I just bought Bobson's pristine Starboard Futura 133 (Technora). Took it out twice and have put significant ding in the nose from a stinkin' catapult. @*%! (I'll be asking for a Deviator for Xmas.)

I'm in Nanaimo. Who in this area does repairs? Any comments on their repairs wrt quality, workmanship, appearance or cost?

Has anyone had a repair done by Island Longboards? If so what were they like?

Call me retentive but because the board is so new (to me), I would really like a repair that is as close to original as possible. Kinda like it never happened.

Three things are making me cautious about a DIY:
1-The probability that I will create a Frankin-board
2-The repair of the non slip after the main repair
3-The repair of the graphics after the main repair (it may look like a scratch toward the decal but it goes right under the decal so it can't be)

The board is now inside the house with the vent plug out and nose down.

from the pix it looks like a no-problem repair, I can give you a play by play or drop by and I'll do it with you.

=As far as the non-slip, well, I just don't think you are standing around up there much.
=As far as never knowing it happened you can forget that pipe dream but it's no big deal....at first shock,
then dismay, then apathy, you'll get used to it and remind yourself that a deviator may help but sailing more often and
going with the mast and spin when it happens are the answers to catapults....learning to miss the board too, haha.
The deviator is just plain hideous, much more so than a well done repair, and screams....well, you know what it screams

The graphics? You can forget that too, see above. You can buy a new sticker for millions or maybe free
but it doesn't matter and it won't stick like factory.
Very few repair places, I was disappointed twice by Roberts thinking of graphics, flaking paint, rust in the gel coat, just
painting over graphics when they could have saved them and big bucks to boot, for yours I bet $175-250.
Patch it and take to the Gorge next summer?
Sooooo: just dry it, fix it, be happy (it's not a rail underfoot afterall) As a guy in the Gorge once told me about my soft HiTech: "Dood, there will be other boards"

Ouch Saulman that hurts. If you decide you want a deviator I've got one for $20 if you want. It worked for me when I was in the catapult phase.

I've done lots of board repairs , epoxy, - may be able to evaluate it for you. Like kus said there is not much up front but you need to glass it up for good seal. If you are handy at all and patient at all, you can repair it. With a minimal footprint on the board. GW

Oh yea the little man will lose his head.

Hey, we all did it, and it might be a time to learn the skills of Epoxy work? We all sail in gnarly rocky log strewn waters, and I agree with the Gorge comment from Kus. If you do a good job on the repair, you could even incorporate your own graphics from the damage with the boards (Starburst on the nose, similar to the Evo's base? Ive done a fair bit of repair from my damage days, and could give you a few cents more worth of opinion, but Gene's pretty good with epoxy - he's been fixing Paul & Ozy's crashed boards for years (they really don't hold back on potentially damaging scenarios).

Happy Glassing!!

Deviator 2cents worth = Highly recommended bit of gear - ignore any taunting - they work!

Island Longboards does a great job. Like new. So if your picky about how it looks they'll do a great job

Kus I think you have captured the philosophy of board dings well. We might need to start a "Deep thoughts by Kus" page.

I haven't had a chance yet to speak with any local repair guys so I'm still deciding what direction to take. But I have been pouring through the great repair resources on the web and building my knowledge and confidence.

Once I talk to Island Longboard I'll be back.

More later.
Saul

GD,
any idea who does the repairs for island longboards? I'd like to talk to the guy with the sandpaper in his hands.

Anyone had work done by Chris Barfoot?

HI Saul,
I have a friend who may fix it for you.
Give me a call. I live 3 doors down from you!
John 250 756 1369

Well, I'm wussing out. I took it to Island Longboards this week. Apparently his jobs are pretty good. They say he's "not a people person" (too much fumes or something) so I haven't been able to speak with him directly. From what i can determine, he'll fill the damaged pvc foam with epoxy filler, glass over and airbrush new paint.

I really appreciate for the offers of help. Thanks guys. Perhaps when I encounter a more structural repair.

I sanded off some of the paint to see what I would find underneath and have posted some pictures.

Also I sent off some questions to "The Board Lady". Here is our conversation in the hopes that it might help someone else down the road.

-----------------------
Saul: now there's a no-brainer! you'd need a teaspoon of this and a pinch of that, but would have to purchase a quart of this and a pound of that - at great expense. Not to speak of annoying your wife with the mess and the neighbors with the smells.... nonono, if there is someone who can competently do this repair for you, then by all means, go for it!!
Your prep work looks fine! Those dark lines signal oxidation - the cracks indubitably from the impact, the dark from exposure to air, or more likely, water. How long ago did this wipe-out happen?
And - sure - if you think someone could benefit from our conversation, do share it if you want!
Onwards!
Eva
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On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 5:04 PM, Saul Spearing <sauls2000> wrote:

I feel a little like I'm copping out here. I've just found a boardmaker close to me who has repaired epoxy Starboards and has some fairly happy customers. Structurally, I don't think he'll do much more than fill, glass and airbrush. However, I figure that by the time that I buy the epoxy, fiberglass and the LP paint I will have covered the cost of him doing the repair. (let alone getting ahold of an airbrush, thinners etc.).

I've attached a couple of pictures of the result of my sanding. (I ended up scraping away too much pvc foam). Your tip with the quarter worked well and exposed areas that I didn't realize had surface damage. I seem to be sanding into the Kevlar layer at the front where the fibers are starting to pull up instead of sand away.

What do you think the dark lines are under the glass at the nose? The outer glass seems to be in good shape still at that location.

I really appreciate your time in answering my questions and I was wondering if I might post our conversation to a thread that I have started on our local windsurfing web site (bigwavedave.ca)?


Best Regards
Saul Spearing






--- On Sun, 11/2/08, Eva Hollmann <boardlady> wrote:

From: Eva Hollmann <boardlady>

Subject: Re: Board repairs on Starboard technora.
To:
Date: Sunday, November 2, 2008, 11:34 AM


Technora is a resilient fiber similar to Kevlar - tough in abrasion. As far as I know, you have it only in select high-impact areas, and certainly only on the outside face of the sheet foam.
Notwithstanding my mantra about "rebuild with like materials", I think you can safely use fibeglass instead, since I believe the benefits of the Technora to be highly overrated, and since it is not used consistently in your board to start with.
Since the crack leaks along its entire length (as shown by your bubble test), you do know that every structural layer is cracked - the Divinycell, as well as the inner glass. However, you may not need to replace either, if you find the Divinycell firmly bonded: tap it with a quarter and listen for resonance - if you get a "ping", you are good. If it is a "thud", however, the Divinny has delam'd from the inner glass and you need to address that before putting on a new outer skin. In a mast slam such as this, I really like to injext Marine Urethane, because that will find all the little fissures that may have been created when your mast depressed the sandwich and some of its layers deflected more readily than others.
If this sort of injury had occurred along the rails in the middle third of the board, you would most certainly have had to dig down to expose the inner fiberglass and rebuild that first. However, there are no high bending loads near the nose (except when you catapult), so you can safely compensate for a likely crack in the inner glass by adding an extra layer on the outside.
Your crack line is very typical for a hard mast slam that can smash the point of first impact down far enough for there to be contact much further aft on the deck. The nose will deflect overall, plus the sandwich compress temporarily, which all may well add up to 1/2" or more overall.
As far as saving decals - I would not make any overlaps smaller than about 1/2". If that demolishes a decal, than that is vastly better than your repair cracking and leaking down the road.
Send me photos once you have exposed the Divinny!
Eva

----------------------
On Sat, Nov 1, 2008 at 12:20 PM, Saul Spearing <sauls2000> wrote:

Hi Eva, I sent the pictures just last Tuesday of the Starboard Futura with the nose damage. Thanks so much for your reply. I think I have poked through every page on your site now and have learned so much. I have some more questions and I'm hoping you could spare a moment to pass along some more of your wisdom.



What is Technora?



Is the Technora used on the inside or the outside of the PVC foam?



On the Starboard web site, their board drawings seem to indicate that the Technora is only used in certain places (nose, foot areas). Do you know if that is the case?



Adhearing to Boadlady 1st principles of replacing like with like materials, what should Technora be replaced with?



Once the outer layer of fiberglass is sanded off of the dent, is there a way to tell if the layers of fiberglass below the PVC foam will require replacement? I don't want to excavate that far if I don't have to.



How narrow can a repair be (On my board, I'm thinking about the line from the dent to the decal?



When a dent is not very deep (say 1/32" or so) without any puncture, what layers are typically being damaged? (I.e. What layers have to reach yield point?) Is it typically limited to the outer fiberglass and the PVC foam layer?


I am having trouble understanding the "crack/line" of damage that goes from the dent back to the decal? This cracked area would have been subject to less stress than the depressed area so I can't see why it would crack. Have you seen this type of damage before? What are the chances it's just the outer paint?


Thank you so much for your advice and help..


Saul Spearing

Nanaimo, BC

------------------
--- On Tue, 10/28/08, eva <boardlady> wrote:

From: eva <boardlady>
Subject: Re: Board repairs on Starboard technora.
To: "Saul Spearing" <sauls2000>
Date: Tuesday, October 28, 2008, 12:53 AM


the proof is in the pudding - uh, the bubble-test! no need really for artificial pressurizing (though I use a bilge pump at the shop, see www.boardlady.com/leakdetection.htm)
Your board has a 1/8" sheet of Divinycell between Technora and EPS core, whichsame Divinycell is fairly ductile and thereby able to absorb a fair amount of impact energy before cracking and leaking. From the looks of your ding (good pictures!!) I would suspect enough of a deflection at the forwardmost point to possibly have caused a leak. Do get out the detergent to make sure!
As far as restoring the non-skid - no short-cuts I know of, just honest sanding and fairing and repainting and recoating with DeckDust (available from Fiberglass Hawaii and others). Its hard to get it right (though I just came really close, after 5749 repairs...... go check out "for my customers" => Job #5749
Good luck!
Eva
---------------------

----- Original Message -----
From: Saul Spearing
To:
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2008 9:12 PM
Subject: Board repairs on Starboard technora.

Hi Eva, thank you for providing us all with such exceptional information on board repairs.

I'm hoping you might be able to help me out a little.

I have a 2008 starboard futura (tecnora) that I have dinged/damaged on the nose from catapulting. GRRRR.

Some people have looked at it and said that it looks cosmetic. Never having cut into one of these I can't tell. I heard that one way to check for a compromised hull is to apply a little pressure to the vent plug and use soap solution on the suspect area. How much pressure and what kind of pump works well? Would a hand bike pump work?

The attached pictures were taken with lighting from the side and the ding is no deeper than 1/32 nd of an inch. As far as dings go, how deep before I should be excavating and rebuilding? Or is it more a question of area? Everything still feels pretty solid. No spongy areas.

Any tip or hints?

Any advice for getting the non-slip to look decent??

Thanks for your thoughts

Saul
Nanaimo, BC

That first ding is the hardest. a year or two from now you will just give it a sand, slap on some glass and spray it whatever colour is in the garage.

you seem quite concerned with the cosmetic look of your repair but a key issue you want to avoid is weight gain with the wet EPS. water will not 'drain' out once it is up in the pore spaces of the foam, you have to suck it out of there. Next time you ding, get a vac pump on it right away (i have one i built to loan out to anyone in BWD land that wants to come get it).

I am sure ILB will do a fine repair job. From the look of your pics though it looks like your sanding skills are certainly on par!

ps its easy to put positive pressure in your board for a soap bubble test, just cut a schraeder valve stem out of a bike tube and thread it into the pressure valve hole. then just pump gently away with your bike pump (ideally with a pressure gauge). this is one way you can 'push' some water out of a small ding. dont do it with the air hose at the gas station!

ditto....I see you haven't dared to touch the sticker and sand under it....well, someone's gonna have to....and since you sanded it already, slapping some micro balloons w/ epoxy in there, tape it flat and sand a bit, get a spray can of white and bob's yer uncle. Get over the looks thing.....chances are good the first day back from ILB you will ding it somewhere else, who gives a crap what it looks like. It ain't wall art, it's to be used on the water and not let any in
Hope the "non-people" person doesn't ding you for $200 or more, cuz maybe that's why he's not a people person....

dd what kind of vacuum pump do you have? would it be worth putting it on a pump once I get it back?

I don't disagree with how it will work in a year. Unfortunately I'm not there yet but thanks for the reminder.

S

hi saul,
the idea is you suck moisture out thru the ding by pulling the dry air in through the vent plug.. you cant suck anything once the repair is done.

heres the unit, its just a salvaged fridge pump with some high-tech adaptations
http://www.bigwavedave.ca/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2749