[CarbonSink62]

My homeport welcomed my new boat by offering up a lobster pot buoy.

It was my first on this boat; precious seconds were lost wondering what the noise was and the engine stalled before I could get into neutral. The diver found line wrapped right up against the stern tube and damaged fiberglass.

I had it hauled and took this pic.

I've had 2 people whose opinion I value tell me it's no big deal and that it might not have needed to be hauled (could have waited until winter layup). So, that's good news.

My best guess looking at the pic, is that the FG extended aft another 1/2" or so and that the holes (there's one on the other side) held on some kind of trim ring (SS? Bronze?). The holes have impressions from threaded rod but the holes are not threaded; a screw must have gone into a fastener in/on the trim ring.

I'm starting this thread for 2 discussions - short term repair and long term restoration.

More to follow.

Ken

 

[CarbonSink62]

Short Term:
Sand down the damaged FG
Seal with epoxy
Cover that with barrier coat
Cover that with bottom paint
Splash!

Long Term: (winter layup)
Find a trim ring (???)
Build out the epoxy fix with thickened epoxy maybe 1/2"
Wrap that all the way around with 1" strip of FG cloth (all of the new area and overlapping the stern tube)
Grind down the new FG so the trim ring sits plumb & flush
Cover that with barrier coat
Glue & screw trim ring
Cover that with bottom paint

-----

Sounds easy enough, right?

My only real concern is that the missing ring holds the cutlass bearing in place. I'm less worried now that I've done the first 2 steps of the short term repair. There seems to be two small openings in the stern tube that end with allen screw heads. I'm thinking that those hold the bearing in place.

My guess (just a guess) is that the stern tube has a metal sleeve glassed in place; the sleeve is drilled and tapped for 2 screws that hold the cutlass bearing in place. Does that sound right?

...

I just did a quick search and found Maine Sail's article on cutlass bearing replacement and I'm now nearly certain that the missing piece is just trim.

So part of the long term fix is to find a B29.9 (that I haven't sailed) on the hard and take some pics of the stern tube. I looked at one for sale a few months ago; I'll see if it's still there.

So that's where I'm going; only one post left for today.

Ken

 

[CarbonSink62]

I got started yesterday.

I sanded everything back to expose some epoxy all around the damage; then another little bit to expose the barrier coat. I also sanded the damaged area as smooth as I could.

I wrapped the shaft with blue tape.

I stuffed a piece of rope into the cutlass bearing opening to prevent bonding the shaft in place (which would be bad).

I mixed up some West Marine thickened epoxy (comes in tubes; great stuff)

I painted the epoxy on with an acid brush.

I waited until I was certain there would be no more sags or drips and then pulled out the rope. The epoxy was disturbed a little bit, but I'm sure it will sand right out.

The first pic is after all of the sanding and taping.

The second is after removing the 'masking rope'.

So far, so good!

Ken

 

[MarkSF]

Actually you were quite lucky. The previous owner of my 31.1 did the same, and pulled the shaft out of the transmission. The prop was jammed against the rudder, so no steering, the boat was sinking, and the transmission was a wreck.

 

[MarkSF]

PS, for future reference, West System make several thickening additives for their epoxy. The colloidal silica turns it into something like wax that won't run or sag.