Bottom Repair Questions

[Ron Ellis]

I have a couple of spots (one on the hull, one on the rudder) on my Ty where the outer layer (gelcoat?) has cracked severely enough to flake off, creating a "hole" in that layer. See the picture link at the bottom to get a better idea.

Is this the gelcoat cracking off? It is thin and brittle, maybe 1/16th of an inch thick.

I have Don Casey's "This Old Boat" and he addresses repairing gouged or cracked gelcoat, but he doesn't seem to exactly address my problem.

One approach he suggests for deep gouges is filling the areas with Marine-Tex, and painting.

This seems pretty straight-forward to me, but will it work on an area this large? Would just filling with gelcoat putty work? Is there a more effective solution?

Any advice you have is greatly appreciated.



tophat@io.com

[Chris Schnell]

Ron...from what I can see in the picture this is a rather large area that still has to be cut back further (apparent cracks propogating out), filled, feathered, and then bottom painted. I've used MarineTex with great success on some small repairs on the rudder of my old CD25 and am a firm believer in the fixes described in this old boat. I've also used West System with tremendous success as well. If this hole is big enough in width and depth you may also want to consider using some glass with the West System. Without something to scale it against for size I can't really tell, but I think in this case I might default to the West System. Good Luck.
Full Sails & Calm Seas

Chris Schnell
s/v MADNESS III CD30 #235
Southport, NC



swabbie@compaq.net

[sloopjohnl]

dittoes to chris' reply.

Ron...from what I can see in the picture this is a rather large area that still has to be cut back further (apparent cracks propogating out), filled, feathered, and then bottom painted. I've used MarineTex with great success on some small repairs on the rudder of my old CD25 and am a firm believer in the fixes described in this old boat. I've also used West System with tremendous success as well. If this hole is big enough in width and depth you may also want to consider using some glass with the West System. Without something to scale it against for size I can't really tell, but I think in this case I might default to the West System. Good Luck.
Full Sails & Calm Seas

Chris Schnell
s/v MADNESS III CD30 #235
Southport, NC

[charlie palumbo]

I have a couple of spots (one on the hull, one on the rudder) on my Ty where the outer layer (gelcoat?) has cracked severely enough to flake off, creating a "hole" in that layer. See the picture link at the bottom to get a better idea.

Is this the gelcoat cracking off? It is thin and brittle, maybe 1/16th of an inch thick.

I have Don Casey's "This Old Boat" and he addresses repairing gouged or cracked gelcoat, but he doesn't seem to exactly address my problem.

One approach he suggests for deep gouges is filling the areas with Marine-Tex, and painting.

This seems pretty straight-forward to me, but will it work on an area this large? Would just filling with gelcoat putty work? Is there a more effective solution?

Any advice you have is greatly appreciated.

Ron,
From the photo, it appears that there are several layers of paint on your bottom. The peeling area looks like paint peeling off. This will happen to paint if layer upon layer is annually applied...sooner or later it gets old and brittle and begins to flake off. At that point you have no choice but to take all the paint off to the bare glass. Determine if indeed the peeling off section is paint...use a scraperbnext to that area and gently peel off a small adjoining piece.
If it is just paint sand the entire bottom down with 80 or possibly 60 grit.Use a dual orbiter sander with stick on discs, do not sit on one area long, keep moving. After you have done that clean the hull with some fiberglass cleaner solvent. I would fill any cracks or deep gouges with 406 west system....wet sand with 80 grit the next day...wipe again with solvent.If you decide to undercoat....your looking at 4 to 6 coats of epoxy. If not, I Would put one thinned coat of bottompaint...trinidad works well. It is a lot of work, but if you take the time to do it right, your bottom will be in good shape for many years to come. Good luck...........Charlie



jcp1347@gateway.net

[Ken Coit]

Looks like flaking bottom paint to me. If the rest is solid you ought to be able to sand it down, fair the flaked area, and repaint. I wouldn't fill with marine tex if there is no damamge to the gel coat. You would just be adding a bump to a smooth hull and that will have to be removed when you take the paint down to the bare hull. Scrape or chip another piece off and see what it really is, paint or gel coat.

Ken
CD/36 Parfait
Raleigh, NC

dittoes to chris' reply.

Ron...from what I can see in the picture this is a rather large area that still has to be cut back further (apparent cracks propogating out), filled, feathered, and then bottom painted. I've used MarineTex with great success on some small repairs on the rudder of my old CD25 and am a firm believer in the fixes described in this old boat. I've also used West System with tremendous success as well. If this hole is big enough in width and depth you may also want to consider using some glass with the West System. Without something to scale it against for size I can't really tell, but I think in this case I might default to the West System. Good Luck.
Full Sails & Calm Seas

Chris Schnell
s/v MADNESS III CD30 #235
Southport, NC

parfait@nc.rr.com