Fiberglass repair shop near Milwaukee, WI?

[dorsett59]

Hey, all.
So, I was stupid and put a hole in the bottom of my '59 Dorsett Catalina (17 ft fiberglass hull cuddy cabin with a 70hp Merc outboard). I decided to do the repair right, and get at the top of the hole, and fiberglass it in properly.
As I took out the interior, I also figured it would be a good time to reinforce the weak stringers on the side.
As I pulled up the deck, it became obvious that the six stringers were rotted badly. It's 50+ years old, so not unexpected. But we're starting to get out of my comfort zone in terms of repairs and facilities.
I take a look at the transom, and things there are rotted, but not bad. Still, this thing has never been apart to this level, and I'd rather do the job right. However, the fix is now beyond what I am comfortable doing, what with not having a permanent place to do it. I have a garage, but no way to lift the boat off the trailer, and not enough room IN the garage to store it there for long periods.

The deck is removed, and it is not structurally tied together. I CAN trailer it, but it flexes like a bow right now. I've removed everything of any weight off it. I cannot remove the top, as I don't have any clearance in the garage, or anywhere to put it once off. And I just don't have a way to move the hull should the top come off.

So, it's time to get some prices on repairs.

Anybody have any recommendations on places near Milwaukee, WI for estimates? I can put the interior back together, but I don't have the space/experience to do all the fiberglass work of replacing the stringers AND the transom, and get it seaworthy enough to handle Lake Michigan.


Thank you

 

[sheboyganjohn]

Re: Fiberglass repair shop near Milwaukee, WI?

I think you will be shocked when you price out the repair. There are a lot of hours that go into that type of work, and you will be paying by the hour.

First, the boat does not need to come off the trailer. You may need to add wood supports to shore it up for work, but the boat can stay put.

I do not know your model boat, but you only need to remove the cap if that is the only way to get at the transom. There are a couple of other tricks I have seen, such as sea cast, where you do not need to remove the entire cap, just the top of the transom itself.

Post up some pic's and we will help you out with ideas the best we can. Besides, if you were comfortable patching a hole in the hull, stringers and transoms are much more forgiving the hole repair.

 

[dorsett59]

Re: Fiberglass repair shop near Milwaukee, WI?

Thanks for the info. I understand the price may be pretty high. I'd like to do it myself, but I don't have anywhere I can park it, leave it, and work on it. I can work on it in the garage, but the nose sticks out. I keep it in a storage unit, so I have to trailer it back when I'm done for the day. And the storage unit has no electricity. So, working on it there is not an option.
Driving it around with the rotted stringers and transom is flexing the hull quite a bit. Driving around WITHOUT those items is going to be worse. Also, it means I don't have a way to let an epoxy layup cure without flexing the heck out of the hull. And that means the stringers will not be bonded to the hull.
And that's why I'm concerned about doing it myself.

 

[sheboyganjohn]

Re: Fiberglass repair shop near Milwaukee, WI?

I don't know if it is possible for you, but you can do the work in the yard and not in the garage. I have done all my work with-out a garage, just a canopy to keep the sun and rain off of me.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Fiberglass repair shop near Milwaukee, WI?

Do you have a covenant preventing you from working on it in the driveway?

 

[dorsett59]

Re: Fiberglass repair shop near Milwaukee, WI?

Condo, so no yard, no parking on the "driveway."

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Fiberglass repair shop near Milwaukee, WI?

Condo, so no yard, no parking on the "driveway."

Yeah well that IS a problem. As previously stated, the costs will be prohibitive. Probably in the $4-6K area. No one will do it with the care and Passion that you would. If you don't have a strong sentimental attachment, I'd advise you to sell her as a project boat and start looking for another boat. If you DO have that kind of an attachment, then you could buy a Generator to use at the Storage Unit so you would have electricity and do your work there. After you are done you could sell the generator to recoup some of your money. If you work with the SU people they might let you build an outdoor shelter to keep the rain off etc... if needed.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Fiberglass repair shop near Milwaukee, WI?

Does the bow of the boat stick out of the garage (even if you pull the motor off?) or does the trailer tongue stick out of the garage?

If you pull the Merc OB can you safely leave it at the storage place you store the boat? I'm guessing it's a gravel lot, or there abouts, instead of a typical, 10X20 +/- shed w/ a lockable roll up door, DIY storage place.

A removable or swing away tongue may solve the fit in the garage problem if it's just the tongue sticking out.

Many repair places may not take on this much of a challenge. It's going to be a costly & lengthy process for them to do the work too. If you bail on the project, they are left with a project they can't get their money back out of, even if they finish it. Old OB's are a similar problem to get serviced. Parts are expensive & hard to find.