Fairing a Hull

[JWEells]

There's a low spot in my hull near the water line, just a little dollar bill-sized area where more gelcoat got sanded away than should have been. But now that I know it's there, it lurks in my subconscious. It's always there, attracting my attention, asking for my hand to go over it again - yup, still there - lurking, judging, watching, demanding repair.

SO... I've done lots of gelcoat work. Actually doing it with gelcoat paste would be simple, and then sand it fair, yahda yahda yahda. But is it better to fill and then fair with micro-ballooned epoxy? I've never worked with epoxy, so I dunno.

[Ron M.]

I'm not sure gelcoat is compatable with epoxy, thats why epoxy repairs usually get painted. However, if this repair is below the waterline you could use epoxy/micro balloons. Prime the area and bottomcoat. The balloons are easy to fair. Polyester resin is another choice. Good luck
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Extreme q vaporizer

[bhartley]

I repaired a large corner rub on Ariel's transom with Marine-Tex. I was assured that it would take the gelcoat with no problem if prepped properly. Waited until it was very cured (4-5 days). Cleaned with soapy water. Sanded smooth. Cleaned with more soapy water and again with acetone. Waited a little extra to make sure that the acetone had totally flashed off before doing the gelcoat.

I re-gelcoated the entire transom rather than just the patched area. The gelcoat cured equally well on the existing gelcoat and Marine-Tex. Still looks good too.

Hope that helps,

Bly

[JWEells]

That sounds like just the thing to use for a variety of problems on the Valaskjalf and the Sjostrøm, my PS25. So you puttied things into shape with the Marine-Tex, and then put gelcoat over that, right? Given where my repairs are needed, I'd probably just Marine-Tex where needed and then paint over it. Nobody'd ever know.

[Rollergirl]

http://legnosboat.com/lbiproducts/compo ... chor336366
Scroll down to VINYLESTER FAIRING COMPOUND - 940

Works very well for me. It's easy to apply and especialy easy to sand, dries fast and features an easy clean up. I've used Marine-Tex, which I don't like, and the 940 is a whole lot better in every respect.

I put some on my Flying Scott last weekend in 45 degree moist weather, shined a 100 watt light ( in a reflector) at the spot from about 8 inches away and sanded it fair 3 hours later. It was too early for a cure, but it's shrunk as much as it will at that point. Kept the light on overnight, and gelcoated the next morning.

The hardner will color the material. If you use a thin gelcoat layer you may want to mix some white coloring into the hardner (LBI sells that too).

Good luck
Bill