Randy Ricchi
New Member
I just bought a 1973 sunfish. The deck and hull are nice and firm, but there are clusters of hairline cracks here and there on the deck, probably from something banging against it. I'm not sure about the hull yet, have to wash it to see how it looks. It does look and feel sound, although on the sides there are some areas where the gel is a little rough.
If there are hairline cracks in the hull, do these HAVE to be repaired? I'll be taking the boat out of the water after each use, and storing inside. I was always under the impression (from fiberglass kayak experience) that hairline cracks didn't really pose a problem.
If they really need to be fixed to keep the boat from absorbing water, can I just sand the whole thing and roll a layer of epoxy over everything? I built a cedar strip kayak so I have glass and epoxy experience, but I don't have gelcoat experience. I also have epoxy on hand. I figure for the hull, if I have to do something about hairline cracks it would be a simple matter for me to just sand the whole hull, roll a layer of epoxy over the whole thing, and after that cures I'd just paint it with a high quality white paint. Does anyone see problems with that approach?
I'll probably just leave the deck as it is. The hairline cracks aren't that easy to see, and after washing the deck with softscrub cleanser, it looks pretty good.
One other thing, I took the coaming (splashguard) off to repair a crack in it. It looks like each of the screw holes has a drywall anchor in it. Were these boats built with these in them, or is it more likely someone had screws tear out and didn't know about sealing the holes with epoxy and then re-drilling (or maybe they found the backer blocks were rotted )
My plan is to get these anchors out of there (drilling if I have to) and then epoxying the holes and re-drilling them. Hopefully, the wood backer blocks are solid.
Thanks for any help you can provide.
If there are hairline cracks in the hull, do these HAVE to be repaired? I'll be taking the boat out of the water after each use, and storing inside. I was always under the impression (from fiberglass kayak experience) that hairline cracks didn't really pose a problem.
If they really need to be fixed to keep the boat from absorbing water, can I just sand the whole thing and roll a layer of epoxy over everything? I built a cedar strip kayak so I have glass and epoxy experience, but I don't have gelcoat experience. I also have epoxy on hand. I figure for the hull, if I have to do something about hairline cracks it would be a simple matter for me to just sand the whole hull, roll a layer of epoxy over the whole thing, and after that cures I'd just paint it with a high quality white paint. Does anyone see problems with that approach?
I'll probably just leave the deck as it is. The hairline cracks aren't that easy to see, and after washing the deck with softscrub cleanser, it looks pretty good.
One other thing, I took the coaming (splashguard) off to repair a crack in it. It looks like each of the screw holes has a drywall anchor in it. Were these boats built with these in them, or is it more likely someone had screws tear out and didn't know about sealing the holes with epoxy and then re-drilling (or maybe they found the backer blocks were rotted )
My plan is to get these anchors out of there (drilling if I have to) and then epoxying the holes and re-drilling them. Hopefully, the wood backer blocks are solid.
Thanks for any help you can provide.