Hi Rob,
rob wrote
the gel coat dosnt seem well fixed to the grp. the hull is ok with a few osmosis style holes, but above the waterline the cabin top is likened to alligator skin egg she'll cracks all over. Is this common with old seahawks?
Yes! Most boats do seem to suffer it to some extent, but I am unclear about what causes it and whether it is a matter of past maintenance or a fault at the time of manufacturer, such as resin/hardener used or proportions mixed. My own SeaHawk (#267) had a sky blue superstructure moulding but had clearly been under white paint for ages before I got her. I found her to be in remarkably good condition when I decided on a strip to the gel coat before a repaint with two-pack. She came back like new. Good thorough preparation takes a lot of time but is key to a good result.
I'm glad that you say "osmosis-style" holes, rather than "osmosis". I found one or two holes in the gel coat of my hull, or rather created them as I rubbed down the paint. They seemed to be covering voids in the matting and main resin layer - faults in lay up rather than osmosis as they were perfectly dry and showed no sign of having the tell-tale evil smelling oily fluid that I read is the sign of osmosis. As you suggest, they were easy to fill and presented no issues after the repair.
I've epoxied the holes in the hull (below the waterline curiously seems ok.
Mine were below the waterline!
I hope the keel dosnt rust away before I can afford to get it out to tip it on its side to epoxy coat I was wondering rust needs water AND oxygen so if it's always submerged will it rust slowly or should I get it done asap? Does anyone use beaching legs to avoid possibility of hull puncture if drying out in unfamiliar waters (so it drys out like a bilge keeler)
It sounds as if your keel has the exposed concrete ballast, as seen at:
https://www.seahawk17.org.uk/boat-description-hull.php#ballastThat would make yours an early boat with a sail number less than about #150. In early boats it would appear that any water in the bilges eventually rots the plywood shuttering that holds the ballast in place and then it begins to move about with water seeping all around the ballast with some rust occurring.
I have no personal experience of the work involved in removing the ballast but reports suggest that while it is not commercially viable (as it requires cutting out the cabin sole and then takes a long time with a Kango drill to dig out and re-set the scrap iron in fresh concrete) it is very do able, even if the hull itself has been wrecked on sharp rocks. See:
https://www.seahawk17.org.uk/owners-maintenance-fittings-keellittleauk.phpIn short, I don't think it need be an urgent task as I suspect any rust will only affect exposed surfaces of the scrap iron components in the keel.
No one has ever reported the use of beach legs to me, though I did think of trying to make some once, when I was considering taking "Just 17" to coastal waters and would need to sleep aboard, but that trip never materialised.
Locked
