Filling holes from delam repair

Everyone, I hate to even ask. You have all already helped me out so much on my delam repair as well as many other questions. I looked at the faq section on the forum about the delam repair and it is suggested to fill up the holes with get coat putty. Is this something I can just buy or is it a mix that I have to make? If it is a mix could somebody please explain? Most of my holes that I drilled were completely filled to the top with expoxy but I have about three holes where the expoxy recesed into the hulls over night, and plus the bottle of git rot I was using had already solidified. I think the repair is complete as the foam around the openings is very hard. Can I just fill in the deeper holes with gel coat/ or gel coat putty? Sorry to ask a question about a topic that has been covered so much. I'm planning on going to the local boater's store to pick some up today. I'm ready to get this girl all cleaned up. I think I remember reading a post about this topic but I couldn't find it. As always, any help is greatly appreciated.

James

west system mixed with kapok until thickened will do the trick. Also gelcoat with thickener and tinted to match. The gelcoat repair might look nicest but is a little harder to do as wax and filler must be mixed and it sets up slower.

Thank you for the imput. I just returned from the store. At first I thought I would go the gel coat route, but all they had were rather large cans of the stuff and in leu of being wasteful I purchased some marine epoxy that cures solid white. It is called "power poxy" and states that its uses are for fiberglass dings and holes. It was only like four bucks. It is supposed to have a paste like consistency when mixed with about a fifteen minute set up time. It is weather resistant, waterproof, and a leak sealent. I'll probably be cleaning off the hull today and filling in the holes tommorow. Does this stuff sound like it will work ok? I've never worked with gel coat or west system and this stuff seems to be pretty idiot proof.

James

West System is top notch stuff with great directions on how to use. Sounds like you have the right stuff. BTW I carry the West System repair kit with me onboard.

Another product that will work pretty well for that is Marine Tex- I haven't had to do any delam repairs, but I've used it to patch numerous dings!

Sorry to disagree but marine tex, the white stuff, works fine for small gelcoat type repairs but is not a structurally strong product. It's a different product than the epoxy resin based products that West uses. West also offers a wide variety of solid additives to their resin that all have different attributes and would be used in different places around the boat. For instance their black powdered graphite is added for good abbrasion resistance and works great for keel repair while their low density solid additives are easy to sand and work well for fairing a hull repair. They also have great info on weather resistance and structural qualities.

I have a question. If you use West Systems or Marine Tex to do spot repairs and later you want to gel coat over that area, can you? I've heard that gel coat and epoxy don't like one another, but don't know if small areas will react.

Thanks

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TC

Just to follow up,
I've been outside sanding off the tops of the epoxy I used to fill the holes from my delam repair. I am not veryy happy with the results. The "power poxy" was really messy and it was difficult to get it to do what I wanted, even though I used a syringe to pump the stuff in. Now that I am sanding it off, it is becomming really gummy, both on the boat and the sanding paper. It's taking quite some time. So I think that I'm just gonna finish getting it off and leave the hull the way it is for the time being. I hate having all those holes all over my hull though

What about re-gelcoating the entire tops of the hulls? I think that alot of the sanding I've been doing is really reducing the build up that was on there. What do ya'll think? I've never used gel-coat and would have a lot of reasearch to do on it.
or
What about just painting the tops of the hulls with some type of marine paint? Again, I have no experience with this but I do have a friend that is a professional auto painter and I'm sure he would let me use their facility and give me some help.


James

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James
86' Redline Hobie 16
Sail # 76909

You can try to Gel over Epo, sometimes it works. You have a bout a 50% chance. (Do an internet search for amine blush) Let the Epo cure for a few extra days and wipe it very well with Acetone. With a deck repair there is no better alternative than epoxy, but for general, lasting repairs, epoxy on Hobies is not the stuff to use. The gelcoat curing issue is why I don't recommend epoxy for a quicky beach repair.
If you bring a boat that was repaired with epoxy to our fibergaass guy, he will charge to remove every last bit of it. Two other reasons not to use epoxy: 1. longer cure time. 2. cost! For most repairs, you don't need the added strength of epoxy, so why pay more when you will end up sanding it off anyway. The best thing to do when repairing boats is to use the stuff the boat was made of. Definitely consider Marinetex as a temporary repair. When you get home, break out the polyester and fix it right.

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Thanks for the reply. I will look into using the marintex. Is that what you mean by polyester or no? I'm sorry this is all new to me. I used the expoxy, "git rot" to inject into my hulls to stregnthen the delam area. Now I just want to make the deck look less like it has little holes all over it and also to seal off those holes so water doesn't get in there to the foam. I had thought the "power poxy" would do the trick, it was cheap, like four bucks and was supposed to cure white. But that was a trip to the store and four dollars wasted I am afraid. Thanks for the advise and I will look into a better solution. I just want something that will cure hard and make the boat look a little better, at this point strength is not necessary.
James

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James
86' Redline Hobie 16
Sail # 76909

Sorry abbman, I should have been more clear. I was commenting on other posters using epoxy for general repairs--that's the no,no. What you have done is the best fix for the soft deck when you need the adhesion properties of epoxy. And if I wanted to clean up the deck, I would definitely try to spray (roll, brush) some gel over a delam repair. Sand the area well and try to remove all of the extra epoxy that may be around the area. Then I would fill any additional holes with thickened polyester resin. This is the stinky stuff that smells like "fiberglass". Fair. Then apply some gelcoat. Gelcoat is tricky (but not scary!). Anyone can be successful with gelcoat when armed with a little knowledge. You have to occlude o2 during the hardening process. Some people use plastic (bags), but I would get what's called PVA (polyvinyl alcohol). I usually spray it on with a gun, but you could use a spray bottle. Apply it over the gelcoat after it has firmed up a bit. This stuff just forms a layer over the repair which allows the gel to cure in the absence of o2.

BTW Gelcoat IS polyester as well, so it works well with a polyester substrate. Your Hobie is made from polyester, so it makes sense to keep it all the same if possible.

I always mix my gelcoat with a product called Duratec. It helps the gel to cure, so it doesn't gum up your sandpaper. For your white Hobie use "base white" gelcoat. It will not match perfectly, but it will be close enough.I never tape off gelcoat repairs. I spray the stuff and fan it out toward the edges. This allows me to blend the repair, so that the color mismatch is not as evident. Its a way to trick the eye into believing that it's all the same color. A hard taped line is difficult to fair and blend.

Gelcoat sounds complicated, but it's really not, and it's the "right" way to finish a repair.

Which brings me back to why I don't recommend using epoxy for general repairs on Hobies (bottoms, cracks in the hull, etc) Gelcoat may not cure properly over epoxy. Again, marintex (an epoxy) is only for emergency repairs on the beach. I actually don't sell it anymore as there are better things to use for emergency repairs on Hobies. My current favorite is photocure polyester resin with milled fiber. Fast, cures in the sun with no catalyst, and it's polyester:)

Hope this helps and doesn't confuse you further. Call anytime if you have questions.

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Thank you very much. That was very clear. I couldn't have asked for better. I will do just as you suggested. I've already taken most of that "power poxy" off of the hull. That stuff really didn't work worth a crap. I will drill out the rest before I add the polyester resin. I would rather use the stuff that it was made out of anyway. Thanks again.
James

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James
86' Redline Hobie 16
Sail # 76909

Thanks Jeremy, you are obviously the pro on this subject. For my own boat strength has always been more importanat than appearance so I never bothered with gelcoat, I just paint over the epoxy.
The places where I found it most useful however was where specific high strength was required.
One was repairing dinged rudders. After using various polyester products that would easily chip out I used the West epoxy with Graphite solids. It is quite hard and very abrasion resistant and has stayed put through some serious rudder dragging.
The second place was hardware anchoring. I put in square bomar hatches in my 21SE decks for better access to the considerable hull volumes. Mainly I wanted to put folding chairs, dry bags, and small coolers down there to keep the deck clear. The hatches work great but I wanted as much structural integrity as I could get after enlarging the hatch inspection hole out to big rectagle for the hatch. I epoxied in reinforcements around the underside of the perimeter then screwed the hatch frame down in an expoxy bed. It's been fine for years now and we love the hatches.
I've had no problems at all with the epoxy but then I wasn't going for appearance here.
The next time I want a nice fair hull repair I'll try the gelcoat, I wish you had mentioned a brand that we could get for consumer sized containers of the stuff you use.

Beachboy,
You should just check your local boater's supply store for the gel-cote. I just returned from my local one, "AK Mccallum" to get the polyester resin and I also noticed that they had pints of gel-cote for sale, cheap too!

Surf City,
You may want to have MMiller post your reply in the FAQ section of the forum. I'm sure it would benefit other novices such as myself to have that info. That explanation was right on. I feel a lot more confident in finishing this repair now.

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James
86' Redline Hobie 16
Sail # 76909

Right on guys! Get to work on those repairs, spring is coming. Ask all the questions at your local fiberglass shop. Usually they've done these repairs before and can guide you through. It's hard to get good info from a big box marine store, but they have what you need.

It's cool to impower yourself and learn gelcoat. When you master it, it will amaze your Hobie friends due to its mysteriousness. And...your repairs will look clean and be completely sealed. Like I said call anytime with questions.

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