Oh-oh! My big little problem
 

Attachment 5327
So while waiting to get my interior back, I decided I would go ahead and tackle fixing the spots on the bottom side that were chiped of chipping/cracking from the crappy repairs done previously. The underside of my boat is not ready from the previous owner, a lot of scratches. The marina I bought it from fixed any larger chips or any place showing fiberglass. It wasn't anything major when I bought it. Nothing structural, I wasn't really concerned, although I probably should have been. So as I started chipping away one spot that I felt was filled pretty bad, I noticed water seeping out from the crack around it. So I kept digging and eventually got out the dremel and this is what I ended up with. This is directly under the floor of my ski locker about 8 inches up from the center line of the hull. As deep as it is, I am pretty sure the inside of the boat isn't much further. I am assuming from the looks of it that they jabbed something into the underside of the boat. More than likely cracking or splintering the fiberglass on the inside. I really don't feel like cutting the floor out of my ski locker so here's my solution: I plan on drilling some holes and injecting epoxy to the inside of the boat 2 theoretically coat the top side where it is possibly splintered then use resin and mat to fill/build up the hole/gouge and then top it with marine tex. After cleaning it out and hitting it w compessed air, the water seems to have dried. I am going to watch it for a day or so to make sure. I definately won't attempt any repair if there is water present. What do you guys think? The entire gouge is about 4-6" long.

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Re: Oh-oh! My big little problem
 

I'd be calling a reputable fiberglass shop and seeing what they say. That's something I personally wouldn't feel comfortable doing but that's just me. Plus I would want the gel coat matched as close as possible.

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Re: Oh-oh! My big little problem
 

If you saw the bottom of my boat you wouldn't be worried about the gel coat matching exactly lol

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Re: Oh-oh! My big little problem
 

I used Marine Tex on a few gouges in my old boat hull that were at least that big , if not bigger.
It is easy to work with and the white should be close to the hull color on your boat.

Here is the process ga. :)

GELCOAT REPAIRS

Re: Oh-oh! My big little problem
 

I talked to the guy at West Marine today. He agreed with my idea of injecting epoxy through the hull to the inside to seal it on the inside surface. That I will follow the repair process to fill the hole and finish it off with the marine Tex. I love that stuff!

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Re: Oh-oh! My big little problem
 

Against my better wishes, I will be drilling some holes and pumping epoxy through to the inside of the hull tonight in preparation for outside hull repair on Friday. I think I have settled on using marine tex for the top coat and other surface patches due to its ease of use and the pain of using gel coat upside down.
Wish me luck, here goes nothin...

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Re: Oh-oh! My big little problem
 

Well that did not go as planned. I got about half the tube of epoxy in when the bottom piece in the tube and/or my caulk gun broke. I hope what epoxy got in there got mixed correctly. I am thinking the gflex may have been a better choice. When this stuff cures, I can always drill a few more small holes and squirt some of it in there it is much more runny and may seep into any cracks that are left. Not real happy about the whole thing right now...

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Re: Oh-oh! My big little problem
 

This is just an update, sorry I didn't post one earlier. The repair ended up going extremely well. I got all the supplies from West Marine in a kit. Plus the thickened epoxy. I filled it, sand it down,, cleared it buffed it out good. You'd never know where I fixed it. I can't even tell. I also used marine text on the other spots that I dug/chipped out. The marinetex wet sands and buffs out unbelievably well and looks exactly like the hull. So far this year my boat takes on no water unless we bring it in with us from swimming. I have taken the plug out and no drainage if we haven't been swimming. I cannot believe those little spots were forcing so much water inside the boat. Here is a picture of the repaired area.Attachment 5543

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Re: Oh-oh! My big little problem
 

Looks like factory! Good for you taking that repair on! :wink_thumbup:

Re: Oh-oh! My big little problem
 

Wow, that looks great!


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