Repairing split on side of boat

On my Hobie 14 I a split has open up for about two feet on the front right hand side of boat along the edge of the curved-over lip where the deck joins the hull.
Advice I have received so far is to squirt some epoxy into it all the way along while levering it open with a chisel. I then intend to clamp it tight using a multitude of small G-clamps, as I can't think of a better way to clamp it. until it is set. I'll put a piece of wood or something on the outside edge while clamping so a not to damage the surface with the clamps. Another thing I've thought of is to make sure I tape some plastic underneath to avoid epoxy getting on the rest of the hull.
I've got a couple of days until I intend to do this. Am I doing the right thing? Any other suggestions? Will this last?
Richard.

hey, I presume you mean on the deck itself near the edge. I have the same on one hull, in two places but only about 4 inches long. I have just finished drilling holes and squirting epoxy into them to fix delamination on the deck which seems to have worked really well. Next to repair the cracks. I think this is from standing on the decks with weight on the lip. The only thing I can see to do is to epoxy over the whole crack from the very outer edge to about 100mm in (the cracks are about 40mm in from the outer edge. I would definitely use cloth with the epoxy as I doubt there would be a lot of strength in the fix without it. You can get cloth and epoxy at any decent boat shop. Norski make a good epoxy here in NZ.

Also, looking into gelcoats etc for covering up the fix. It sounds like gelcoat will not bond to epoxy very well, so I have looked into paints and other options. If you have a ReidPaints locally I would go and see them. They have a paint called DairyShed paint, which you mix with a hardener. It is made to withstand daily waterblasting in dairy sheds and seems to cover anything, comes in any colour too, and is fairly cheap. I have put a small patch on from a testpot (without the hardener) and it seems to be bloody hard wearing. I cant scrape it off easily, not like a normal paint, so I'm hoping when the hardener is added it'll be ideal. I hope to finish the job in the next week or two so will update you on how the epoxy/matting and paint goes.

Hope this helps.
Murray

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Hobie 14 Turbo, based in Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand

Thanks. It's not on the deck itself. I'm actually talking about right on the edge of the lip where the top is joined to the bottom. The top is separating from the bottom along the lip.

I helped my friend fix his H-16. The deck to hull joint failed in some areas. We fixed it by turning the boat upside down. spreading the joint apart & cleaning out any loose stuff with a vacuum. We taped off the area and poured thickened epoxy into the open joint. (Use the vacuum on the drain plug hole to suck it into the joint if needed). Clamp shut using quick clamps or 2" hand clamps. let sit overnight and leak test. Repeat if necessary.

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1989 Hobie 18 Worlds Boat, Magnum Wings & Spinnaker
1987 Hobie Holder 20 #273

dale.vanlopik"at"att"dot"net

I helped a friend repair his H16 that had this problem. we turned the boat upside down opened up the crach a little wider and vacumed it out. then used Marine-Tex applied liberally tothe open joint and then used those rachet strap tiedowns wrapped around the hull and then tightened repair has held up for the last 5 years and is still going. good luck

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Tom & Nancy Page H20 803

T page- what type of marine tex did you use? They have about 4 different types of epoxy.
Thanks
Jon