Just minutes before covering the hull of Kuan Yin with three layers of anti-foul paint (to discourage barnacles and marine growth), I was making a last minute inspection when I discovered a small spot of rust that I hadn’t noticed before. All the other spots I’d ground off and coated with two layers of special high-built steel primer paint. The grinder was put away, the anti-foul was ready to apply. It was the afternoon and a perfect day for getting this job done before the boat could go back in the water.
Through all the refitting of Kuan Yin over the last two summers, I’ve always tried to apply the highest standards that I’m capable of achieving. Sloppy work always has to be redone and costs more in time and money in the end, in my experience. But I have to admit I was tempted just to let this one little touch of rust go – paint over for another season and attack it next spring.
However, I got out the grinder, brought the power line and started to work. Imagine my horror less than a couple of minutes later when I discovered a HOLE in the hull of my steel boat. Half a screwdriver disappeared!
At first this was quite a mystery. Two summers ago I stripped the inside of the boat, took a sawzall and cut out the original cabin sole to enable me to reach all areas of the hull. I scraped, ground, hammered and wired brushed all spots of rust over every inch of the hull, except behind the old fridge and under the toilet holding tank. But no where did I see any rust to give me cause of worry. I’d painted with special two-part epoxy paint and was happy that the hull of the boat was in such good shape. So where could this hole be in the hull?
I cleaned out all the soft rust and discovered the hole was about one-inch in diameter. Enough to sink the boat within a few minutes – and a particular danger when sailing alone!
The steel plates of the hull had been welded to the frame of the hull. Part of this frame is a steel tube that runs the length of the boat and is called a stringer. And this was where the hole in the boat happened to be – right inside the tube stringer. It may have been flooding with water for many seasons, gradually allowing the hole to grow. That was why no water had appeared inside the boat.
Finding a big hole in the hull of a boat is every sailor’s nightmare – but actually I was both pleased and disappointed. Pleased because I found the hole before the boat was back in the water and the damage could continue or cause some other catastrophic event.
I made a cup of tea (one of my answers to all things that need a moment or two to think about) and sat down. I’d lost Ungava Bay – at least for 2010. hopefully I can still make it north up the coast of Labrador and around into Ungava Bay next year.
In the meantime, I needed to get all of Kuan Yin’s hull tested. Were there other areas of the hull that had holes or corrosion that was making her steel skin paper-thin? I have to find out.
Hi Denny
Very glad you found those weak spots before you went anywhere far afield. Is it worth having another go with the ultra-sound maybe?
It must have been a nervous moment, sort of “holy Kuan Yin’ as opposed to ‘Holy Moses’.
Happy days and see you over here soon I hope.
As ever Jeff
Mr. Berwicke,
I came across your post on the hole in your steel boat, and it suddenly made me remember a friend’s advice (he’s a metal worker) to me a few weeks ago, to pay attention to the long-neglected rust spots on my boat…which are superficial, but easily get worse if neglected, which I’ve been doing.
Anyway –I was just curious what type of “special high-build steel primer paint” you were referring to in your post. I normally use an industrial type 2-part epoxy (Ameron is the brand, I think), but perhaps what you used is better. Thanks for any info you may have on the primer. Feel free to email me at the email address I put in my post (where it says “Mail (will not be published)”)
Cheers,
Jud