Repair small hole bottom of 7' fibreglass dinghy?

[hoisgo]

Hello,
I bought a 7' fibreglass dinghy last year for my daughters as we live in a watermill built over a shallow river in the UK. Unfortunately when we lowered the dinghy last time into the river it landed on a rock and puncutured a clean hole straight through the bottom the size of a champagne cork. I know nothing about boats and have tried to research on what to buy to repair this, I'm looking for the most simple solution and have only picked up epoxy resin seems to be the way? There are so many conflicting ideas on what to use and how to do it, I would ideally like to buy a complete kit with instructions, can anybody please give me some advice and suggestions what to buy.
Would be very grateful, keen for the girls to get some use over the summer hols , many thanks.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Repair small hole bottom of 7' fibreglass dinghy?

Welcome to iboats.

The hole is in the bottom of the boat? Fiberglass cloth and epoxy (or polyester resins) will work fine. It is best to repair the hole from both sides.

Dry it out.
Grind away so you have a tapered edge about 3" past the hole.
Make your first patch about 1" larger then the hole and the ned one a touch larger and the third should match the area you have ground away. Do that on both sides which will not take long. Your girls should be without the boat for 24 hrs

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Repair small hole bottom of 7' fibreglass dinghy?

Welcome to iBoats!

This will show you HOW easy it is to do
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsoKAHU5xUw&feature=related

Good Luck

 

[drewpster]

Re: Repair small hole bottom of 7' fibreglass dinghy?

hoisgo,

That is a great video of the process using polyester resin. The process is a little different when using epoxy. Epoxy has a higher bond strength and Mat is not normally used with it. You can also run into problems bonding gelcoat to epoxy. If the dingy is painted, epoxy is ideal for your repair. If the girl's dingy is gelcoated only, you may want to use polyester resin if you intend to finish the repair completely. (match gelcoat color, and make it look like the repair is not there) Either way, paint or gelcoat, you need to protect the repair with some sort of finish. Uncovered resin will break down in UV light.
Let us know what resin you intend to use, and I am sure one of us will provide specifics.

enjoy
drewp

 

[Mark42]

Re: Repair small hole bottom of 7' fibreglass dinghy?

I second the vote to fix it with poly resin rather than epoxy. After doing the repairs and all is sanded smooth, plain old oil base paint can be used for a touch up. Or go ahead and try gel coat.

BTW, I lived in London for a while, and in Surrey. Very enjoyable experience.

Best of luck.

Mark

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Repair small hole bottom of 7' fibreglass dinghy?

Hello m8s..

Dont trust everything you see on YouT...

I would not recomend this kind of repair IMO.

Resin is your choice but both will work. Inside and outside lams are needed..

YD.