bottom job ?s

The fiberglass is just starting to show on my hull bottoms. I have a couple ?s about re-coating them.
1.How much care needs to be taken when turning the boat over, can a couple people just lift one side and gently lie it upside down?
2.What is the best way to re-coat the bottom, I've heard the fiberglass cloths come off easily. Is there some kind of epoxy that I can brush a few coats on that will harden?
Any tips will be appreciated. Thanks

Glass showing? If you are just wearing through the gel coat and the darker looking fiberglass is now starting to show...no need to do anything yet. The hulls have years and years of wear left before a bottom job is needed. The glass will get a little concave shape down there when it is really wearing. If you just want to keep on top of the wear, maybe a gelcoat job, but I would stay away from epoxy at this point. That would cause issues if you try a polyester resin repair later on.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

In a couple small spots the keels are worn down more to where you can see and feel the crossing fiberglass strands. It's rough when I run my fingers over it so is that ok or should I put something over those areas?

Try a gelcoat repair kit. Inexpensive and easy to use. These can be found at just about any chandlerie (eg: West Marine).

Matt, I'm curious why you say the hulls have lots of life left in them? Wouldn't one be asking for delam or, at least, osmotic blistering leaving bare fiberglass exposed to the water? I understand we take our boats out of the water and the liklihood of such an occurrence is minimal, but over time, I would think this would be a concern. Set me straight as I come from the keel boat crowd and we are paranoid about bottom blisters.

Personally, I use and love epoxy for these type repairs on my Catalina.

I'm with Parley. I just did some major repairs on my junk yard H16 using West Systems epoxy and fillers. Tough stuff! The only problem was being carefull sanding off the excess as it is harder than the gell coat. As it was I was just real carefull and used a sanding block to keep from going too deep into the gell coat around the epoxy repair. Turned out real nice!

The keels are solid glass and heavily resined. I have never seen an issue with blistering (usually a gelcoat issue only) or delaminations related to the gel being worn off of the keels. I have seen keels wear to a concave and then get soft (thin). The bottom job then is required. The guy in San Diego we used would often leave the keel as bare glass shaped back to stock. They would only coat with clear resin or gel coat if desired by the owner. No problems ever seen with that.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

thanks matt!
sure makes these cats easy.