Rambling repair post...

[SailingUphill]

Dave, I ran across a decent amount of J boats with a similar problem. it's why there are so few J/27s kicking around. J/24 - forgetaboutit...

[dave]

Yep, I've repaired lots of balsa rot on many different J models.

[dave]

Not here to defend J's of any model (or the 7.9 for that matter), but if the average 7.9 was sailed as hard as the average J24, the former would have a similar service life record. Boats are inanimate objects and they didn't build themselves. It's not the fault of any boat that it has problems, only the builder and just as (if even not MORE importantly) the end user or users.

No matter how well installed, the number of cycles on any piece of deck hardware multiplied by the average load of each cycle WILL eventually deteriorate or break the sealant bond, which of course starts the water intrusion process. This is why boats which have been raced their whole life and/or raced in heavy conditions for most of their life have more and/or accelerated balsa rot problems. The only way to stop this is to overdrill, fill and remount. Good for life after that, if done properly. Also, don't forget that this all applies to transom mounted rudders like the 7.9's !!!!

Those who rationalize that they don't have the time, don't have the confidence or aren't going to own the boat long enough for this to matter, well........ Even on the latter point: when it comes time to sell, the boat with zero balsa repair needed and a history of having been "rot proofed" can and will pay for itself!

[normbue]

Another question. I've noticed that your topsides look clean and white. Mine are dinghy, and covered with round black spots. Mold? I have tried scrubbing and cleaners to get them out, with no real effect, but I can scrape them with my fingernail. Anybody got any hints or answers?

[Stef]

Soft Scrub cleaner and a bristle brush on a broom stick. Wear old clothes, it has some bleach in it. Maintain with Awesome cleaner and Woody Wax.

[SailingUphill]

Stef is right, but soft-scrub comes in 2 flavors... regular and the one he is saying... "Soft Scrub with Bleach." It goes without saying the bleach makes a huge difference. HOWEVER, keep it away from canvas, and lines (and bare teak)... of course your clothes too.

The way I got rid of all the garbage on my deck I pressure washed the deck with a 2700psi pressure washer. This is what I started with:

Here you can see the process as it was happening, you can see the trail the pressure washer leaves... Also at that level of pressure, you can rip wood apart.

[dave]

I use a 25% bleach mixture in a garden type, pump up spray bottle. Mist the whole shebang really well and let sit for 5-10 minute. You'll see it turn white. Finish off with the pressure washer. No scrubbing needed.

As stated earlier, watch the fabrics. The bleach may also streak the bottom paint. If the boat is out of the water you can lay down a strip of two inch tape above the paint and curl the bottom edge up the make the bleach/water mixture run off before hitting the paint.

[normbue]

Thanks, I've used Awesome and Soft Scrub and the brush. but maybe not enough bleach. I was afraid to use that much pressure, because I was worried about driving the sealant out. I'll try again now that I'm resealing it.

[dave]

normbue, if the caulk seal on your hardware is still intact, you're okay. If not, water is coming in whether by pressure washer, rain or dew. The former may do a better job of deliver, but the latter two are doing their malicious deeds just the same!

[dave]

On the bleach, a fitting story: two summers back we went to Vero Beach for a two week vacation with my sis and new BIL. He had borrowed a friends flats boat so that I could fish the Indian River. The boat was old enough that the deck gelcoat was chalked out, and this is when gelcoat stains the most.

He had the boat parked under some Laurel Oaks that were raining crap as these trees do year round (evergreens), and this stuff is full of tannic acid. Everywhere even the smallest piece of oak debris sat for onger than a few minutes left a dark brown stain that wasn't effected by soap and scrubbing. I told him to mix bleach and water and that would do the trick......... I didn't think that more detail was necessary.

About an hour later he came in dripping sweat (June) and all flustered because he said the bleach wasn't working and he wanted to return his friend's boat cleaner than he found it! While he frantically ran off to the store looking for some miracle cleaner, i went out to check things for myself. The mix he had in a 5 gallon pail barely smelled of bleach! I added enough bleach to bring it up to at least a 25-33% mix and started swabbing the deck with it. Within 30 seconds the stains started to fade and in 20 minutes the whole deck was glistening white and spotless!

He returned about 5 minutes before I finished and was dumbfounded. I said "Dude........ You didn't use enough BLEACH"!!! He was one happy camper, and all of this took place with no scrubbing and no pressure washer, just a hose and nozzle to rinse everything and blast things in a certain direction!

[AJ Oliver]

High pressure washing has been known to blast bedding out from under fittings, winches, etc.
Be careful how you use it.

[dave]

AJ, this is only my opinion, although it has been gained through decades of doing such things: if the caulk used to originally bed the fixture was silicone rubber or 3M 5200, AND the surfaces were clean, dry and free of contaminates at installation, AND haven't been broken free from one surface or the other, a pressure washer won't do it. Quite honestly, in the boat building business, one or more of these things are often nit the case.

I say this for the simple reason that you can spend ten minutes trying to blast away either of those (stuck on a deck) with a pressure washer and make absolutely no progress IF the conditions given above were present at the time of contact. I would certainly suggest moving the wand further away from the surface when cleaning around deck fittings, and wood especially just because of the relatively softer nature (as referred to earlier by another poster), because non of these items stick as well to wood as they do to new gelcoat or stainless steel. And, you never know if the bond is still good or was perfect when new, so it's good to ere on the safe side. Still, if the bond is already compromised, water is getting in there, pressure washer or not.

Again..... This all boils down to real care in the longevity of any balsa cored boat or one with plywood inserts anywhere: overdrill, fill and remount! Even without caulking the water may go through to the inside, but not into the core!

Maybe I should make clear that I'm speaking strictly of caulk/sealants, not "bedding compounds". The old school BS like Dolphinite are absolute junk as a permanent sealant. Something that never hardeners or cures and stays mailable can't be a sealant by it's very nature. Why so many old school "yachty" types still use and back this type of "bedding compound" is a sure sign of the human ability to rationalize anything that one has used before into being the BEST, no matter the evidence to the contrary!

[normbue]

OK... Now! Does anybody store anything in the compartment under the cockpit? Mine gets a little water in it, and would be hard to organize. And would that change the balance of the boat?

[SailingUphill]

OOh new toys arrived for the boat...
New electronics.

Also arrived in a box...
3M 4200 sealant
2 access ports.
Baltek end grain balsa in the right size.
45 feet of coax RG213? forget but the heavy stuff.
chopped strand mat
Acetone
VC17m Extra in blue just 1 more quart, this will be my 2nd...

[SailingUphill]

More pictures - I did WARN you this would be picture heavy right?
I got the SUUNTO compass out of the bulkhead (someone used 5200 to hold it in, needless to say it didn't leak!)... ugh..
Then I removed the highly defunct Standard Horizon Speed/Depth/Temp unit... This left me with 2 holes looking more like a kids shape tester...


The corresponding holes left me with a dilemma... how to cover up 2 larger holes of differing shapes without having to reglass the whole thing. The prior owner used a block of teak to cover the speed/depth/temp, then cutout the teak.. I think I'm going to borrow that idea, except use starboard...

Here I am spitballing that idea, and trying to get an idea of what it'll look like...


I think it'll work and not look horrible...


Anything to save me from having to do MORE glasswork... I am no artist, nor craftsman so my work will be functional, not likely to be pretty.