Smiles and bedding compounds

[girmann]

Hmm... after reading all I could on this site about the C34 "smiles", I finally went to the source and asked Gerry Douglas. He was very nice, but didn't recommend bedding with anything flexible - including 5200. I was surprised by this answer. He said that it was originally bedded with polyester resin, but that vinylester would be ok too.

Anyway, It looks like the boat we're looking at has the smile fore and aft. It doesn't sound like this is a problem, but something that will have to be addressed eventually.

[KWKloeber]

For now,

I bedded w/ 5200 (complete removal/clean up/rebed) and faired with bi-axial tape.
What needs caution is how deep the damage, if any, from the smile?  Overwhelmingly it extends just below the surface but you never know until you start grinding.

My 30 had a short crack, maybe a foot long, that was oozing water when on the hard  (*Buffalo *freeze *thaw *freee *thaw conditions.)

But once I got into grinding, I found nearly 1/3 the bedding was gone -- punky - like drywall that had gotten wet.  The remainder was hard as nails.  Titanium, hardened nails.  I had to use special teschiques to cut out the remaining good bedding to de-keel her.  The worst punkiness was aft, associated with water running down the thread of the aft bolt (under our engines) -- the nut was finger tight.

-ken

[Indian Falls]

Did mine with 5200, I did not re-fair the joint.  I just paint over it with VC17.  I only see it twice a year.
My project is in the wiki if you missed it.  Jerry may like the stuff he recommends but the guys in the factory were hardly using any of it to bed the keel.