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Hey Guys!!

I was just given a DSII that was sitting in a back yard for the past 20 years. To my surprise the boat is in great shape and has no soft spots even though the hull was full of water. Im trying to dry out the hull as uch as possible. Where is the best to put an inspection port, I was thinking in the cabin all the way up front, but I saw some posts where people put the inspection port at the bow all the way up front where the forstay is.

Then I want to get this boat looking good before racing season. I need to do some cosmetic work.

I dont know how to up load images so I will explain.

1. The sides inside the cabin are chipping away. do I need to sand them down and paint?
2. There are very tiny bubbles forming in the gel coat. what do i do about that.
3. And there are dark spots in the gel coat that I want to make white again.

The number one thing is to get that inspection port that will let me get my hand in the hull and dry that thing out!

Any and all responses are welcome, thank you.

Welcome to the forum. Great resource for all things Day Sailer.

What year is the boat. A DS II should already have two inspection ports at the forward end of the cockpit near the cuddy cabin bulkhead. If you don't have cockpit inspection ports, you may have one of the later DS I boats instead. Do you have a lever centerboard control or does it use the line system? A picture of the boat would be helpful.

I usually only add inspection ports if I need to install hardware in an area I can't get to do to the double hull. I have installed an inspection port in the bow deck to repair a damaged bow eye.

Others will chime in to help with restoration work.

John

santy wrote:I dont know how to up load images so I will explain.

1. The sides inside the cabin are chipping away. do I need to sand them down and paint?
2. There are very tiny bubbles forming in the gel coat. what do i do about that.
3. And there are dark spots in the gel coat that I want to make white again.

Please look in the section "Forum Info and how to use the forum" for instructions. For this kind of image, the best method would be to use an attachment.

For interior surfaces that are on the inside, it's essentially up to you.You may decide to leave well enough alone, or to postpone doing the work. If you decide to do it, sanding off loose paint and / or scuff sanding smooth surfaces is the first step in preparing.

I would use an exterior paint, those are more flexible and formulated to tolerate swings in temperature or moisture. It may not be necessary to use a marine paint, but whatever you choose should tolerate abrasion (from stuff you might stow in the cabin). Among marine paints, Petit's EasyPoxy is easy to apply, and after about a week or 10 days, cures well and gives a tough surface. (I've used a leftover bit of this paint on the bottom of a heavily used kitchen drawer and the paint shows no signs of giving up)

Bubbles in gel-coat: outside or inside? Above or below the waterline? If you want to race this boat you'll want a smooth bottom. Sanding, fairing, and painting with a Marine paint would be your choice. If the boat is to be kept in the water, the paint needs to be selected for underwater use, and you may want to do use an epoxy-based barrier coat. (Also, search the forum for posts by people who had real issues with bubbles and osmosis: if the situation is bad, you may need to do a bit more restoration work).

Dark spots: I take it those have survived the usual attempts at cleanup? Don't know what to write generically. If you use bleach, they may go away, but the process takes a toll on the gel coat. An alternative would be to try to polish: 3M's fiberglass cleaner and restorer might work, it combines polishing and light waxing. Alternatively, using Rubbing Compound, followed by 3M's Finesse II (to restore the shiny surface) and then a wax (e.g. Fleet Wax) would be an approach. (Don't heavily wax surfaces that you plan to sit or stand on - that's an accident waiting to happen).

If installing more inspection ports to aid access and drying out the bilge areas, a few tips may help!
The bulkhead in the bow area, not a bad idea to have an inspection port there to be able to access the bow eye and the bow cleats and forestay fitting bolts, however, unless you are more flexible than I am, I'd get a small access hatch (about 9" x 11") instead. That will allow getting an arm in there while still being able to see what you are doing. The whole compartment forward of that bulkhead is full of small Styrofoam scraps (flotation) not hard to pull out if needed to gain access, just tedious! There is more of that scrap foam for flotation under the cuddy inside decking (floor), it is between the bow compartment and a low bulkhead under the cuddy floor located about 18" or so aft of the forward bulkhead. That area actually contains larger foam chunks which may get in the way of real access to the bilge, I added an inspection port there to be able to dry out the area if needed. Basically, aft of that low bulkhead under the cuddy floor, the bilge is empty except for foam blocks bonded up under the seats in the cockpit. You should be able to bail out 90% or more of any water in the bilge through the two inspection/bailing ports at the forward end of the cockpit. If your boat is a 1979 or older that is also where you access the bolt that holds the centerboard pivot in place (use a 3/4" wrench to tighten the bolt). A warm, sunny day with the two inspection/bailing ports open will usually dry out the other 10% of the water that may be in the bilge. If my bilge is "damp" after a morning sail (any water that I couldn't reach with a sponge when bailing or what might have been in some obscure little pocket of the bilge), I tend to leave those ports open while I go in for lunch, on a typical Summer day, the bilge is dry an hour or 2 later!

OH, and if anyone wonders what O'DAY used to do with the Styrofoam packing chunks that must have come packed around various pieces of equipment for their boats........... just look in the bow compartment of your DS II!

Hey guys thank you for the responses!!

I took out the boat on Saturday to do some sea trils and i gues there is a very tiny leak in the hull. Do you guys recommend me filling the bilge with water to find the possible leak? The leak must be small but after 5 hrs on the water i pumped out 6 (and i counted) home depot buckets.

Filling the bilge with water might be a good first step. Some sources for possible leaks are the centerboard bolt or centerboard plates (depending on vintage of DS II), the self bailer, plugs for drains not fitting properly, bad seals in the cockpit inspection ports, the infamous DS II centerboard cable coming out of the front of the centerboard trunk (many discussions/posts on that one), and hull/deck joint gaps. All of these have posts that you can search for on the site.

John

If you are referring to those orange, 5-gallon buckets from HD, then that would be 30 gallons of water and WAY too much to have collect after only 5 hours of sailing (unless you capsized <grin>)! I had trouble with the hull-deck seam on my boat leaking, amazing what a difference a tube of sealant used to fill in any gaps made! However, 30 gallons still would be a lot coming in through that area, unless you sailed that entire 5 hours with the lee rail awash, and I doubt you were always heeling that much. I would carefully pout water into the bilge and check for leaking around the drainplug in the stern that drains the bilge (yet, it would seem like it would have to be REALLY leaking to fill the bilge with 6 gallons per hour. The CB pivot bolt (1971-79 models) isn't likely to let in that much water, unless REALLY loose or no gasket remains (D&R Marine sells replacements), mine started dripping a few years ago, the original gaskets (rubber washers) had compressed to the point that they no longer sealed before the nut on the pivot bolt reached the inner limit of the threads. I replaced the gaskets (actually inserted them between the originals and the CB trunk for added thickness) and no more dripping. Boats 1980 and newer have the CB pivot pin inserted from outside the boat, and have 2 stainless-steel plates to hold in 2 wedges that hold in the pin. Unless something has worn out, any leaks would come just from the 4 sheet-metal screws that secure those plates. Still, should not let in 6 gallons per hour. Possibility that water could be coming in around the hole inhte CB trunk where the lifting cable passes, but that is near the top of the CB trunk and well above the waterline, unless you hit a lot of very large waves (or powerboat wakes) water doesn't usually leak tremendously there (mine, luckily have never leaked there. Hole is not centered on the actual CB trunk, but there is a sealed connection between CB trunk and deck molding.) That hole might leak up to a gallon or two over 5 hours, but not 30.
Is there any cracks in your hull? I'd check carefully, starting with the forward end of the CB trunk. Sometimes the sideways forces on the CB will cause a crack there (common on a lot of centerboard as well as retractable keel boats) I reinforced that area on my boat (did have to create access through cuddy floor) after we twice had a crack develop in that area of our Old CAL 21 (retractable keel) which could let in quite a bit of water while sailing.(Could actually watch water squirt in as keel caused area to flex and open slightly)
Final area to check, around bow-eye how good is the sealant? Again, can't imaging 6 gallons per hour, but if the bow-eye were a bit loose or the sealant was breaking down, water could seep in as you hit a wave. Actually, one more thought...... no way to have 30 gallons in the bilge without knowing it... but sometimes a gallon or so of water can collect in a hidden area of the bilge, depending on how boat has been sitting (or floating?) and when you start sailing and the boat is heeling over or just is now on a different angle from how she was sitting all week, that water will find a way to drain down to the bilge and be visible. Again, can't collect 30 gallons like that, but I have gone nuts more than once trying to find leak, only to realize that the water must have drained out of some pocket somewhere.

As a note on the centerboard uphaul hole in the forward end of the centerboard trunk, yes that could produce that amount of water. If there is a gap between the centerboard walls, the water coming through there will sometimes go into the bilge. My boat has no gap between the inner trunk and the trunk cap (molded into the deck) and I have seen water shoot through the opening into the cuddy cabin and hit the mast lower section. The faster the boat goes, the more water pumps through there. If there is a gap, that water goes into the bilge instead of the cuddy cabin. There are several post discussing a fix if there is a gap.

On my boat there is no gap as mentioned. It was repaired before I got the boat (or my have been done when the boat was built). The water goes into the cuddy and drains into the cockpit where I bail it since my self bailer doesn't work. On events like the Texas 200, I've done a lot of cockpit bailing. On my boat, if the centerboard isn't full down (say 7/8 to 3/4 down) it seems to reduce the flow of water through that area, enough that I don't need to bail constantly. It might just be something odd about my boat, I couldn't really say if this would work for anyone else.

John

I have a 1976 DSII as well. My centerboard up haul is sealed through as well. I took the little grommet out, and can see right through the hole. The sides of the hole are solid all the way through.

OK sunbird, it was not 30 gallons but it was plenty of water. thank you for your comment. BTW i filled up the hull with water and it seams that the only place where it leaks is the pivot bolt, i will try to get that fixed this weekend. I have the roger conard book. BTW i have a 78 DSII.