Often after a sailing trip we find something to fix on the boat. This time it was a pesky leak. It got the carpet wet and each day we had to mop a cup or more of water from off the cabin sole. Of course in a larger boat there would be real bilges and a bilge pump. Our little pocket cruiser requires many things to serve double duty. Thus the hull of the boat is our cabin sole and any leaks immediately get the carpet wet. We eventually tossed the whole soggy mess out and kept a sponge handy. Most disconcerting was that some days the leak would get things wet and some days it didn’t bother. We would all get our hopes up and say, ‘Oh yes it must have been that big wake we had to plow through yesterday.’ Then we would have a quiet day and the leak would dump a cup of salt water on the cabin sole and quietly snicker at us.

I finally had enough. I decided to lay in a secondary layer of fiberglass around the centerboard trunk. I reasoned that there must be a weep hole or a hairline crack developing in the hull to centerboard trunk joint. I spent four days grinding the paint off of both sides of the join. I kept a sharp eye out for any cracks or pits. I think we may have found it…, the smoking gun, …so to speak. A rusty dot in the centerboard trunk sanded down to a shiny steel broken-off screw. It lies just about at the waterline inside the trunk.

Judy and I proceeded to lay in our fiberglass reinforcing and made sure the screw stub got a full treatment of four layers of fiberglass matt and cloth.

Now fiberglass lay-up is one of those love-hate things. I hate to do it and I would love for someone else to do it instead. However, no one stepped up and volunteered. Now of course the centerboard trunk, true to its name is in the center of everything: The table, the kitchen cabinets and the head. Here is how you lay-up a simple 12 inch by 24 inch reinforcement piece under the kitchen sink.

1. Spend two days with a sander removing all of the paint along six inches of cabin sole and six inches up the side of the trunk. It helps if the weather is in the high eighties.

2. Wash all surfaces with acetone to remove any residue of paint. Don’t inhale.

3. Cut a 12 by 24 inch patch of fiberglass woven cloth.

4. Cut a 10 by 22 inch patch of fiberglass matt cloth.

5. Lay down about four layers of newspaper on the nearest horizontal surface and lay the two fabric layers on the newspaper. Woven piece on the bottom.

6. Get out your can of resin and note that the hardener has all dried up and the liquid is full of big lumps. Drive to hardware store for fresh supplies.

7. Lay your tools and containers in careful array by the cloth stack. Put on your vinyl gloves.

8. Pour a generous dollop of resin in your mixing cup and count out the desired drops of catalyst; mix well for one minute.

9. Pour this on the cloth stack and note that this is not going to be near enough. Spread it around quickly and mix up a second batch. The clock is ticking loudly now.

10. When you have the cloth stack completely saturated and you can read the newspaper through the cloth and resin you are ready to peal and stick.

11. Stick it in place.

Now that last step looks deceptively easy. If the desired location is flat, smooth and horizontal, it is easy. However if the desired spot is under the sink, half horizontal and half vertical and is enclosed by two ends, plan for the most frustrating 45 minutes you can imagine. The glass cloth sandwich repeatedly peals and sticks. That is it peals off the surfaces you intend for it to stick to and sticks to your vinyl gloves. At one point I felt like wadding the whole mess up and stuffing it in the garbage. Eventually the piece of cloth yielded to my superior will and persistence and lay quietly in position. A visit to the web page will reward you with a photo of the reinforcing strip quietly and serenely and almost invisibly guarding against any future attempt of water to leak into our boat.

Now what to do about the leaking windows! Actually I think boat windows are supposed to leak. How else would you know that it rained last night?

Well, we send love to all from Oregon.

Gary and Judy