots (like just aft of the port cockpit drain), is it ok to lay down a thin coat of West Epoxy as a water barrier and to fill the micro-cracks, or does the amount of flex in a cockpit sole preclude the use of epoxy completely? Or perhaps I am overlooking the obvious, and should be buying one of those gelcoat repair kits and applying that to the entire area?
After building up topcoats, I intend to use LifeCalk to re-bed the hardware. Although, if I can get some of that butyl tape described in that great sticky post above in a hurry, I would prefer to follow that model!
Thanks for any guidance or insight any of you can provide to help me advance from a complete hack to an improving novice.
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