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This are the Repair Steps as I imagine them, celebretory Gin and Tonic in hand:
Cut out upper layer of gray hull walking surface with surface saw set to 1/4″.
Remove remains of wet balsa core.
Dry hull with forced air dryer.
Scratch up the exposed Fiberglass exterior hull inner layer for better bond.
Apply setting bed of resin: Total Boat Polyester Resin.
Apply replacement balsa into wet resin bed. Let Harden.
Sand new balsa for fair surface with palm sander, leaving course 60 grit surface.
Apply generous wet resin bed. Make sure it gets inbetween voids between balsa blocks.
Apply course woven fibreglass into wet resin.
Apply generous wet resin atop woven FG. Allow to Harden.
Sand for fair surface, leave a course grit surface.
Apply unwaxed Gelcoat layers one and two.
Apply waxed Gelcoat top layer with matching multi color?, and slight sand added for non- slip?
No clue about that last step. I have no idea how FS finishes the inside of the hull for a standing surface to not be too slippery.
Am I missing something?
Now we know why we get to sail the best sailboat around. Despite sitting in the lake in a boat slip for 18 months after cracking a hole in the aft hull under the crutch pole and seeping in water, the only damage is 3 sf surrounding the crutch pole socket. Harry will rest easy this summer iced tea in hand knowing that he doesn’t have to replace all the balsa core of 3440 as a “fun” summer project. I am pretty sure this will be relatively a “do-able” fix.
I drilled 8 test holes from the standing hull surface and found dry-as-a-bone balsa wood in my drill bit. My moisture meter is reading 4% moisture, confirming my observations.
The only moist wood starts about a foot from the crutch hole depression. So the small amount of water getting in was limited to this one area.
Many thanks to those that posted! I’ll post my plan for repair, and steps to the success.
Yes, I should have been more specific.
The crutch nearly pierced the hull, certainly shattered everything leaving through the resin and gelcoat cracks.
The main question is the wood back aft “connected” to the main balsa of the hull. If so, then then I am pretty sure all the balsa is shot.Great idea about 120 to give the surface some texture. I would like to take a stab at Gelcoat. I have done some other yellow Gelcoat fixes above the waterline,and besides a slightly different color down there will not be noticed. I am guessing that since I will work inverted that it needs to be sprayed? I have not done that before. I have various kits and cans of Gelgoat from West. What products would you recommend, proceedures. May as well learn to do it as well as can be done the best way.
Fixed!
Of course the problem and solution was there the whole time.
I wore out the North Jib, and bought a tenderly used set of Schurr Sails, very crisp, but with older Loose design.
That meant I had to change the tuning on 3430. I put the side shrouds on the upper hole of the stantion (mine have two holes, one lower that I had been using, and the upper. Then I set the fore-stay loose at like 40 pounds.
Checked the dimension from mast sheave to transom. Perfect.
Took the boat out in medium conditions, like 9 mph. Zero weather helm. You could hold the boat straight with just your pinky. Pulling in the main streered the boat up, and lettiing out steered down. The boat now feels balanced, if you sit forward a bit you can feel the boat lean a bit forward, like you were on the fulcrum of a teeter totter. Cool.
I pulled the centerboard last year and repaired and gelcoated and faired it.
I have since heard from Joe that the older Scots had a slight defect in the mold for the Centerboard, and that later models had that fixed. I think I’ll contact the “Store” and see if they have a template that I could use to see if my board needs some further shaping.
Joe said my number one Priority should be to shim the centerboard as mine has about 3/16″ wiggle room. In the mean time this is the exact width of a “Lowes” yardstick, that goes in and out pretty easily.
My boom at the time was strapped in almost to my center, as I did not want to get near his shroud. His boom was way off to starboard on the reach. He was not altering course to come upwind on me. The question I still have is did my wind shadow create some kind of vortex, vacuum, that created his own personal wind that blew his main and jib across his boat? This is what happened. If it was some kind of wind shift, it would seem that my main and jib would have felt something, but that didn’t happen.
My weak point is that my boom was strapped in, and it was his boom that came way over and came aboard my boat to hit my boom, while my hull was 6′ away. I know there is no exonoration under the rules, but I am trying to understand the physics of it. Do you think it is more likely an odd wind shift, or some aspect of wind shadow?3430 suffers from devastating weather helm. I’ve done all the right things. Oatmeal for breakfast, floss, kept the lawn mowed, still had helm. Thankfully, all my fellow sailing pals at the sailing club piped up with lots of suggestions: let out the main sheet, raise up the centerboard a bit, tighten up the cunningham, angle the rudder blade back some, did you check your forestay tension?, balance the crew, … So I do all those things, but hey! I’ve got weather helm just sitting tied up to the dock! When I say weather helm, I had it so bad that in a 10 mph puff the boat would round up into the wind and come to a dead stop, while watching the parade of Flying Scots pass me by like I had tossed out my anchor. I read here how you can drill new holes in the rudder head cheek plate, and shift the attachment for the main back an inch. But think a bout it. That makes no sense. If you have weather helm, you want the center of effort to shift forward, not farther aft. If it does anything it puts automatic twist to the tiller, sort of like power steering on a car, right? It would take less effort to hold thetiller and plow the water with the rudder blade. So, you know what? None of the previous adjustments reduced the weather helm even a bit. Moving that pin back on the rudder head totally fixed the weather helm, the rudder blade is not braking the boat in the puff. Makes no sense. Took the boat out single handed in steady 22 mph for a test of my bravery. No weather helm. It was quite a ride, but the boat handled much better. Doesn’t make any sense why it works. It should not work at all. But there you have it.
Thanks Phil.
Yes, my boat is Douglass built, raced by Charlie Buckner over in Chapel Hill, and now lucky to be mine in a slip at our little lake.
I’ll call Harry on Tuesday. Pretty sure the answer will be to remove the console and look beneath for fasteners. I’ll post the advice received.
Thanks for the sage advice. I did not do any of my dumb ideas. The centerboard came out easily in the water with the aid of the main halyard. Board is repaired and back in the boat.
Those are great comments. Especially about the importance of allignment. I have the rudder inside (30% humidity) and in the sunshine. I’ll pull the hardware off to expose.
As an historic and restoration General Contractor. I’ll use a little trick of mine and report here how it goes. Rot Doctor makes a cellulose aphillic epoxy primer and filler system that could be just the ticket, if I can can get it dry. The primer is deadly stuff, two parts that wicks into dry wood stabilizing it forever, really cool. And their epoxy, while expensive has the perfect qualities.
But all depends on getting it dry. I have a moisture meter, and will report how long it takes, for all those other dear scots out there who may have screws that are starting to loosen…Yikes, the Boom is not too bad but the Shipping is $270. Money I don’t have. I plan to insert a schedule 80 aluminum pipe pressed to oval shape and Epoxied inside the sheared boom. Any thoughts before I proceed to create this monster?
Thanks for the suggestions. I tested my theory that the leaks came from the bow stem screws, by covering them with tape and saling. We only got a cup of water in instead of 3 gallons. Removed the metal stem trim and noted that 3/4″ screws had been used below the water line. Harry Carpenter said they always use 1/2″ screws below the water line, and suggested I repair holes with JB weld epoxy and set new screws. Did as Harry suggested and all leaks are gone. What a great boat.
