Starting out on a freighter

YukonFreighter

New Member
I picked up this old 18' freighter when we moved here a couple of years ago, been a great boat and we've spent many hours fishing in it already. I know I need to do a full resto at some point, but don't have much time this year with other projects.
Given that I am in the Yukon, I am guessing the boat is a Norwest and that its an epoxy/cloth over wood (feel free to school me here) that the previous owner has repaired with fibreglass cloth. Current issues:
1: Half way down the boat, the side has detached from the lower stringer and the hull has widened out about 1.5"
2: Possibly caused by the first issue, it looks like the cloth has delaminated from the wood and I have a few bubbles (last pic) - its hard and water tight, but clearly separated
3: The fibreglass application was ham fisted, looks terrible, but water tight.

Here is what I think I should do for this year:
Carefully and slowly pull in the boat with several straps (clamps?) and put some through fasteners through the inside and outside stringer and get it to original shape.
Check that pulling the boat in has not created any cracks
Sand smooth the fibreglass, do any repairs found from last steps (is there a bondo type product for smoothing prior to gel?)
gel coat, go fishing and ignore the above the waterline delamination until the fall when I can do a full resto...

Thoughts?
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There are fillers you can add to epoxy to thicken it. When I have fiberglass separating from wood, I scrape the loose part off with a sharp scraper. Be careful, if yours isn't well attached you might make a bigger job. When it won't come off easily, I taper the edges a little and lay in new cloth and resin.
 
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