Offshore Planning: Evolution Sails & Stella Watermakers for Bluewater Cruising

Professional Repair Completed “Overseas”

Prior to our purchase of the yacht in Australia in 2020, we were advised that the known Lagoon 400 water ingress issue beneath the port water tank had been professionally repaired overseas by qualified marine trades.

At the time of inspection, the visible work appeared to be exceptionally well executed. The area had been properly repaired, faired, and repainted to a high standard, with no obvious signs of prior damage. Both we and the surveyor were impressed with the quality of the finish, and it was recorded as a resolved issue during the pre-purchase assessment.

Naturally, this provided reassurance that one of the known problem areas had been addressed and could be considered “ticked off” the list.

Or so we believed at the time…

Minor Bulkhead Separation from Lower Hull Structure

It wasn’t until we later serviced the freshwater pump inside the port area that we began to notice the less visible side of the previous repair. At the time, we accepted that the work had been carried out professionally, and given the yacht had successfully crossed the Tasman Sea, no small test of any vessel, we initially chose to leave it as it was.

However, around 12 months later, after tapping on various sections and detecting a distinct hollow sound in certain areas, we decided to investigate further.

Closer inspection revealed that some sections had not been properly prepared prior to glassing. As a result, parts of the repair had begun to separate from the lower hull structure. These areas were identifiable by the hollow sound when tapped and were located in positions that would have been extremely difficult for a surveyor to access or assess visually.

Further investigation uncovered two areas where the timber core had been damaged or had started to deteriorate. This marked the beginning of a more extensive remediation process, which involved cutting back all compromised sections and grinding them back to clean, solid fibreglass before rebuilding the structure with new laminates.

In the more difficult-to-access sections, it became clear that sanding, sealing, and bonding had not been completed to a sufficient standard, which contributed to the progressive delamination of the previously laid glass.

During this process, we also took the opportunity to relocate the watermaker from the port aft cabin to the port forward cabin, carefully routing plumbing and electrical systems through the newly repaired area for improved layout and access.

Finally, the entire area was top-coated, providing a clean finish and making any future structural changes or anomalies far easier to identify early.