[quote=wvsailingnut][quote=fmajor13]just came across your post (11/7). Owned five of them, who knows you may be restoring one that I owned. It makes a difference if it is a sailcraft or a gibbs. MFG's have all sunk, and you are not likely to own a $30,000 rogers shark. So... put the shark on the trailer, and spread it out. Usually you need to lock the boards, a screwdriver in the slot is fine. Get under the hull, remove the brass straps with the little screws at the front of the center board slot. Spreading or removing the rubber, you will see four little screws. Carefully remove them and the brackets they support and the board will lift right out. DO NOT CUT anything. Gibbs are usually all fiberglass with a wimpy main=beam, and are different. Again spread the boat get under it, remove the straps as before, but now you will see hard plastic "coaster sized wheels", that fit in a recess in the trunk itself and in the board. There is a spring between them so a putty knife gently prying out the plastic coaster works well, again the board lifts out. I cant speak to the new Rogers boats, cant afford one. But if you spend more that four minutes on the project you did it wrong. Rebuilding a board, requires woodworking and boating knowhow and skill and you need more consultation.
As to taking the hull decks off Sailcraft are glued and NAILED, plastic gibbs are pop riveted. Many owners have done both, dont break anything, reglue with 3m 5200 . If you take the hull decking off, please be very careful to secure the frames, without their support you have something that flops like a dead fish and you will never get it fixed.
Replacing the floor decking is simple if you get the darn thing off in one piece as there isnt a straight line in whole thing. Get five ply mahogany and reinstall with 3m 5200 and short fat #10 brass screws. Weekend at best. Bust the pieces and loose the pattern you may never get it right again, Lots of curves.
Cutting an circular access panel just in front of the bridge deck is a good accepted practice. and used to put bracing inside the bow, to stop the boat from panting in a seaway.
Our kids grew up in a shark hull, what is wrong with that?
phil[/quote]
Wvsailingnut here, update: So sad to say as is typical the Shark has been sitting in my garage for the past 4 years, little to no progress UNTIL now! I had gotten frustrated by the dagger board situation and could not bring myself to start cutting her, so it sat. I then happened upon a Hobie 16 and have been sailing that since my original posting. Well a couple of weeks ago I stumbled across this old posting I did and read the responses. I saw the above post on how to remove the board. The boat I have is a Gibbs, it took me about 15 minutes. So I am now all in, and I will be starting the restoration in earnest and will start posing some updates on here. I will keep you posted.[/quote]
