Help With Hull Repair

Just bought my first Hobie, and there is still one major repair to make before I get her on the water (meaning I am really itching to get out there). The previous owner said a tree fell on one of the hulls, and some of the fiberglass is scraped up. There is damage on the deck, which seems like it has been coated with epoxy or something, and damage on the bow of the same hull. There is no damage to the underlying wood or fiberglass as far as I can tell. From the pictures below, you can see that the foam is exposed on the bow, and the fiberglass has come separated (last 2 pictures).

http://picasaweb.google.com/srfhaddaway/MobileUploads#5491026354520596978
http://picasaweb.google.com/srfhaddaway/MobileUploads#5491027497553743938
http://picasaweb.google.com/srfhaddaway/MobileUploads#5491027336932615970

Any suggestions on how to fix this? I am more worried about the spot on the side than the one on the deck. Should I leave the foam on there, cut away the separated glass, then put a few layers of fiberglass over the foam, coat with gelcoat, and sand? That is my sense, but I wanted to make sure that was the correct approach before diving into my first fiberglass experience this weekend. I am also thinking I should probably run a few layers around the lip of the deck, where that spot sort of falls over the edge.

Any help would be much appreciated.

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Washington, DC/Port Tobacco, MD
1981 Hobie 16

Hi dropkicksam

I'm new to this forum but have been lurking for a while and have found the the information provided in the "this old boat" section of most of the hotline magazines are incredibly detailed and helpful. There are a couple of great articles in there that deal specifically with repairing this kind of damage.

Sorry i can't provide a link but yup should be able to find it fairly easily. All of the past 3 years issues are available online.

Good luck!

looks like someone faired it down a bit already.
Honestly if you are just going to sail around ( can't wait to hear the comment on this one) and are REALLY itching to get in the water, you can externally patch it with something like BONDO fiberglass repair kit. It will be big and ugly but it will be water tight if you finish it properly.
Best bet is to put an inspection port as far forward as you can and patch it form the inside with West System and rove/wove glass sheet. Remeber the epoxy is there to hold the glass on...as little as possible to saturate the glass is the idea. Make a nice stong patch (not huge just 3 or 4 layers of cloth) with a good overlap and let that dry.
the outside...I like to fill gaps with glass/epoxy and use the blue painters tape over the top when I get it on. I premake a large piece of tape by overlapping several pieces and have it ready to put over the patch when I finish laying it. Lay your patch, this time you are trying for neatness as you will have to sand and gel coat, neatly as possible, again sand the surface make sure you have a decent amout of exposed old glass, and wipe well with naptha. After you lay it up, take the tape and center it over the patch. Starting from the middle, smooth it outto the edges in all directions. Hopefully when you pull the tape off after it cures, it will require just a little sanding and fairing and gel coat.
A little wordy and a lot less difficult than it sounds.
Good luck!

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Why did I sell my 16?

A problem that I see is that you've got a significant area of delamination on the hull. The foam has separated from the outer skin. That needs to be fixed, or you'll have a significant weak spot there.

Thanks for the replies. Based on these replies and other advice, I've come up with a plan. I will take pictures and post results here when I finally do the repair (hopefully this weekend). Here is my plan:

For the hole on the side:
1. Cut the top layer of glass off wherever it is delaminated.
2. Fair around the edges to get some good exposed glass.
3. Remove exposed foam, check inner layer of glass for damage (do not expect any).
4. Build up area using fiberglass cloth and polyester resin to replace foam (~3 layers).
5. Grind it smooth, spray with gelcoat, and then sand that smooth.

For the spot on top:
This actually seems fairly watertight already (maybe coated with resin or something). Only problem is that the lip seems to be cracked, so I plan to:
1. Sand around the lip where it is cracked.
2. Fill the crack with some sort of poly/epoxy filler (any suggestions?)
3. Wrap 1-2 layers of glass around the lip to protect the crack and fill in the gouge on the deck.
4. Cover with gelcoat.

Any thoughts/comments on this? Let me know before this weekend. Appreciate the help.
-Sam

_________________
Washington, DC/Port Tobacco, MD
1981 Hobie 16