This type of failure of the hull is occurring with increasing frequency on older fiberglass boats of this general construction. It occurs because the laminate on boats of this era, and this is true of Pearsons in particular, tended to use a layup that was resin rich and included a larger percentage of non-directional reinforcing (mat) than would be used today. Research on older boat hulls has shown that this combination of high resin content and non-directional fabric starts out to be comparatively brittle and tends to be very fatigue prone, therefore more rapidly losing strength over time. Fatigue would take the greatest toll on areas of a boat that are subject to large amounts of flexure, repetitive bending cycles, and point loads. Those areas will show the greatest diminishment in bending strength and impact resistance over time due to this fatigue. Your cracked hull is a good example of this phenomena. The fatigued laminate probably extends pretty far beyond the area where the cracks have shown up. For those who are reading this, I am not sure why polyester and chopped strand was chosen for this repair, but those are both very poor materials for this type of repair. To explain why I say this, it is important to understand how the repair that was made differs from how a fiberglass boat was built to begin with. When a boat is constructed using polyester resin there are almost no secondary bonds (bonds between cured laminate and new laminate). This is done because polyester laminate forms very weak secondary bonds . The way that second bonds are avoided during construction is by using two types of polyester resin; laminating resin and finishing resin. Polyester resin will not fully cure unless the catalyzed resin is isolated from air. Finishing resin includes a waxy material which floats to the surface due to the heat of the catalytic reaction and seals the surface from air so that the resin can fully cure. Laminating resin lacks that waxy material so it does not fully cure until coated with finishing resin. Because of that when the layers of fiberglass are being molded, all of the layers of cloth and resin are laid up with laminating resin so that there is a primary chemical bond between each of the partially uncured layers. Then, a final layup takes place with finishing resin to cause the final cure of all of the laminate layers below. Areas receiving tabbing purposely do not receive finishing resin until the bulkheads are tabbed in with laminating resin so that there will be a primary bond as well. In this case, polyester resin is being asked to form a primary bond with the old fatigued laminate, and that will not result in an acceptably strong bond. Epoxy is much more expensive and is much harder to grind and fair, but it forms a far stronger secondary bond and should have been used in this application. Chopped strand mat was about the worst choice of reinforcing for this repair as well. Again, looking at the difference between this repair and how this boat was built, boats of this era were laid up with woven roving, which is coarsely woven, long strand fiberglass fabric. The coarse weave allows the longer strands to remain intact and remain oriented in two directions. Longer strands are stronger than short strands. Because of the coarseness of the woven roving, layers of chopped strand mat was used between the layers of the roving since it could conform to the irregularities in the surface of the woven roving. The chopped strand mat only plays a minor structural role by building up thickness and distributing bias loads between the adjacent layers of woven roving. Chop strand mat should never be used as a primary structural reinforcing since it lacks the needed strength, tending to have very poor tensile characteristics and be highly prone to fatigue. In testing resistance to impact, it is the chopped strand within the laminate that almost always fails creating what would then be a delamination plane. Beyond the issue of chop strand's lack of strength, this is a particularly poor place to use it since the gap in the hull will tend to concentrate loads and create higher fatigue producing forces, exactly the worst case scenario for chopped mat reinforcing. This repair should have been done with roving and epoxy. Respectfully, Jeff

Been building boats professionally for 45 years; fiberglass from molds, wood-epoxy-glass one-offs, foam N glass, you name it. Had 22 employees in my boatshop at one point. What a headache! Single-handed the 37-foot cutter I built when I was 19 to the Marquesas and Hawaii, then a bit further, then built a 56-foter of my own design in Hawaii and fished and sailed her for 17 years. So I've got sailing chops too. Early in my career I spent a LOT of time in boatyards fixing just the kind of stuff that scared the crap out of you on this run. Right now, if you intend to continue sailing this same boat; get a really good liferaft and EPIRB if you don't already have them as well as a GALLON size can of "Splash Zone Compound", the "green goo" the fishermen gave you. There's a REASON they had that stuff on their boat, even though it's expensive and they are poor. Stay close to shipping lanes whenever you can. Get some body surfing fins and goggles; if you go down, you're going to spend a lot of time in the water before being rescued, and being able to move around easily will make a lot of difference. Buy and read the book "Adrift" by my friend Steven Callahan (www.amazon.com/Adrift-Seventy-six-Days-Lost-Sea/dp/0618257322 ). His boat sank Mid-Atlantic, and he spent the longest time known by a single person in a liferaft before being rescued; many incredible and valuable lessons there on how to prepare a sinkable boat to go to sea. Here's why: your boat had a huge unknown that could have caused you to sink. Who knows what caused it? Who cares? The fact that it existed means that the entire boat is now suspect, and even a good marine survey could fail to reveal problems, or whether or not you have other hull areas like this one lurking to pop open in just the right sea and wind conditions. Here's why I say this: I've taken apart many other people's fiberglass "repairs" in my boatshop; and often find cosmetically-decent repairs to be a mess of delaminations and poor adhesion to the original surface of the boat underneath the nicely sanded finish. Sometimes these repairs have literally fallen apart in my hands once I got into them a little ways. One of these was a hole nearly 2 feet by 2 feet! And if a professional boatbuilder couldn't see those before he cut into them, you CERTAINLY have no way to determine if any of them exist on your boat, or if this was a once in a lifetime bad day at sea. This is stuff even an experienced marine surveyor can easily miss. As Dirty Harry said in the movie: "How's your luck today?" Love each other, love your dog, get a new boat, whatever it takes. We'll help you however we can (oceanpeople.org/). With Warm Aloha from Hawaii, Tim

13:22 Nothing compares to the feeling of being loved and helped during our times of hardship. Nothing compares to the feeling of being able to love and help someone in a time in need as well. I’m so glad the SAIL continues! You’re such a great couple to watch and follow. Thank you for the time your spend to show us your voyage!!

I'm so sorry that your boat cracked and so thankful that you are safe and fixing the boat and still wanting to sail. You two are amazing keep up the good work!!

That was such a huge crack, I can't believe ya'll didn't sink. What a miracle! So glad it's floating again!

Yes, your emotional this is not a mere bost, it is your home!!!! And friends being good to good people!!! YOUR GOOD FOLKS! Thank you for working so much and posting!

I am so glad you spoke to my friend Warren. He is extremely knowledgeable! I’m glad he was able to help. It’s great to see you both back on the water again! All the best to you both!

Man that was stressful Brandy you are such a strong lady, there are not a lot of woman made like you, 99.99% of woman would have jumped on a plane and returned to "normal" life after this, Beau dude you are the calmest person I have ever seen your calmness saved the day and your lives and your level thinking in stressful conditions is top notch. You guys are an example example great human beings. I only follow a few sailing toutubes, Uma(Dan and Kika ) and one or 2 others you two are up there with my favourite youtubers. Don't stop what you are doing that boat will be fine.

watched you both go through the crack/leak !!!! two mighty people, two heros. You should be both very proud of your selves. Thats what you call team work.

This crack is done from excessive local load, combined with structural weakness of the boat. No pounding, no waves, etc Solution: add more beams, floors, frames. More layers of grp (mat and roving)

I was shocked and amazed there wasn't and kind of hull support there, course it has been a few years since I was part of boat building, just very glad you made it

I believe you should be using 450 g CSM as a bond layer between the woven roving laminates. The woven rovings laminates are much stronger than the CSM buts unless CSM and I would the grind area which are you bond areas at least 8 inches either side of the cracks. I would also heat the repaired area with hair dryer, By heating it or making the green area too hot to touch you will get the maximim streangth out of the repaired are. Just dont burn it. But by heating the repaired fiberglass area up once it begins to go off or while it is still 'green' or immediatly it has begun to set will in fact not only cure the resin more quickly but more importantly it will 'vastly' increase the streangth factor of the repair( by as much as > 45%), which is substantial and obviouslyvitally important. This heating process has to be done during the innitial curing process and kept at that tempreture for two hours. Some patience and a hairdryer should do the trick .

You are living my dream ! So much to learn. Jeff’s rundown was worth a $million to those of us looking at older boats. I guess it’s important to know how your boat was constructed....good or bad, to know the proper materials and procedures to make a repair like that, and to have something tried and true for a middle of the night , middle of the ocean repair !

My Gosh, what a nightmare just watching the past two videos. Glad you folks were safe, that was a horrible situation all around, time-consuming, tiresome and nerve-racking as I sit here in my patrol car watching the boat take on water and top speed to land at only 1 knot. Thank God for the fishermen. Peace and Love .. Please be safe out there.

Having a heavy duty 8’ x 4’ tarp or sunbrella fabric with tie grommets is great to have on board to drop over the bow and snake down the hull to the hull fracture. Works to reduce water in flow.

My option the crack started from a stress concentration from the water tank being in close proximity to the hull and the hull flexing into the tank. The fatigue cycles of many years of flexing around the hard point of the tank initiated the crack which grew and finally breached the hull. The gentleman who suggested a bulkhead in this area provided very good advice.

You are so fortunate that you noticed the leak early. This has convinced me to put a high water alarm in my bilge. I'm also getting high volume back up pump.

YES! I have been patiently awaiting this video. I am so proud of you guys for making it a quick and flawless repair, you were in and out of that yard in no time. Cheers to always moving forward!

Glad you two survived the leak. And now you have a slippery bottom.

Oh my word!! That gash was bigger than a head!! The sailing community is very loving and giving. We never know when we may need help from others that we freely give help to others. (hope that makes sense) You two take care of one another. Be happy, be safe.

Glad everything worked out and you had support from everyone. That make's life so much better when that happens.

No advice. But so glad you made it to the yard. God Bless.

Great job on the bottom Boaters are helpful and wonderful people always reach out when people need help. I am glad everything worked out. Safe sailing love your videos.

Better keep some of that "Flex Tape" on board. It can tape a boat together. It must be true, it was on TV! :-) Glad you are safe.

lots of armchair admirals here. You remained calm during the emergency, well done. 👍 The repair looks pretty good to me although I must admit I would have used epoxy. But you can still slap some layers of cloth and epoxy over the repair on the inside to make you feel safer. My boat was a 1963 32' Islander and had to repair several spots in the hull and deck. 15 years later I sold her and the repairs were still as new. And I agree that the water tank's edges were acting as a battering ram against the hull with the water sloshing around in it. Good for you for tackling the problems head-on.

Good job guys! you did the best with the materials available. As a boat builder I think you will be ok. The comments bellow are all true but I think removing the water tank will alleviate the cause. Keep an eye on it for a while and be safe!

Wow ! I am so glad you made it to shore and those fishermen that helped you out at sea !

So glad you guys were able to save the boat

Wonderful to see you made it through and back in the water, you have the right idea putting in a bulkhead to give the hull strength in that area as well as stringers.

Impressed by the quick repair. FYI GRP doesn't fatigue like metal. Continued flex below if its breaking point will not damage it. It's only when it is flexed past its breaking point that damage occurs and that is catastrophic.

I saw one episode and saluted you both enough to subscribe and watch more.. As a boat owner myself a leak or a crack in your boat is one of the most panicking moments you can have.. You both stayed calm and did it like it was easy.. I salute you both

She’s blue ! She looks great with the new bottom paint !

Great job on the repair and I'm so glad the community came together for you, it's heartwarming to see. I would suggest putting up a blog post with detailed information on the incident and its repair. The more detail in the post the better, especially manufacturer, model, year, and nature of the cracks. I don't say this to shame a mfr, but when people are looking to buy a boat they often do a web search on specific models. If this incident gives a prospective owner a way to preemptively inspect a potential problem area, you will have done a great service. Best wishes!

One day someone will invent a marine material or design that can withstand hull impacts like that. The "what could have" being out at sea is truly frightening. Such is life on a boat so far.

Glad you guys are fixing the ship. It looks like you did an awesome jog on the repair. Sail on!!!!

Love your positive attitude. It's one of the toughest things to maintain onboard.

I think you should check the other side as well. For you solar solution. Buy some florescent light screen that is used in office building. Place it over your solar panel and check the voltage output.

Ive seen experts (that do this for a living) inspecting boat hulls, go over the hull of a boat using a wooden hammer searching for sound variances (old patches from previous owner).. They, through experience develop and ear for that sort of thing, then give you a recommendation also once the boat dries in dry dock there should not be any damp patches on it (it should of dried evenly).. Good to see it getting attention guys, hope all goes well..

Well that’s a sigh of relief! So glad you are back on the “soft” leak free”!

I'm not surprised you got so much help and support. you're in the cruising liveaboard family now and we take care of our own... It's a community of people who look out for each other. Even those we don't know, or just met. The repair looks good. I think that de-lamination has been there for a long time. The fact that cracks were on both sides tells me collision damage was unlikely. I'd be more inclined to believe initial layup of the hull at manufacture is more likely, in that between layers during the build, something went wrong in the bow area, that wasn't picked up before the next layer was applied. In any event, you managed the crisis really well, and you've recovered with a stronger boat, and you fixed it. Mate, life doesn't get better than this...

I applaud your lifestyle! As a boat owner I know boats are unpredictable (we unexpectedly spent this last July to October in the boat yard ), but no better lifestyle can be had! Best if luck to you!

I have had oilcanning problems before so I balsa cored the bow area . That solved the problem and gave me more confidence in the boat. It was like a rock after that.

I just recently stumbled onto your channel, and I must admit, I think what you guys are doing is absolutely AMAZING! It's things like this that make one appreciate the meaning of life, and the fact that you're both doing it together makes it even that much more meaningful. I wish you both nothing but fair seas, smooth problem-free sailing, and joy, health, and happiness in all you do! Kudos to you both, God Speed my friends! From Seward Alaska!

Well done guys, all your hard work paid off.👏👏👏

Guys i think you did an outstanding job saving the boat then fixing it! Great, Great job! GOD bless you three. JC

I see lots of evidence of a lack of hull maintenance, You guys were very lucky.

Good move removing the tank. Having the weight of the water right up front will not have helped the stresses or the motion of the boat. Moving that water to a point closer to the centre of rotation of the boat is a great idea and will help a lot.

Best part... "We have a floating boat!!!" =) So good! What a happy day to have you back on the water!

I just started watching you both ❤️. I want to say that I love how you both work together and good job on the repair.

I'm in my mid seventies and been around boats most of my life and have never seen one split like this. That crossing would not even be considered a test for a cruising sailboat hull. Make sure you completely understand the reason this occurred if possible. I can't help but wonder if the rest of the hull is sound. I've come to love you both from meeting here so am expressing this concern because we all want what's truly best for you. Highest Blessings.

You need to sell that boat ASAP. it's amazing you would trust that boat with ur love ones lives.

I would still go back and tab in a latitudinal bulkhead from port to starboard across that space where the water tank was to act as a stringer. That will give you the rigidity you need to avoid this problem from recurring. This wouldn't be that hard. I would not just rely on reinforcing the crack area of the hull itself.

If I wasn't watching this video, and I was just listening to it...I would swear Brandy was Nikki Wynn...Your voices are so similar...Good job not panicking during your ordeal.

Wooohooo floaty mcboaty! What an ordeal! So happy to see you were able to patch up the boat and get a proper bottom barrier and anti-foul paint to boot. Best wishes on the next stage of reinforcing the bow and getting the boat back into proper order. Thanks for the video!

Yeah I think its just an old boat and getting tired. It should be possible to reinforce the areas of most stress to the hull and put in a protective bulk head , a water bladder is a good idea. love you two, Brandy is such a sweet heart and all ways happy. Keep up the good work and dont ever give up because one day it will all fall into place for you.

I'm very inspired. A month ago I bought a 73' 32 foot challenger sloop been in anxhorage for 2 years. I raise her sails a lot to feel her tug. Staring a lot at the amxhor rope. Ive spent 6 weeks studying sailing basics Most videos I watch say go out and do it

Looks like a good repair. Perhaps the water tank on the move is the cause. Makes sense because the tank is a massive object if full of water.

Ive been doing fiberglass for 25 years, one tip would have been using a bubble paddle roller which would have assured all the air bubbles were removed.

Just found your channel, and watching the situation with the leak off-shore as the first episode, I immediately knew that I would follow you guys as long as postings continue. You solved it, and you did it as a great team! You should be proud of how you have handled this, and I know that you have great friends simply because you are great people! Best of luck on your journey, and Merry Christmas from up north in Norway!

That damage is where a screw jack would be placed, I wonder if the screw jack was over loaded by the weight of the hull ? Over time due to the weight and the light construction of the boat the crack formed. With regard to the internal repairs to the hull you should really think about incorporating framing in the hull in this area. If this is not repaired correctly the hull may crack again in this area.

you are fantastic. From my experience on the older boats - this is another and typical day in the office. It takes a special character to deal with constant maintenance and improvements on a boat. 10% of sailing and 90% of boat work. I have done it for years. Lot's of Love. Capt. Jack. Turning around the airport tip of Grenada it is always a bit scary. next time leave the little island on your starboard. it is deep enough to go to Prickly Bay.

So glad you are safe, we were worried when we watched the last video. The only place we have ever sailed was around the south point of Grenada. Love the memories of the tree frogs at night. Great video!

it is good to see you got the boat fixed so fast ! hope Andy helped his videos are grate! good sailing God be with you don

You guys are legends!

Incredible stuff,, Incredible journey, Safe Sails....

Much respect. Very interesting presentation of the damage and repair efforts.. Thanks for sharing. Waiting to see a post 3-4yrs analysis of the repair work...please.

SMOOTH SEAS NEVER MAKES A SKILLED SAILOR!!!

You guys make a great team don't ever forget that!

Pleased all well and you had a good grind/check ,paint so all good and dry ,Thank goodness

I hope you got yourselves a few lottery tickets, the man upstairs was looking after you.

We recently did a 20+ hr crossing in some serious wind and waves. About 3am our bilge alarms started going off indicating a rapid rise in water. After some searching we determined it was a faulty sensor but for a time we thought we were sinking. We were at a place where help to save the boat would have been impossible and our survival would not be assured although likely. Had we actually been sinking I could only hope we would have acted with the clear minds you both had. Glad to see you back on the water. Cheers

Jacks have to have a bulkhead on the other side of them or you will crack the hull. You don't have one where that crack was unless someone had the silly idea that the water tank is a bulk head (wrong). I would make a good little shelf for the bladder tank to prevent any sliding around. Emergency putty by the fishermen was a god send. Nice show though and keep up the smiles.

WAOW amazing work done !!!! happy you 3 are back on the water! fun part for me is that my mom age 72 asked me couple of time " how are dose 2 doing with boat ", now I can tell her your fine and floating again!! fair winds and warm hug for oona. love from Holland 🌎⛵️☀️💕

You know why because you're good people you're really really good people you're easy to love!

I think it is fairly obvious what happened there. The tank in the bow is quite big: I assume it holds 150-200l of water. I guess it came loose. In choppy seas the bow will hit the trough of a wave pretty hard and the 200 kg of water will come crashing down like a large hammer and the water is like an anvil. This force will flatten your bow and push the port and starboard sides of you bow apart. The freeboard of the hull on which the tank is pushing acts as a kind of lever to deform the lower section of the hull. (This is why you have the crack a good deals below the tank.) You do that a couple of thousand times and you will get fatigue cracks. Please note that the structural damage might got well beyond the crack since the fibres in the raisin might be cracked in an area way beyond the immediate visible damage. You should take away the gelcoat of the bow area to check for any damages. Note to self: Don't store anything heavy in the bow. If you do: Store it in a way so it can't move.

You guys are true salty sailors now and tough as nails. Great job! 👍👍👍

I suggest definitely finding out where that paste came from and taking a big bucket back out to passage with you!!

Glad y’all are okay! People are amazing!

Glad you are back on the water. So crazy to see our boat in your video. We took ownership of the Lagoon 42 in front of the chandlery just a few days after you posted this video.

Beau did a great job

Just discovered you guys, and I am hooked. You guys are now my stay home/stay safe quarantine binge entertainment. 😂 Years ago I lived aboard my 27' Newport, and really miss sailing. So I can now do it vicariously through you. Also would love to purchase a sweat shirt and t-shirt. Congrats on the repairs, and safe sailing. 😎⛵

16:50 but there are clouds in the sky ⛅️ lol Just recently found your channel. Completely intrigued with your adventure, guys. Glad to see that you’re both safe, and the boat has been repaired. Keep on adventuring!!

Get a moisture test....around the hull. that should not have happened, unless that water tank pushed it, which is possible.....but it still should have been ok...unless it was wet. Just a thought! Good luck!!!

Really like that you got right to the point in the first minute.

Beautiful place to work on a boat. Stay positive. All is good

I wish I'd seen this before meeting you at Garry and Brookes get together last Saturday.. So much we could talk about with boat building stuff... This scenario is one strong reason why I want to build a trimaran for cruising. Larry

Best wishes on the fix so u guys can continue your great adventures! That was a lot of work u guys done, great happy dance at the end!!♡

Glad you are floating, I just did a keel joint on the last haul out. I wasnt leaking as bad as you but I could see it coming in one of the keel bolts.

I would also advise an extra pump or two and a big batch of the green stuff

Good quick work. GRP is amazing stuff. It's almost infinitely repairable and as long as reasonable precautions are taken in the layup it's pretty reliable. Glad you're back afloat.

Great video and so happy you got in for the haul out. You have some fine friends who helped. Some hard work and now back in the water. I like the blue hull!! Good repair, I am very happy for you both. Thanks for the share. Fair winds and followings seas. 👍🇺🇸

Sailing; hours and hours of boredom followed by shear minutes of terror.

I think I would be wanting to have some sort of X-Ray done on your hull to see how many more potential cracks this boat has in store for you. Good Luck.

So glad you're safe and on the mend!

Well done both! and yes, I prefer the Blue bottom as well.

Have the whole underneath reworked with a thick layer of fiber glass and painted, if u don’t want a new boat cause like in one email said the older boats are so thin, and plus break down over the years of what they been through,!!

So love Beaus ppe. Great work 😀

Glad you guys worked this out so quickly!

Great job happy you both made it back safely.

I'm from Ireland and my granddaughter is named saoirse, which means freedom so you can see why the boat has the name