Fibreglass damage .. IS it bad ?

[weekendfisher]

Hi All,

After coming back from my last fishing trip i noticed some damage to the side of my boat, it looks like something has hit it and chipped off the paint/gelcoat.

Can anyone give some advice as to how bad it is ?

It looks like the area has been previously reparied and over the new fibreglass they have used filler and then painted the hull.

I have been quoted about $600 to have the area sanded back refibreglassed and 2 coats of gelcoat applied to the repaired area.

Is it something that looks like it needs to be done right away or is it just a cosmetic issue i really don't want to be without the boat if i can help it.

Thanks

[Guest Aussie007]

the black/dark brown looks like rot mate a bodged previous repair, hard to say where the damage is is this under the sides where the stringer is?

[pjbink]

Does the area flex at all. Ie can you push it in by hand? If you can then you have a structural problem.

The proper way to do the repair if this is the case isto glass it up from the inside (and replace the wooden stringer(s) if rotten.

[weekendfisher]

Thanks Guys,

The area is bery solid there is no flex when pressure is applied.

I dont think there is a stringer in that area as it seems to be a hollow space.

When you say rot do you mean in the fibreglass itsself? is that from water getting to it ? might have to grind it back and see what i am dealing with.

Thanks

[Testlab]

Get it fixed as soon as possible. That area is under water and eventually water will penetrate and weaken the underlying fiberglass structure. There seems to be a lot of repairs around that area so something nasty happened in the past. $600 sounds reasonable although you could it yourself for a lot less if you have good handyman skills.

[fredflathead]

Weekend fisher,

Had the same problem in a 36yrs old Caribeen Crest Cutter. I have had it for 20years and the previous owner had used bogg to repair in the same area. I always would have about 3ltres of water coming out when I finished boating and I put it down to the age of the boat.

It became very severe with the boat on the last trip starting to fill up with water, I have an electric bilge pump so we were able to get to the ramp in time. What had happended was the bogg eventally fell out and there was a large split about 300mm long.

I repaired it myself by sanding back to the base and replacing with chopped strand then fibreglass matting and 2 coats of flow coat. I went about 250mm each side of the split. I had no rot or flex around the split.(I had made fibreglass canoes in the past).

Tools I used sander, old paint brushes, old plastic meat trays(for mixing the resin and flow coat), a metal roller (for rolling the chop stand and mat so the resin comes through).

Do not go to the large hardware store to buy the fibreglass it is dear, I went to a fibreglass repair place and bought the resin and flow coat at half the price.

The last trip not one drop of water.

regards norm