Hole-y cow

[Gybson]

I have a 19' cuddy cabin boat in which we're replacing the floor. We've gotten all the old foam and decking out (stringers and transom in surprisingly perfect shape, drilled to verify), but some idiot (me) buzzed a 2"x1/8" (slot shaped) hole through the hull near the beam with a cutting wheel. Accidentally went too far when it went from glass on wood to just glass. I'm not that great at fiberglassing, but I'm assuming it can be buttered up and patched with some glass cloth (or CSM?) and maybe some gel coat on the outside.

I found some other posts about covering it with masking tape, filling with PButter, letting it cure and glassing over it from the inside.

I've also read that epoxy glass works better for patch work because it adheres to polyester glass better once it's cured. I have some polyester glassing supplies, but no epoxy. Rather than buying a bunch of epoxy and whatnot, I was wondering if there was a recommendation for some good kits to do it. I plan on doing the new deck with polyester, but since this is hull repair below the water line I want the repair to be as strong as possible. It's interesting, the hull there is literally only about 1/4" thick glass, no other structure, so I wouldn't need that much material...

And I'm rambling, sorry, any suggestions or tutorials would be great, thanks!

 

[greenbush future]

Re: Hole-y cow

I bet using the same type of material that the boat was built with would work, and you mentioned you have this already? With pictures you will get great advice. My guess is you will repair from inside and out, not just fill and fair either. But this isn't hard if the floor is out.

 

[sphelps]

Re: Hole-y cow

Well you pretty much ruined your hull now .. Gunna have to take it to the dump ..

Just kidding ! Post some pics of the carnage and the guys here can talk ya through the repairs no problem .

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Hole-y cow

And don't forget that polyester resin & gelcoat won't adhere very well to epoxy. So if you fill w/ epoxy, you'll need to finish the interior & exterior repairs with epoxy, then paint the lower hull to protect the epoxy, it's not UV stable.

If you fill the slice w/ polyester resin putty (PB) you can use poly resin & cloth/CSM on both sides of the repair, fill & fair the exterior hull, and then touch up with gelcoat.

Welcome to the club. It's not 'official' until you accidentally cut thru the hull.

 

[Gybson]

Re: Hole-y cow

Thanks guys!

Here you go:

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Hole-y cow

Tape it on the outside grind the inside and then fill the cut with some PB . Then lay a layer of 1.5 ounce CSM and a layer of 1708 biaxial then on the outside grind it down just a bit and then lay a couple layers of CSM then get a PreVal sprayer and spray 3-4 coats of Gelcoat. Use poly for everything