Hull Damage

Hi

I recently had a collision in which i took a couple to chips out of my H16 hull and also managed to graze the fiberglass hull. By grazing the hull I mean that the gell coat has been scraped off and I can now see the fiberglass fibers. This is resulting in water entering the hull!

I have had no experience in fiberglass repairs and was wondering if anyone could give me some information and advice on how to go about repairing my hull. I.E. what products to use, how to repair it, surface preparation etc.

Thanks

Joshua Kirk

im in the same boat with you(no pun intended) but there are a few spots on my huls where the fibergalss is showing through, so hopefully soemone can shed some light on how this type of damage can be mended

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Sailing is courage

It depends on how nice you want it to look and how much time you want to spend on it. For a quick fix I like to use Marine Tex epoxy. It comes in white so it will be close on color to most hulls. All I do is dry the exposed fiber glass as well as possible (the drier the better), sand the surrounding gel coat about 1/4" from the scratch. Clean up the sanded area with acetone or denatured alcohol. Finally, apply the Marine Tex per package instructions. This will get you back on the water in about a day. It may not look great, but it is very functional.

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Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

That'll work. I have also found that the gelcoat dyes you can get from West Marine work with the Devcon epoxy you can get at Wal-Mart. Mix up some epoxy. Thicken with flox (powdered cotton, available from many fiberglass/epoxy dealers. Also known as high density filler) or baby powder and add the dye (if your boat isn't white). Apply. Sand smooth.

I've done this a few times on the H16.

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Warm regards,

Jim