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STRINGER REPLACEMENT! |
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Due to various reasons, three of the four stringers from the center bulkhead back to the transom were completely soaked from water intrusion. This means the stringers needed replacement. The fourth was partially dry but the lower inch or two were soaked....replacement was also required to fix this one. So, I set out to cut out what I could with a jig saw, angle grinder, dremel tool, crowbar and whatever else I could find to get the old wood and bad fiberglass out. There were many days when I came home covered in fiberglass dust which itches like you can not believe. I of course wore a respirator and eye goggles but the dust permeates you clothes and skin. You try not to touch any skin where the dust was before you can wash it off. Touching your arm or legs just drives the tiny shards of fiberglass into your skin. I found some problems along the way and I tried to fix them and I learned alot about this type of work. Here are some pics of my efforts..... |
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The port stringers are out here. The hull bottom still needs to be ground down to bare and clean fiberglass so the new fiberglass has something to attach to. |
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The hull has been ground down and there is still some dust in this shot. I also cut out part of the interior skin and scraped out some badly soaked balsa wood. The void was filled with an epoxy putty. This will give the new fiberglass layers a better surface to adhere to. |
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Here is the first new section of stringer in place. Epoxy putty was used to fill any voids bewteen the bottom of this section and the hull. We also soaked the board with staight epoxy resin. This was so the board would soak up the resin to inhibit any future water from absorbing into it and so a chemical bond is created when we cover it with the fiberglass. The resin from inside the wood will cure into one piece with the resin soaked fiberglass that will cover it. |
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September 10, 2002 |
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Here is the same stringer with two layers of epoxy reside soaked biaxal fiberglass covering it. Biaxal glass is the strongest type of fiberglass available without going into Kevlar or Carbon Fiber Composite. We stopped here because a storm was approaching. The next stringer will be next to this one and the fiberglass layers will overlap the glass covering ths stringer. |
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DONE - here are the port side stringers. The limber holes are also visible. I have sealed the wood in the limber holes with Epoxy putty but not before I let the exposed wood soak up as much CPES as it could. |
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Here are all four stringers as shot through the space for the fish box. You can also see part of the repair completed on the tunnel. |
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More to come..... |
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