Glad to be part of this group!

[Breault5]

I can't tell you how glad this group is here.

I am the new owner of Halia (Hawaiian name meaning "In Memory Of", the1981 CD 30c #195, (formally Hunk Dory). I purchased her in November. I live in So. Cal. but born and raised on Cape Cod. Sailing was a way of life in my family...Lots of great memories, hence the name. She was berthed in Kemah TX. After making the offer and knowing I would have to put some time and work into her to bring her back to the way this beautiful boat needs to be, I decided to save a buck and purchase a trailer and haul her home myself. I found a heavy duty trailer in Wyoming and made the crazy decision to drive out there to pick up the trailer and then to drive out to Texas to pick up my prize. I was a little stressed to say the least but actually other than one flat tire the whole trip went without a hitch!

Since November I have been working as much as possible on her. The biggest challenge I've encountered has been stripping the bottom on this beautiful boat. When I surveyed her, it was noted that there was some bistering in the barrier coat, not the gel coat. After countless hours on stripping, sanding and more sanding she is all gel coat.

My question is this. This has been killing me to solve this mystery, but the barrier coat appeared to be a bondo. Pink in color, did not hold up to sea conditions very well as there were litterally 1000's of small 1/8th" -1/4" blisters in this pink barrier coat. Has anyone ever heard of bondo or a pink barrier coat that was used in the past? I honestly could not believe how bad it was. But thankfully the gel coat was not affected other than two small gel coat blisters in the hull and another three in the rudder.

Again, I am glad to be part of this group and I promise, you'll be hearing from me more in the future with more questions.

Thank you all and counting the days til she is back in the water!
Dave Breault

[Oswego John]

Hi Dave,

There are several types of Bondo. You have to be careful which type is used, marine or automotive.

I have never had good luck using a sun cured Bondo. Actually, I haven't used any type of Bondo lately. Now, I usually go to a two part polyester.

Congratulations on your new (to you) boat.

O J

[The Patriot]

... There are several types of Bondo. You have to be careful which type is used, marine or automotive ...

I'm in the mood to spruce up my 8' GRP dink, and I am considering using Bondo to fair the topsides prior to priming and painting. Is this a good plan?

[Oswego John]

There are so many more qualified persons on the board that can give you technical answers, all I can relate is based on my past experiences, some of which were better than others.

I'm sure that you know, but for the sake of other readers I will mention thet Bondo is a trade name for a specific manufacturing company that specializes in two part plastic type, spreadable filler that sets up rock hard. Some people use the word bondo as a generic title for a filler of this type.

Somewhere along the line, I read or was told that if the finish that you are working is gelcoat, don't use an epoxy product. It's better to use a polyester type filler. Being the penny counter that I am, I have always (mostly always) used epoxy products for tabbing and other adhesive purposes and have relied on polyesters for filling and fairing, including work on gelcoat.

I don't have any Bondo handy to read what type it is, whether epoxy or poly. If I had to guess, I'd lean toward poly, but I'm not sure.

To answer your question, if the topside of the dink is gelcoat, steer away from epoxy type fairing and fillers. If you already have marine type Bondo on hand, read the label to ascertain what chemical makeup it is. If it should be a poly, full steam ahead.

BTW, here's something that I do. Try not to sand the finish too smooth before painting. If you leave the finish slightly rough, it provides some tooth for the paint to adhere to for the long run. When the finish is mirror smooth, the paint lays on the surface and in a relatively short time, peels off in sheets.

I hope this helps you a little. Maybe some other experienced craftspersons will chime in with their knowledge.

Good luck. Think spring.
O J

[Tom in Cambria]

Bondo is made from polyester resin with a filler to thicken it and is not an epoxy. The accepted wisdom is generally that an epoxy will stick to polyester or epoxy, but polyester won't stick to epoxy. Gelcoat is a polyester resin with coloring and wax in it. The wax is to allow the surface to get hard and slick. The problem, of course, is that neither polyester nor epoxy stick to wax very well. If you're patching gelcoat you want to sand the shine off and then wipe well with acetone to get the wax off as best you can before you patch with Bondo or anything else, but you probably knew that already.

[Lew Gresham]

Pettit had a barrier coat that had a pink primer that was used before the top coat. Could have been what was used on your boat.

[johnny of STORK]

My CD30 had a lot of what appeared to be bondo along the keel, back near the deadwood, on both sides. It, too, was badly cracked. I have spent a total of a couple of weeks under the trailer grinding out this stuff, which I believe the factory used for fairing the hull in this area. Under that was loosely wadded up material thinly wetted, and apparently loosely stuffed into the keel space in front of the deadwood. I replaced it with WEST system and microballoon filler and fairing material, in many, many applications, and finally coated it all with barrier coat and new paint. I undoubtedly wouldn't have noticed any of this if it hadn't been so badly cracked on the surface. I wonder how many CDs had this bondo treatment, which I don't think was very well considered.

Johnny