Some days are definitely better than others, in most things, but especially when it comes to boat ownership.
Just to recap - I first posted this "event" in Darth's thread on his "furry friends" repairs:
The story is that my hauler did me a favor and got me out the day of last December's big snowstorm. Literally, hours before. So when I got to the ramp it was gusting over 45 kts. As I put her alongside the floater a huge blast of wind caught the stern, and swept it across the ramp before I could drop the dock line I was intending to make fast, and get back to the throttle and helm - slamming my stern into the bulkheading across the narrow ramp entrance. The result was a nasty crack in the starboard rear corner of the swim platform. Grrrrr, sometimes it sux to be me.
See here:
Underside:
Nice, Huh? Luckily, the damage was a little low on the platform's edge, sparing me having to do a gelcoat match on the top surface. So after marinating on this repair all Winter, I went ahead with my original plan - clean up the damaged area, doing as little further harm as possible. Grind the underside just a tad to even it up - flush with Acetone and then auto brake cleaner, fill with PC11 epoxy, sand and build a "bumper" out of 1/2" Starboard.
Here is the PC11 roughly filling the damaged area - I used my finger and stiffest putty knife to really push it up into the bottom crack/void. She's getting healthy, a little at a time.
Here is that corner sanded flush, and smoothed with 120/320/1000-grit. Already looking pretty fair. "But wait, there's more!"
Now on to the the fab'ing of a "bumper" for each rear corner of the platform. Here's the raw material - what's left of a larger sheet of Starboard that my good friend Capt. Rick Smith gifted to me, many moons ago - I think we both had much more hair back then (at least I did - his hairline still looks very acceptable
) - hey, it was a looong time ago.
Rick is one of the best guys I've known in my boating life, always willing to help, and very generous with both his time and raw materials from his custom sign shop. If you've never sailed with Capt. Rick on his gorgeous Downeaster "Miss Beryl," I strongly encourage you to consider doing so - you will NEVER find a more dedicated bottom fishing Captain. He's as good as it gets.
So the process I came up with is to cut two 12"x1.25" pieces of the Starboard, and then using my handy-dandy Ace Hardware heat gun, bend them to the correct curve of the platform's corners.
Tracing a corner on stiff cardboard gave me the proper dimensioning:
Just to recap - I first posted this "event" in Darth's thread on his "furry friends" repairs:
The story is that my hauler did me a favor and got me out the day of last December's big snowstorm. Literally, hours before. So when I got to the ramp it was gusting over 45 kts. As I put her alongside the floater a huge blast of wind caught the stern, and swept it across the ramp before I could drop the dock line I was intending to make fast, and get back to the throttle and helm - slamming my stern into the bulkheading across the narrow ramp entrance. The result was a nasty crack in the starboard rear corner of the swim platform. Grrrrr, sometimes it sux to be me.
See here:
Underside:
Nice, Huh? Luckily, the damage was a little low on the platform's edge, sparing me having to do a gelcoat match on the top surface. So after marinating on this repair all Winter, I went ahead with my original plan - clean up the damaged area, doing as little further harm as possible. Grind the underside just a tad to even it up - flush with Acetone and then auto brake cleaner, fill with PC11 epoxy, sand and build a "bumper" out of 1/2" Starboard.
Here is the PC11 roughly filling the damaged area - I used my finger and stiffest putty knife to really push it up into the bottom crack/void. She's getting healthy, a little at a time.
Here is that corner sanded flush, and smoothed with 120/320/1000-grit. Already looking pretty fair. "But wait, there's more!"
Now on to the the fab'ing of a "bumper" for each rear corner of the platform. Here's the raw material - what's left of a larger sheet of Starboard that my good friend Capt. Rick Smith gifted to me, many moons ago - I think we both had much more hair back then (at least I did - his hairline still looks very acceptable

Rick is one of the best guys I've known in my boating life, always willing to help, and very generous with both his time and raw materials from his custom sign shop. If you've never sailed with Capt. Rick on his gorgeous Downeaster "Miss Beryl," I strongly encourage you to consider doing so - you will NEVER find a more dedicated bottom fishing Captain. He's as good as it gets.
So the process I came up with is to cut two 12"x1.25" pieces of the Starboard, and then using my handy-dandy Ace Hardware heat gun, bend them to the correct curve of the platform's corners.
Tracing a corner on stiff cardboard gave me the proper dimensioning: