Boat: Nacra 5.2
Im ready to set up my spin on the old 5.2 and the only thing i dont have ready are the Bow holes. I have heard of several way's to drill the holes and fill but they just seem weak to me. They may be great way's but drilling holes in my freshly painted boat kinda scares me <img src=
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These are the methods i have heard of:
Drill and fill with chopped glass and resin...Wouldnt the chopped glass and resin fall to the bottum of the hull?
Drill holes and then fill hole with Marine-Tex...This seems like it would work because Marine-Tex is pretty thick but is marine-tex really that strong?
Cut small peice of PVC to fit in the new hole, rough up outside of pvc, dip in resin and insert.....This doesnt seem strong enough?
I would like to do this process once and once only so im here asking for advice because when it comes to this kind of stuff im a novice.
I have searched google,catsailor, etc and cant come up with anything <img src=
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If you have any reccomendations on products and application i would appreciate your input.
I drilled, filled with marine-tex and re-drilled (Nacra 5.8).
The marine-tex is just to keep water out. The strength comes from the hull itself.
The PVC is not meant to be structural...it's just there to prevent water entering the hull while still having a hole through both sides. You then put a loop of spectra or vectran through the hole...outerside goes through a good sized stainless washer and then gets decent sized stopper knot. The inner end of the loop serves as a tie off point for the pole end stays.
My boat has a medium sized eye-bolt completly through each bow tip, embedded with highdensity filled epoxy and a washer/nut on the outer side. Not pretty, but it has lasted 5 + years of heavy loading.
beware, PVC is vulnerable to UV degreadation IIRC which, in the use of water intrusion prevention, could cause problems down the road.
Drill holes, epoxy in G10 rod, drill new holes in the G10. Just did something similar.
i have eyestraps in my bows and i would suggest a plastic washer to avoid rust and staining of the hulls.
What's G10
G10 is a high density fibreglass that is used to make components to very accurate tolerance. It also the stuff that printed circuit boards are made of.
G10 tube is bloody tricky to get hold of in the UK though! Got mine from New Zealand!
I just went and picked up the grey 13,000psi marine-tex. The regular white stuff is around 8000psi
Is this G10 a similar product?
When I did John Schwartz's 5.8 I put some masking tape down first before I drilled about a 3/4" hole (one inch down from the top of bow and one inch back from tip of bow) and filled the hole with JB Weld. JB is the toughest stuff I have seen to resist abrasion (line going through it can saw it after a while) then when it fully cured drilled a smaller hole to run some Vectran through. Then re-gelcoated to make it look pretty. The masking tape will (should) help keep the edges from chipping too much. In hind sight, you should be able to run your spin pole bridles to your bridle wire tangs.
I have some 12 mm fiberglass tubing obtained free from old push-together tent poles, with 3 mm hole thru the center.
It worked great with JB-Weld for the thru-bow spin connecter.