Hurricane Michell got my typhoon, need help on fiberglass

[Dan Riley]

I need to know how and what to repair a crack in the hull with, can i put a patch on the outside and inside and call it a day?

[mike]

Simply, No! If it's a big hole, you'll need to bevel the edges at about a 12:1 ratio. Then using a mix of cloth and roving build the patch with epoxy. If you match the curvature of the hull with styrofoam, and use wax paper as a release agent you'll get a finish that is probably better than the rest of your hull. Just make sure you have some type of backplating while the epoxy dries. West Sytem has an excellent book about this. Their web site is good. And they will even answer questions over the phone. Good Luck.



mwankum@tribune.com

[Robert]

Don Casey's book Sailboat Hull & Deck Repair covers this type of repair and many others and I think it would be an excellent addition to anyone's basic sailboat reference library. All of Casey's books have been well received and are widely available. Good luck.

Robert
s/v Zephyr CD 28 #230