J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Water

I got a bit crazy with the drill and discovered some water in the core of the hull in a narrow band about 6 - 12' around the keel. I had a hairline crack radiating about 6 inches from the aft edge of the keel on the exterior and wanted to know if there were any consequences. The inner layer of glass is very thick there, althoug it is very thin everwhere else. Interestingly I have water on both sides in a narrow band althoug I can only find a source on one side. The balsa does not appear to connect from side to side. It is not soaked but clearly damp.

Anyone attempted and "easy" fix of a problem like this? I am thinking about the "drill, dry, and fill" method, assuming I can isolate the two(?) sources of water. Alternatively I could rebuild it, but I've done enough of that lately.

An important note: the blasa, while damp, appears clean and solid.

(For those that are interested in the progress with old hull #62...the deck is now solid with all the holes overfilled with epoxy and the wet spots filled and recored. The deck has been painted in two tone grey and the hardware is beginning to go back on. the main bulkhead will be reglassed shortly. The hull is the last structural issue with with two wet spots (one at an old repair and the other at the keel as mentioned above).

I just finished drying out some wet spots in the core by vacuum. Water vaporizes under a vacuum. Drill enough holes in the wet area to access it all then vacuum bag the area (West System has a kit). West uses a venturi device to generate the vacuum, but I used a vacuum pump. The strength of your vacuum will determine how quickly things dry out. Good luck!

How fast did the vacuume work?

Things seem to dry pretty fast with a dehumidifier and St. Louis summer heat, but perhaps I could drill fewer holes by adding vacuume.

What sort of hole patterns have you used?

I did a 4ft by 2ft area. I drilled holes every three inches or so. You can individually check the vacuum of each hole you drill before you bag the area. If you can pull a strong vacuum the area immediately around the hole is pretty well isolated, so you may want to consider decreasing the hole spacing. If it won't pull much of a vacuum, then it is either in communication with other holes or there is a slight delamination, so you can increase the hole spacing.

I ran the pump each night after work until about 9pm and during the afternoons on weekends. The boat was on the hard for three months but it only took about three weeks to dry out the area I bagged. It started out really wet and ended up with about 4% moisture content (according to the moisture meter.) There's alot of humidity on the Texas Gulf coast, so I knew I couldn't rely on it drying out on it's own. My pump would only pull about one atmosphere of vacuum, and I know it would have taken less time with a more powerful pump.

I launched the boat last Tues, stepped the mast on Wed, and then placed 2nd and 3rd in our biggest regatta of the year Sat and Sun. Theres a lot to be said for a dry, fair hull. Good luck!

Please keep us posted on the durability of this repair. Could you check the moisture at haul-out this winter?

Haul out this winter? Hah! I'm on the southern Gulf Coast of Texas. Down here we sail all year. At our "Frostbite Regatta" in December, it is usually a chilly 65 degrees. Brrrrr.

Kidding aside, I'll let ya'll know how things look next time the boat is out of the water.