CRACKED BULKHEAD - Can we fix it? | Sailing Florence - Ep.153

Is Blue Water Cruising just FIXING BOATS IN EXOTIC LOCATIONS? We have had our fair share of problems to fix whilst sailing around the world, but this is the biggest breakage so far. We have a cracked bulkhead in the hull and we need to learn some fibre glass skills to repair our broken boat.
We have been sailing around the world for 6 and a half years after setting off from England in 2016 on board our 37ft sail boat Florence. Join us as we share the highs, lows, and challenges of travelling around the world by boat, Sailing offshore across the Oceans and exploring remote locations with our own little tiny house. Boat life out at sea on the ocean and off the grid.
Extra content and real time updates on Patreon: / sailingyachtflorence
You can also follow us via our blog at www.sailwiththeflo.wordpress.com
Equipment:
Affiliate link: Get a free invisible selfie stick for the Insta 360 X3 here, the camera that we use to capture the drone-like shots when sailing offshore without a drone: www.insta360.com/sal/x3?insrc...
00:00 - Intro
01:23 - Fixing Boats in Exotic Locations
03:02 - What we broke
06:31 - Fixing a cracked bulkhead onboard
11:39 - Fibreglass bulkhead repair
15:56 - Next Time
#Sailing #offshoresailing #OceanSailing #Ocean #sailingaroundtheworld #circumnavigation #SailingYachtFlorence #BoatLife #boatlifestyle #yacht #SYFlorence #AtlanticOceanSailing #SailingDoubleHanded #Caribbeanboatlife #Caribbean #broken
Music in order as played:
Dangerous mision - www.hooksounds.com - Licenced
Keep Walking - www.hooksounds.com - Creative Commons - Attribution Creative Commons 4.0 license
Ocean Sunrise - www.hooksounds.com - Licenced
Floating on Clouds - www.hooksounds.com - Licenced
Sequin Dream - www.hooksounds.com - Licenced

[@nooneanybodyknows7912]

I've watched an unimaginable number of fiberglass repairs. This is the first time I've seen this method. Fascinating! Thanks for sharing. Good job, Ron.

[@alanbrookes6637]

Excellent work, ofcourse the bulkhead has two sides to tackle, you seem to have only one side to work on. Hope all goes well.

[@Anmeteor9663]

Ron's a super star. Great tricks of the trade shared too. Thanks all

[@pontoonrob7948]

Ha, one of the very few channels to show a well done field repair. Kudos

[@jupitersailing]

Oh yeah? I suppose that is a personal dig at me for repairing my saucepan with a radish.

[@rickjanicki3705]

i love Ron, he's a bloody legend.

[@boon197999]

What a blessing though.. to be able to help your friends in need.

[@veronicamoss2597]

Okay..all I can say is Blessed..that you have your friend Ron with you❤️🙏✌️

[@dankilsby813]

Yes! Great to see Ron again! Ron once gave up 2 days of his summer holiday to help me and my helm to fix our 49er just before the nationals because we’d bodged a repair (over 15 years ago). He is impressively selfless and incredibly capable!

[@sebchilvers848]

ha fantastic repair. Ron used to work for our family business 30years ago, i used to love talking to him about all his crazy projects, builds & speed machines he sailed. small world.

[@Tomm9y]

A good temporary repair. I wonder if you considered temporarily wedging the gap so as to limit the range of movement. Perhaps one or two deck to keel ties (like stays) would be a good added reassurance in the future. Sailing a fully laden boat for long distances across oceans puts a lot of repeated stress on any weaker points. And although Florence is well built I'm not sure that the builders Oyster Marine or designer Homan & Pye, knew enough to factor in the repeated long term loads. Even Laser dinghy gunwhales fail when transported on a gunwhale supporting trailer, they are light, but the repeated bouncing on a small wheeled trailer takes its toll.

[@SailingSteelSapphire]

Loved the sequence of exotic places and the repairs that happened in each of them. Was a really fun way of telling the story. And what a legend is Ron. Every cruiser needs friends like Ron - we have James, who we've never yet managed to persuade to come out for a holiday with us due to his young kids, but who nonetheless has been on call 24/7 to coach us through more than a few sticky situations and repairs. Raising a virtual glass to the Rons and the James's of the world - where would we be without them!

[@grahamcoffer1720]

Brilliant once again.Really interesting seeing yr friend fix the boat…two PhD’s ,impressive!

[@tomriley5790]

Ron does seem to be the man you needed! Shame he didn't want to be on camera, it would have been a privilege to hear!

[@earthangel8730]

Thank you Ron for taking some time from your Caribbean vacation to help my 2 favorite sailors give Florence some much needed tlc. Brilliant job!

[@benlindner5285]

Hello Matt and Amy I am a solo voyager on my 1983 27' Pacific Seacraft Orion currently completing a Pacific circuit. I am also an avid student of Navel Design. After learning of Florence's structural failures I have taken a close look at your boats specs. Should you ever decide to make a change in boats there are a few comparisons to perhaps consider. Florence displaces 14,500 pounds, a purpose built cruising boat of the same generation and length will displace in the range 16,000 pounds or more. The portion of the boat that is ballast is almost the same at 6,000 Pounds between Florence and a cruiser. This means that all of the reduced weight of Florence has come out of the hull and interior reinforcements. Florence is also carrying the same amount of sail as the heavier boat. This will yield a much higher performing boat but also the same rig strain on the structure. There is a measure of "comfort" of a boat that is a calculation of many of these values mentioned. Florence is a 25 a cruising boat would be a 35 or more (higher is more comfortable). My personal experience is that a boat below 28-30 is too uncomfortable to safely voyage on. Florence was designed by the best navel design firm in the UK at that time and built by a premier yard, however it falls into the category of a Racing boat of that era, Florence is easily 1/2 a knot faster than a cruising boat. This all points to your circumnavigation in Florence as an exceptional accomplishment of seamanship but in which much more significant structural issues could have developed. Best of luck, Ben S/V DAWN

[@iainhunneybell]

Nice technique with the cling film and plastic to make handling and application so very much more tidy, else there would be epoxy everywhere. Also the prebuilt of the matting sandwich rather than trying to stipple into place in situ

[@sabretom7594]

You’ve made it to the Caribbean and Florence has given you a reason to stay. Win, win.

[@jginmt]

Very cool to see Ron fix it properly. With these sailing channels, you see a lot of people do repairs. I have never seen such a professional way to glass.

[@marclawyer2789]

Old repairs are a pain...just rebuilding our rudder due to very old severe damage that was patched up several times, making the rudder almost twice as thick on one side (missed in the survey), covered up by tonnes of antifoul. This was on top of repairing the rib tabs that had 'popped' due to clouting a rock...I was not at the helm A very messy job, so you have my sympathy... getting the hull shape correct is the tough part so I look forward to seeing that... A good job 👍

[@william6526]

You are very blessed to have a friend like Ron with the knowledge and skill to help you with this repair. It's will not only make it safer for your sail back home but will take some of the worry away . I love the no nonsense or drama that so many sailing channels have gone to that they do to entertain the people who enjoy the phony drama in thier lives. It's refreshing to watch your channel with real life no b.s. phony entertainment. Your videos are the only channel I truly enjoy watching.

[@troublekaliman]

Brilliant fiberglass clinic! thanks!

[@chriskirkman5425]

Well done, having an expert friend trademans-how lucky

[@sszczerb1]

This is such a cool video!! Thanks for sharing!! Ron is a champ!!

[@keithh3463]

Thanks for the info and knowledge! I hope Ron had some fun!

[@tgchism]

Always learning something interesting watching your videos!

[@michaellau5645]

That was brilliant! Thank you, Ron for all your help. I learned something today. :)

[@roaxth]

You are so lucky to get this experienced helper on board. Many thanks to Ron.

[@vaughansamuelson6552]

Very interesting repair technique. Can't wait for your next video. Keep it up.

[@jimsargent7288]

what a great reality video. Ron was a God send. Thank you for sharing.

[@soggybottom3463]

Old Ron's antennae must start to twitch when hosts ask if he'll be bringing a set of overalls..😂😂 God bless him for being such a good sport! And very nice to watch a master at work! Thank you everyone!!!🤗🤗

[@sjcjlc]

Thank goodness for Ron! Timing of his trip to see you was perfect!! Great video!! Cheers!!

[@Johndadiver]

That was cool! I love it when I learn something

[@bill8784]

Brilliant episode. My admiration knows no bounds. Ron was so helpful.

[@painfree.yourself]

Thank you for sharing this incredible smart advice on boat repair. It is always a pleasure to watch your adventures. Ships Ahoi

[@JimJocrusin]

Hey guys. We have been rebuilding boats all of our lives. Ron gave you some good input. Great that you loosened the rig before you did the repair, not many would have thought of that. I also agree that the issue was not super critical but still it is great that you did the repairwork even if it is to be considered to be temporary. Should you decide to revisit this repair in the future and the boat is still in the water consider adding a temporary tension member with perhaps a turnbuckle that would allow you to draw the tang for the babystay down to the keel. This would allow you to close up your gap while the repair was being done, thereby restoring the original shape of the boat. You might also look at better ways to carry the upward load of the baby stay down to the hull. You guys are great, we have so enjoyed watching. Thanks for sharing. J&J

[@tomriley5790]

Great advice!

[@frankjames7272]

Thats the same advice I would give them. good work!

[@graham2342]

One of the most informative videos ever. Thank you really interesting.

[@lentongrovetrust5201]

Great to have friends with a good knowledge of structural repairs, wish you all luck.

[@charliemcgrain]

You guys rock. Thanks for sharing.

[@MrMichaelcurran]

You are right cruising is 50% sailing and exploring and while continually working on your craft. No surprise there. Some have bought raggedie boat and rebuilt them then sail for 10 yrs only to have remodeled the boat again. Ya got to love what your doing. 😂😊

[@tomcraddock244]

Great to have friends that know things !! A true treasure.great job on the repair.well done! Fair winds ⛵️

[@markporterporter3259]

Nice one guys. Great 'how to' and thanks to Ron.

[@rainfinger]

Great video, and great fiberglassing method, changing everything.

[@bernicejordan6189]

Thank you guys 😃 Ron, you are a star 🌟

[@duames]

Ron really is a pro ! He makes it look so easy

[@trevormorris1208]

Great job making this an interesting episode.

[@stevemellor7989]

What’s also amazing is that you guys were able to find the source of the problem. Florence is fixed! Yay!

[@AfricanFlightStar]

Awesome job on the repairs! Safe travels northwards ⛵️👏🏻🙏🏻

[@DarylSaunders737]

Cracked bulkheads seem to be more of a blessing that a curse, as when they are repaired usually it leaves the boat better and stronger than before..... Oh yeh' and alot of hard graft.

[@sausage5849]

Good on ya Ron!!

[@paulbyrne2035]

Well done Guys!

[@chrismalkin4070]

Really interesting. Thank you.

[@davidedmundson8402]

Excellent repair methodology.

[@herveybayrealestate-withth6452]

What a great episode. Expert guys like Ron are worth their weight as they say.

[@dennismacdonald2003]

Omg hoping you ok. Keep u the great videos

[@normanheise2113]

Good work in finding and identifying the problem! And how lucky you were to have a friend with that level of expertise to make the appropriate repair!

[@sailinggreenpearl2571]

You could consider also through bolting the bulkhead to the fibreglass repair

[@HarborsUnknown]

Great video once again guys! It was very interesting to see how the repair was done.

[@morecowbell20]

Ron, the man, the legend!!

[@ronniegilbert7483]

As always, were informative!!

[@sallyjane8392]

Wow, what a fantastic trick, fibreglass repairs are nasty. I’m so glad you reduced the rig and I think Ron’s advice is on point. In reality you may not ever need to fix that repair as it looks so good. The sound of the splintering fibreglass made me feel 🤮 I would have had to leave the boat for that phase. Well done on an excellent video. Your comments are clear and precise and accurate without hours of waffle. Get the job done and back to enjoying the beautiful space. Well done. 👏

[@davidhorsey7164]

What a legend good onya Ron it's nice to see a actual on the job running repair to structural member to a boat not what you want to see but great to know how to deal with it properly

[@MHow1900]

It is wonderful to watch your channel and adventures. The most beautiful sailing channel online. One of these days a producer is going to make a full feature movie from your travels and stunning film work.

[@rickpyne]

Very interesting vid, Thanks to All three of you, I would like to see the results of your repair in the next Vid please and see if your rig tension stays there, especially after some hard sailing. Good luck on your voyage Keep em coming Thanks Guys

[@elizaandalisa]

THIS MESSAGE IS FOR RON job well done you're a good mate for the kids! cheers n beers Marty Australia

[@robertnixon3816]

Very lucky to have Rons help! Thats a good safe fix. As you know, thats how you learn! Just another good episode!

[@bernardlawson665]

Fabulous and ERUDITE and fascinating solution way above my pay grade. Bravo Zulu (Navy "WELL DONE")!

[@gidge34]

Y’all are fantastic 💪

[@speedfinder1]

An interesting episode. The repair was exceptionally complicated by the nature of it being "In the Field" but your expert came up trumps. All good all round! 👍.

[@karlmabe1649]

Excellent episode. Seeing cracking like that in a structural part of boat would of worried me .

[@sarahpowell4413]

Every boat owner needs a friend like Ron. We are currently in Vilanova de Arousa in Galicia on the hard in the boat yard working on our boat and would love to be his friend 😊

[@norman4991]

Well done and thank goodness for Ron. Great tip of plastic on both sides of the patch glass/epoxy to apply it.

[@nigelmorgan3449]

Wow you never know when you meet someone 20 years latter he’ll help you with a bundle of his knowledge So great you can fix the problem happy days and enjoy your time with Ron

[@julianbatcheler9970]

Everybody needs Ron. Glad it's fixed.

[@jmdibonaventuro]

Between y’all and SMC, I think I’m getting my quota of Boat Repair Videos for this month. The Tiller Extensions Repairs I did in my Club’s machine shop also probably add to the quota. Can’t wait to see where you’re going next, and what adventures await along the Caribbean! Fair winds, -J

[@JohnTaylor-bf6ll]

In fact I was just thinking about you guys a couple of days ago, wondering when we're going to hear your next adventure. And low and behold....!!! Florence has had a good innings, maybe not that old, but clocked up a LOT of mileage. But you've treated her well, and in life "what you give, you get" (i.e. you receive back). Everyone's now looking forward to a big fanfare when you arrive back - I dare say your publicity contacts will be taking care of that.. Bon voyage.!!

[@Greg.Devo.]

My mind is blown😮!

[@robertfontaine3650]

It always amazes me how strong fiberglass composites can be. Just to look at it I wouldn't think it could ever hold up to a 50 foot lever at 20 knots of wind force.

[@andrewgodfrey6913]

Nice fixing guys! Hopefully, you didn't get too itchy with the fiberglass. I enjoy working with fiberglass other than that part

[@brianmason8597]

Well done on a great repair. Like me, I don't think that many realise the effort that goes into making these great videos. Recently in Mauritius with the two grand sons they wanted to make a video of a trip on the hobie cat. After setting their 2 GoPros and a hours sailing all we got was about 15 seconds of worthwile footage.

[@geniexmay562]

Glad you explained that flapping shroud !! 😂😂😂😂 I noticed it once!

[@georgehockaday7584]

Neat trick, I learned something.

[@Deano.1978]

Three cheers for Ron!

[@sailorruss5279]

Great video, wished I saw it before I fixed my bulkhead 😊

[@reloadncharge9907]

Good video….just been through a similar bulkhead repair. Ron would have been fun to have along! Great meeting you in Georgetown…..fair winds, thx, Andrew

[@SailingYachtFlorence]

Great to meet you too Andrew, thanks for the wine :-)

[@paulbettenga6202]

Sandwiching the fiberglass patch Between plastic is genius. That's the first time I've seen it done that way.

[@fredread9216]

Looks as usual, you are doing things right. Enjoy BVI S

[@sd3693]

I'll have to try the laminate it all together with peel ply method the next time we do a big repair. We've done a lot of grinding and patching over the last couple of winters, replacing all our thru-hulls, and we've done it by applying a layer to the hull at a time, and then the next one. Dripping epoxy causing a big mess has been a problem, and I'm sure we have too much epoxy in the repair sites.

[@nickvasey915]

I appreciate your relaxed attitudes.

[@andypennybrown6848]

Many thanks Ron for the tutorial! Much appreciated, I'll know what to do if the Southerly fails;-)

[@emmakimble8946]

So it so good u know Ron age is always best ❤❤❤ to Ron

[@samuelgarofalo6910]

I remember that sinking feeling when you first discover a serious problem aboard. Great episode!

[@JosephMullin]

I am in the process of restoring the top of a fiberglass sea kayak. I am still sanding the gelcoat off. I have found a few soft spots which I will glass from the inside.

[@alan_davis]

Busman's holiday for Ron! See you guys when you're "home" (though I think your home is now Florence!)

[@stephenburnage7687]

Is it possible that your shrouds were over tensioned? Over tensioning is common in the racing community. As a retired engineer and full time cruiser (in out of the way, remote places), I studied everything I could on the subject and ended up taking tension off my shrouds ie i concluded that longevity and reliability was more important than a few tenths of an extra knot. Another issue is that most guides on the subject are written by racers, not cruisers and yet another issue is that owners often install oversized rigging but still tension it as per the original specification (thereby stressing the boat beyond the designers intent).

[@tomriley5790]

Interesting - I'd always assumed that when people "tensioned" rigging they actually did it by adjusting it to the equivalent total force by working out the stress on the rigging. It never ocurred to me that someone would adjust the tension in oversized rigging to that of the original and generate so much more force. Crazy!

[@stephenburnage7687]

@@tomriley5790 Those riggers tension gauges are misleading, as they only measure deflection, not pounds force on the structure. That means that if you have upgraded from 1/4" to 5/16" rigging, you may be putting up to 50% additional load on the hull, than the designer intended (cross sectional area is the square of the radius). Professional riggers often overlook this too, thinking deflection is the only consideration and/or fixed rigging needs to twang like a guitar string. It's the sort of practice you might get away with on an overbuilt 1" thick 1970's fiberglass boat (like mine) but not on a modern boat. Modern catamarans are even more vulnerable, as their lateral strength is limited. Saw a $500,000 catamaran effectively cracked in two through such a practice, with eye watering repair bills. I personally only came to research this when I could not find a professional rigger (was in Southern Mexico) but glad I did. First step should be to establish what diameter rigging the designer actually designed for and their recommendations (if any) on tuning. As i said, I probably halved the tension on my rig once I figured out what was going on. Moreover, if you add in the additional stresses incurred in ocean passages (with weeks of constant lateral movement), one should probably edge towards an even more conservative figure. Most specifications were written for the occasional weekend racer; not blue water cruisers.

[@philgray1023]

@@stephenburnage7687 Some food for thought there. I must check the specified rigging against what we have now. It was made in Florida and installed in Ecuador. I do hope it is the spec'd gauge.

[@stephenburnage7687]

@@philgray1023 I found mine had larger diameter rigging installed too, but only by hunting down an original 1970's owners manual. Would not have known, otherwise. From that, i figured out the lbs force the hull was designed to take and, from that, what that equated to, in terms of defection (tension) on the oversized rigging. Scary thing is that I had my boat professionally tuned twice before and in both cases, they simply tensioned for the installed diameter, without ever questioning what stresses the boat was designed to take. Fibreglass is strong but it's strength is not infinite, which is what riggers seem to assume.

[@philgray1023]

@@stephenburnage7687 I got burned by a professional rigger and a professional surveyor. They both missed a simple problem. A siezed toggle on a main traveller car. Big deal some might think, but these toggles have a habit of wearing on one side because they can't move and then they let go completely at the worst possible time. With our boom furler, if you don't have the brake on, your boom hits the shrouds with enough force to bring the rig down. I should admit that I missed it too.

[@Captain-Paul]

Captain Ron to the rescue 😂

[@mckenziekeith7434]

Some experts do recommend sanding peel ply. Apparently the peel ply fibers have a coating, and some of that coating remains as a film on the surface of the resin.

[@nmg00dwin]

I hope Ron likes beer! It sounds like you will be buying a few over the refit when you get home!!😂

[@thestardusterchronicles5462]

That fellas a bleddy genius, he needs to come down Cornwall and fix my bulkhead!!

[@bertplank8011]

And while hes down there he could have a go at repairing Dawn's crack.Dawn French is rehabilitating her "new" farmhouse which has cracking on the sun side of dwelling.

[@farmerjimbob67]

Doing exactly the same job on my westerly Sealord , again all caused by the baby stay.. the polythene is a neat trick. Do I like it? I like it a lot 👍👍

[@freddywulf2024]

I was going to go on about David Shih is the Bulkheat Master, but your guy clearly has more impressive credentials....carry on Ron!

[@svamour4574]

Great job as always my friends. Please ask Ron what he thinks of Basalt marine fiber? Stronger than fiberglass though not as strong as carbon fiber. The price is the same as fiberglass.