Deck Repairs to 24' Bristol Sailstar
Posted by Lance and Becky Williams at 2/21/2006 11:14 AM and is filed under Bristol 24 Restoration Projects 
When we started rebuilding our leaky old Bristol 24 (1971 vintage), the first order of business was to get the inside to stay dry, which meant removing and replacing and/or rebedding all hardware and pretty much every thing else that was attached to the deck. In addition to the fact that it had been grossly neglected for many years, the boat had also been involved in a collision at some point in time which stove one of the legs of the bow pulpit into the deck. Instead of actually repairing the damage, there was just some kind of brown putty type substance gooped all over it.
After Lance removed the bow pulpit, he just kept grinding away at the deck until he reached good (dry) balsa core. By the time he was done, we had holes that were 6"-8" in diamter that needed to be filled.
Since these areas were going to have the bow pulpit remounted to them, we decided to just lay up a solid fiberglass lamination. We fastened a piece of backing to the inside overhead with plastic lining facing up so that we could remove it after the resin kicked. Then we did the layup according to all the books, starting with large circles of cloth and mat and steadily decreasing their size as we filled in the hole. When we were done we had areas of solid fiberglass deck to mount our pulpit to, so we knew this was one area where we would never have to worry about wet core again.
The last step in this part of the deck repair would be to grand the repaired areas smooth and level with the rest of the deck. The repairs became virtually invisible when the new non-skid and paint were applied.
As we removed other hardware and deck fixtures (such as handrails), Lance used a drill with a 1" hole saw attachment to take out plugs of deck around the screw holes. He would keep removing plugs until he hit dry core. By this time he had learned to only cut deep enough to remove the outer layer of fiberglass skin and the wet balsa, leaving the inner layer of fiberglass skin intact for the backing. This made the rest of the layups much easier. By the time we were done we literally had holes all over every area of the deck. Since hardware would be remounted in these areas, most were filled in with solid fiberglass. Small holes were filled with a mixture of thickened epoxy resin with strands of chopped mat, some of the larger areas were layed up the same way we did the areas under the bow pulpit, others (the largest) were cut away square and had balsa core layed in. In those cases, an oversize hole was drilled and filled with solid resin in areas where screws would go through the deck to re-attach hardware.
On the aft end of the cabin top on the port side we ran into an area where the wet balsa extended for quite some distance. Lance was up to a 2" hole saw attachment now. By the time he was finished removing wet balsa we had an area to repair that was nearly 2 square feet in size.
In order to square off the area to make it easier to lay in new balsa, Lance set the portable circular saw to a depth of about 3/4" and cut around the area that need to be repaired. This enabled him to easily clean out all the wet balsa.
We let the area dry out for a couple of days before proceeding to lay in the balsa. Balsa core is extremely easy to work with. It is scored so it will conform itself to the curvature of the cabin top and it can be cut with a razor knife. We brushed some epoxy onto the area, layed in the balsa, saturated it with more epoxy and then layed up alternating mat and cloth until the repair was even with the rest of the deck.
After the fiberglass has hardened, more grinding and fairing. Again, this repair was invisible after the new nonskid was applied and the deck was painted.
The non skid was accomplished by using very fine silica sand. Lance very precisely masked off the areas where non skid was to be applied (this was the most time consuming part of the job). He then rolled on a coat of paint (we used Interlux Brightsides "Grand Banks Beige"). Then he shook sand onto the wet paint using a plastic sugar shaker that I got at Big Lots for $1.00. The next day he very gently swept off the excess sand and rolled on another coat of paint. The third day was another coat of paint. You want to stay off the deck for a few days after this. We learned the hard way that if the paint isn't good and hard, every place that you dig in a heel or a toe will loosen the sand. After a few days it is good to go. Our deck was done over 5 years ago and we hear it still looks great to this day. To my great regret, I didn't take any close up photos of the deck, but we constantly received compliments on it and Lance was asked many times to do decks for other people. We will use the same process on our Cape Dory 22.
Our Bristol 24 "Sojourner". (She is still happly sailing the waters in Southern California with a new owner.)
Till next time....."Happy Sailing".
Becky
After Lance removed the bow pulpit, he just kept grinding away at the deck until he reached good (dry) balsa core. By the time he was done, we had holes that were 6"-8" in diamter that needed to be filled.
Since these areas were going to have the bow pulpit remounted to them, we decided to just lay up a solid fiberglass lamination. We fastened a piece of backing to the inside overhead with plastic lining facing up so that we could remove it after the resin kicked. Then we did the layup according to all the books, starting with large circles of cloth and mat and steadily decreasing their size as we filled in the hole. When we were done we had areas of solid fiberglass deck to mount our pulpit to, so we knew this was one area where we would never have to worry about wet core again.
The last step in this part of the deck repair would be to grand the repaired areas smooth and level with the rest of the deck. The repairs became virtually invisible when the new non-skid and paint were applied.
As we removed other hardware and deck fixtures (such as handrails), Lance used a drill with a 1" hole saw attachment to take out plugs of deck around the screw holes. He would keep removing plugs until he hit dry core. By this time he had learned to only cut deep enough to remove the outer layer of fiberglass skin and the wet balsa, leaving the inner layer of fiberglass skin intact for the backing. This made the rest of the layups much easier. By the time we were done we literally had holes all over every area of the deck. Since hardware would be remounted in these areas, most were filled in with solid fiberglass. Small holes were filled with a mixture of thickened epoxy resin with strands of chopped mat, some of the larger areas were layed up the same way we did the areas under the bow pulpit, others (the largest) were cut away square and had balsa core layed in. In those cases, an oversize hole was drilled and filled with solid resin in areas where screws would go through the deck to re-attach hardware.
On the aft end of the cabin top on the port side we ran into an area where the wet balsa extended for quite some distance. Lance was up to a 2" hole saw attachment now. By the time he was finished removing wet balsa we had an area to repair that was nearly 2 square feet in size.
In order to square off the area to make it easier to lay in new balsa, Lance set the portable circular saw to a depth of about 3/4" and cut around the area that need to be repaired. This enabled him to easily clean out all the wet balsa.
We let the area dry out for a couple of days before proceeding to lay in the balsa. Balsa core is extremely easy to work with. It is scored so it will conform itself to the curvature of the cabin top and it can be cut with a razor knife. We brushed some epoxy onto the area, layed in the balsa, saturated it with more epoxy and then layed up alternating mat and cloth until the repair was even with the rest of the deck.
After the fiberglass has hardened, more grinding and fairing. Again, this repair was invisible after the new nonskid was applied and the deck was painted.
The non skid was accomplished by using very fine silica sand. Lance very precisely masked off the areas where non skid was to be applied (this was the most time consuming part of the job). He then rolled on a coat of paint (we used Interlux Brightsides "Grand Banks Beige"). Then he shook sand onto the wet paint using a plastic sugar shaker that I got at Big Lots for $1.00. The next day he very gently swept off the excess sand and rolled on another coat of paint. The third day was another coat of paint. You want to stay off the deck for a few days after this. We learned the hard way that if the paint isn't good and hard, every place that you dig in a heel or a toe will loosen the sand. After a few days it is good to go. Our deck was done over 5 years ago and we hear it still looks great to this day. To my great regret, I didn't take any close up photos of the deck, but we constantly received compliments on it and Lance was asked many times to do decks for other people. We will use the same process on our Cape Dory 22.
Our Bristol 24 "Sojourner". (She is still happly sailing the waters in Southern California with a new owner.)
Till next time....."Happy Sailing".
Becky
really enjoyed the articls! I have no experience with fiberglass repair and have lots to do on my Cape Dory 25D. Everytime I read your repairs I learn a lot. Thanks so much for posting in such great detail!
Bruce
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I have a 1968 Bristol 24 (actually a Sailstar; same mold). My first sail (after rescuing her from a sheep pasture) saw the port chainplate flying through the air, following the rig over the side. She's structurally sound now, but I suspect some punky spots in the deck. This article was a real find - thank you!
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Great article. I have to do a lot of similar deck repair on my Bristol 24. Would like to see details on closing up the portlights to install opening ports.
Thanks.
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Sorry it took me so long to see your message. I haven't been on the blog site all winter. Let me know if you are still needing this information and if so I will send you some pictures and describe how we did it.
Becky
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I have a 1968 Sailstar 24 with virtually no core left in the afterdeck. The original hardware was installed without sealing the bolt holes - it's a wonder nothing has parted! We're cutting the whole area out and recoring with end-grain balsa, as described here on this blog, and backing the docking cleats and sheet blocks with 6" squares of marine ply in place of the balsa.
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I do not envy you. We just bought a Cape Dory 28 yesterday for our final cruising boat. We have been looking for one for a couple of years. We could have had one a long time ago if we felt like digging up decks, but that's not a job I really wanted to do again.
But, that having been said, the Bristol Sailstar is such an awesome sailing boat. We absolutely loved that boat. We did a tremendous amount of work restoring her, and have never regretted a minute of it. First of all, we learned so much!! And it was such a great family boat for us. We have lots of nice memories of cruising around San Diego on her.
Good luck with yours. I hope you get your work done and get out on the water this summer!
Becky
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There are more stories about DREAM OF JURA, starting with finding her in a sheep pasture. Blew the chainplates out the first sail!
But the rest of the deck is fine, so I feel replacing two discreet areas is worth it. I have a friend who worked for Tillotson Peason for years and knows his 'glass, and he's on the job.
Cape Dories were built more or less in my back yard - great boat! I wish you joy of her! I had a Typhoon for years on Narragansett Bay, and loved every minute.
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