Last year, while sailing into my mooring during an usually low tide, I hit a very small isolated section of ledge barely noticeable on charts that likely never was less than 4 ft. deep. I watched the bilge for any water and checked the hull (inside and out) for damage. No evidence of damage noted so I kept sailing the remainder of the season. When the boat was hauled in the Fall, the damage was obvious on the very bottom and side of the keel. A small chunk of the keel was missing (see the attached, maybe 5-in. long, 2-3-in. wide, 1/2-in. or so deep). I see fiberglass fibers so the damage appears to have penetrated the gel coat (did CD actually gelcoat over the keel also?) into the fiberglass over the lead keel. The area is so small, I should be able to do the repair myself. I plan to strip/sand/grind the bottom paint back a few inches all around then remove loose fiberglass in the hole. I assume a product like West Marine Epoxy with filler is a reasonable repair product to build up the hole. However, my question is should it be necessary to cover the set filler with a gel coat surface as a sealer? I will plan to apply bottom paint again at the end.
Fiberglass/gelcoat repair
Moderator: Jim Walsh
Fiberglass/gelcoat repair
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Re: Fiberglass/gelcoat repair
Hi Bob ... I have made two repairs very similar to yours, both about "hand size" strikes on ledge just like you - one close to an inch in depth, the other about 1/2 inch. In both cases it was a matter of grinding down and beveling just by eye, and then applied simple concentric pieces of cloth (about 8 layers in decreasing diameter) roughly shaped like the scar, largest piece first, applying activated epoxy with a brush on each layer. I think after the initial grinding, but before the cloth, I had also had painted epoxy over the initial grind/sand, let dry - then came back with the cloth a few days later.
On the first go my son made me a nice little "kit" (he has a boat shop in Bristol). On this one, which was the larger of the two strikes, after the glass was solid, a few days later I followed with a little sanding over the patches and then bladed faring compound (the redish stuff) with putty blades. Then, days later, sanding/faring the compound by eye, then 2 part Inter Protect, and then finally, a few coats of bottom paint.
On the more recent strike which was about the size of yours I judged I didn't need faring compound as the patches and sanding did the trick .. so maybe you can skip that. The Interprotect barrier is important and you want to overlap that with naked gelcoat. Also I used a West Marine "West System" repair kit which had glass and epoxy ... worked just fine.
Here are a few shots of the first more serious strike after applying the glass patches, but before the filler step .. wide angle lens makes the scar look huge, larger than it was.
I am, by my own admission, the "go aground kid" having put my CD keel into the mud many many times in Narragansett Bay, got stuck in gravel in Boston Harbor, and as a kid, oy, weekly, with R19s, catboats etc, but that was racing in Nantucket Harbor where you can practically walk everywhere ...
cheers
On the first go my son made me a nice little "kit" (he has a boat shop in Bristol). On this one, which was the larger of the two strikes, after the glass was solid, a few days later I followed with a little sanding over the patches and then bladed faring compound (the redish stuff) with putty blades. Then, days later, sanding/faring the compound by eye, then 2 part Inter Protect, and then finally, a few coats of bottom paint.
On the more recent strike which was about the size of yours I judged I didn't need faring compound as the patches and sanding did the trick .. so maybe you can skip that. The Interprotect barrier is important and you want to overlap that with naked gelcoat. Also I used a West Marine "West System" repair kit which had glass and epoxy ... worked just fine.
Here are a few shots of the first more serious strike after applying the glass patches, but before the filler step .. wide angle lens makes the scar look huge, larger than it was.
I am, by my own admission, the "go aground kid" having put my CD keel into the mud many many times in Narragansett Bay, got stuck in gravel in Boston Harbor, and as a kid, oy, weekly, with R19s, catboats etc, but that was racing in Nantucket Harbor where you can practically walk everywhere ...
cheers
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Fred Mueller
Jerezana
CD 27 Narragansett Bay
Jerezana
CD 27 Narragansett Bay
Re: Fiberglass/gelcoat repair
Fred,
Thank you for your experience (sorry you had them). But forgive my ignorance. I assume the West Marine product acts as the filler, the Interlux Inter Protect is a water/moisture barrier before applying the final gelcoat layer? Will West Marine tell me their product is not a water/moisture barrier? The patch I need to make is small. I want to avoid purchasing large quantities (quart, etc.) of products that I only need a small quantity for. Also, how much separation between cloth layers (and I assume you mean woven cloth and not mat?)?
Scott
Thank you for your experience (sorry you had them). But forgive my ignorance. I assume the West Marine product acts as the filler, the Interlux Inter Protect is a water/moisture barrier before applying the final gelcoat layer? Will West Marine tell me their product is not a water/moisture barrier? The patch I need to make is small. I want to avoid purchasing large quantities (quart, etc.) of products that I only need a small quantity for. Also, how much separation between cloth layers (and I assume you mean woven cloth and not mat?)?
Scott
Re: Fiberglass/gelcoat repair
Scott, (sorry for "Bob" - I saw his name on the screen and mistook you for him)
West Marine sells a few different patch kits ...
https://www.westmarine.com/west-system- ... 54095.html
This is what I used on my more recent and smaller strike ... should be just the ticket for you .... generally gel coat goes over the glass and a water barrier over the gel coat ... or if no gel coat, then just water barrier over the glass repair (and faring compound if you used any). The two part water barrier type products were all developed when it became apparent that over time naked glass and even gel over glass is prone to water ingress and blistering with certain resins.
Some people might even just sand a bit, use faring compound, sand again, then paint; barrier - then anti fouling, skipping the glass figuring the area of the problem still has structural integrity. My strikes were bad enough that I though I should rebuild the shredded glass layer too ... if you do choose to apply new glass, you need to grind/sand down to existing glass around the perimeter of the strike - so you are applying glass to glass.
hope this helps
West Marine sells a few different patch kits ...
https://www.westmarine.com/west-system- ... 54095.html
This is what I used on my more recent and smaller strike ... should be just the ticket for you .... generally gel coat goes over the glass and a water barrier over the gel coat ... or if no gel coat, then just water barrier over the glass repair (and faring compound if you used any). The two part water barrier type products were all developed when it became apparent that over time naked glass and even gel over glass is prone to water ingress and blistering with certain resins.
Some people might even just sand a bit, use faring compound, sand again, then paint; barrier - then anti fouling, skipping the glass figuring the area of the problem still has structural integrity. My strikes were bad enough that I though I should rebuild the shredded glass layer too ... if you do choose to apply new glass, you need to grind/sand down to existing glass around the perimeter of the strike - so you are applying glass to glass.
hope this helps
Fred Mueller
Jerezana
CD 27 Narragansett Bay
Jerezana
CD 27 Narragansett Bay
Re: Fiberglass/gelcoat repair
Most helpful. Thanx Fred.