Hull Damage Repair Advice

[gstanek]

Hello, I'm a new boater this summer with minimal boating and boat repair experience, and have just taken my 2006 195 Sea Ray Sport out a few times (purchased used this spring). Unfortunately, during the last trip out we hit something that caused what appears to be minor damage to the hull of the boat below the waterline.

I'd like to gauge what folks think the severity of the damage is. It does appear the damage goes down to what appears to be fiberglass, but does not fully penetrate the fiberglass. Based on the photos, does this look like something that needs to be fixed prior to putting the boat back in the water, asap, or can repair wait all the way until the boat is tucked away for the winter season?

Thanks in advance

 

[Redtruck12]

I'm somewhat new too BUT would say YES definitely needs to be properly repaired before it gets back on the water!

 

[chevymaher]

It don't look like it hurt the glass just chipped off the gel coat. Me I would get a gel coat repair kit. Lightly grind taper the edge. So the new gel coat gets a good surface to bite on. It may not be a perfect color match but it would be repaired in a couple hours.

Use a bondo squeegie to apply it sand and buff. You would never know it was there unless you were looking for it.

 

[Woodonglass]

I'd use some PC-11 or Marinetex on it. 15 min. repair and would be almost invisible. Clean the area well with acetone and then use a plastic putty knife to fill and smooth. Sand smooth starting with 80 grit and finish with 220 wet sanding.

 

[gstanek]

Thanks all. I'll look to repair it myself then per your recommendations before I drop her back in the water.

 

[tpenfield]

Gelcoat patch kit would do the trick.

Severity = low

Difficulty to fix = low

Best to fix before you go boating again.

 

[Fcdave]

Ya, like others said....repair it before splashing it again ! ....... poly resins in the glass are not waterproof and going all season without the gelcoat cover will further degrade the structural glass and make for a more extensive repair later. Thats a pretty deep and large chunk of gelcoat missing....you will need to build the thickness in multiple coats for best results.

 

[Woodonglass]

Yeah well, after further ENLARGED inspection...That's a nasty gouge with exposed fibers. I retract my previous statement and now advise that you should do a full scale gouge repair. Grind/Sand the area 3-5 inches feathering towards the center. Since this is on the corner you need to feather both sides. Clean well with acetone and then Coat the exposed glass fibers with resin and then do a layup of progressively larger patches of 1.5 oz CSM and alternate layers of 1708 until the gouge is filled almost level with the surface. Finish off with a couple layers of CSM and do the final sanding and fairing prior to the final coats of Gelcoat. Sounds like a lot of work but...actually all can be done in a couple of hours.