Dear 7.9er's -
I sail #445 at the Sandusky Sailing Club (SSC) on the US's great North Coast. I'm wondering if any of you have tips on how to repair the mast step. Mine has a few cracks in the paint just below it, but appears not to be compressing.
Although the problem seems to be merely cosmetic at this point, I wondering if any of you have suggestions on how to repair it. There are pros around here who can do it (for about $900), but I'm wondering - as a poor, but honest teacher) if I might be able to do it myself. What is your advice?
And by the way, you are all invited to visit SSC. We always have a place to tie up (with a great view across the Bay of the coasters of Cedar Point), and a place on a race boat on Wednesday evenings in the summer.
Peace Dudes, AJ (Skip) Oliver
Mast Step Repair
Moderators: Tim Bosma, Tom Elsen
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Tom Elsen
- Site Admin
- Posts: 419
- Joined: Fri Dec 20, 2002 5:42 pm
- Location: Minneapolis, MN & Chicago, IL
Mast step
Hi AJ
If you have some (truly) cosmetic cracks near the mast step, it's not a problem to fix yourself.
Unbolt the plate that serves as the step. With a small putty knife (and a bunch of paper towels) work some of the long-cure 3M 5200 into the cracks under the step. Let it cure. Then spread a thin layer of marine silicone around the outer edge of your plate to form a gasket. You might want to do the same around each of the bolts. Re-bolt the plate in place. Finally use some of the gelcoat repair stuff (the small, absurd-priced tubes that come with a tiny plastic putty knife) to fix any small cracks outside of the plate itself. Just work the material into the crack and scrape off the excess. That stuff sets up pretty quickly so it takes a bit of practice. Sand it with 600 grit wet/dry paper later if you really want to get 'fancy'.
$900 sounds like a LOT of $$ for a cosmetic repair.
If you have some (truly) cosmetic cracks near the mast step, it's not a problem to fix yourself.
Unbolt the plate that serves as the step. With a small putty knife (and a bunch of paper towels) work some of the long-cure 3M 5200 into the cracks under the step. Let it cure. Then spread a thin layer of marine silicone around the outer edge of your plate to form a gasket. You might want to do the same around each of the bolts. Re-bolt the plate in place. Finally use some of the gelcoat repair stuff (the small, absurd-priced tubes that come with a tiny plastic putty knife) to fix any small cracks outside of the plate itself. Just work the material into the crack and scrape off the excess. That stuff sets up pretty quickly so it takes a bit of practice. Sand it with 600 grit wet/dry paper later if you really want to get 'fancy'.
$900 sounds like a LOT of $$ for a cosmetic repair.
Best wishes,
Tom
Tom
The difficulty in repairing the gelcoat comes in color matching.
Here's a great article that tells you how you can color match:
http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/02.htm
Quick summary, match it to a latex paint using color swatches, then you'll know the tinting components to add to your gelcoat paste or epoxy.
The article infers that you can use the same tints used for latex based paints for gelcoat paste - I'd be sure to try that out and make sure the paste hardens correctly before putting it on my boat.
Here's a great article that tells you how you can color match:
http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/02.htm
Quick summary, match it to a latex paint using color swatches, then you'll know the tinting components to add to your gelcoat paste or epoxy.
The article infers that you can use the same tints used for latex based paints for gelcoat paste - I'd be sure to try that out and make sure the paste hardens correctly before putting it on my boat.
Tom Line
Hull 421
Grrr...
Hull 421
Grrr...
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Drake H
gelcoat match
sometime in the past, someone on the website referred me to an outfit that sent me the right gelcoat to match my hull#-- sorry, my feeble brain can't recall more. anybody else remember?
Drake, #474
Drake, #474