keel is spongy

ylojelo

ylojelo

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hulldamage.jpg

This boat ('73) has been in the garage for most of a year and has yet to see water with me. I installed an inspection port a month or so ago. It was damp inside and is drying, and I haven't yet done a leak test. When I turned it on its side, this part of the keel was wet and soft. I can't see through it, but i believe water soaked from the inside out. Once its dry, can I fill this damaged area with West System Epoxy? If I didn't care what it looked like, would I need to paint it? Or better yet, is there a UV stable epoxy, since the paint would get scraped off anyway?

Thanks.
J.
 
this part of the keel was wet and soft
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Are we seeing just the white gelcoat scraped away or has the keel been gouged out and some of the structural fiberglass layers have been destroyed?


is there a UV stable epoxy
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One of the WEST hardeners, the one commonly used for Transparent Epoxy laminate over wood, has a little UV inhibitor added, but their application guide still recommends a paint or marine varnish top coat.
 

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Thanks Wayne.

Not gouged, but worn away from being dragged onto a gravel beach. (The same gravel beach I'll be landing on.) The edge of the keel is gone, so more than just the gel coat.

So, epoxy and varnish? I was about to put in an order to APS, but their selection of epoxy is limited.
 
I can't see in your picture just how deep it's been worn away. The softness could be because it's worn thin and simply flexible or it could be from water getting into damaged fiberglass layers creating a delamination problem.

Delamination requires the area be sanded back to sound fiberglass and built back using glass cloth and the resin of your choice (polyester or epoxy). Worn thin would also need building up, but probably not as much enlarging of the area to find good material to adhere to.

Either way, it's sounds like it will need more structural reinforcement (the weave of glass fibers) than just resin mixed with a little filler. Pick up a book on fiberglass boat repair. That will give you the details for a number of different damage scenarios.

I'd use paint or gelcoat as a topcoat. The cost will be about the same as varnish and it will be tougher and look better.

I recommend you get yourself a dolly to transport the boat to and from the water and avoid future damage.

Jamestown distributers or West Marine will have a wider selection of repair materials.
 
Looks like the fiberglass has been scraped away until just a thin layer is left. Going to need to lay some new fiberglass. The tub is under the hole so you will be working on a blind hole. Here's how I do it. Drill a quarter size hole and inject 2 part expanding foam. After the foam hardens use Dremil tool to remove the damaged fiberglass. The foam will now be your backing shape for the new fiberglass. Refer to fiberglass "How To" book from here on. You'll need to build up fiberglass mat to the original thickness of the hull before you can apply the final layer of cloth.
 
It looks like you are right through the fiberglass and into the foam.

The good news it this is easier to do that repair than a flat surface, in my opinion. In a flat area repair you have to be sure to get enough material in a concave fill so that you can sand it flat without worrying about sanding it too thin or even sanding through it. Beveling the old material is much more critical.

A curved surface tends to have more material already there, and plenty of mechanical strength due it's shape.

A few layers of fiberglass will fix it. If you want to be real fancy, you can put a layer of kevlar down, and then a layer of glass on top of that. Kevlar is very tough stuff. You can drag kevlar over rocks and it won't fail on you. But it is hard to work with. The reason for that is the kevlar fibers will stand proud and make it difficult to sand--sort of fuzzy looking. It is a fairing nightmare--hence put a then layer of glass on top to seal it.

I just did a repair like yours. It was not all the way though. I used three layer of glass cloth and I'm counting on the thick gelcoat application on top to take any future damage. If feels solid as a rock. Better than new.

The common way to do these repairs with fiberglass is to start with mat, then a layer of cloth, then mat, then cloth. The idea being it helps you see how much material you are grinding off when you shape it. The random mat also provides for the best adhesion to existing material. As for me, I use whatever I happen to have for small repairs. If you use nothing but cloth, change the angles of the weave so you can see the different layers more obviously when you are grinding it into shape later.

If the glass is worn all the way through, I'd recommend stitched mat for the repair. That has 3-4 layers sewn together, mat, cloth, mat and roving. One piece will be all you need if you wet it real well and get all the air bubbles out. Be sure it is totally wet--and don't expect it to be easy to wet out--if it looks white, anywhere, it is not wet!

After glassing it, use some super easy to mix and sand epoxy filler like West 410 to make it smooth. And you will be ready for gelcoat or paint. For a compound curve like you have around the keel, hand sanding 410 is a breeze. Use the wrong filler and it becomes a nightmare.
 
It felt like layers of fiberglass, so maybe not all the way through. I'll be near a west marine next weekend so Ill be picking up a few things. Thanks for your help, I'll let you know how it goes.
 
ylojelo said:
It felt like layers of fiberglass, so maybe not all the way through. I'll be near a west marine next weekend so Ill be picking up a few things. Thanks for your help, I'll let you know how it goes.
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Do you know what tools you need?

I use these:

A 4.5" grinder with a sanding disk or 30 grit disks doubled up. Careful those disks can fly off. Heavy gloves, and full clothing is what you need for protection. Bare skin only when you know what you are doing and hose off often. For example I don't use long sleeves when I'm grinding gelcoat. If I'm grinding a lot of glass, I cover up everything.

Breathing mask with lots of spare filters

Eye protection

A 6" random orbital sander and 80 grit

Cordless drill and bits

A long board and sandpaper

Plastic squeegies

Mixing and measuring cups, and plastic mixing sticks (anything plastic can be reused--just break off the hardened epoxy

Syringes to fill air pockets

Wax Paper--lots of this.

Epoxy and hardener and various fillers--you want at least two 403 and 410

Solvent--something to both wipe down the fiberglass and for clean up

lots of cheap paint brushes 1" and 2.5"

Blue painters tape

Latex gloves--boxes and boxes of these

A dremel tool is not a bad idea too.
 
ylojelo said:
It felt like layers of fiberglass, so maybe not all the way through. I'll be near a west marine next weekend so Ill be picking up a few things. Thanks for your help, I'll let you know how it goes.
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Remember though, besides whether or not fiberglass is there, you have to see if the fiberglass is good and how much there is. You'll need to sand back the paint/gelcoat until you get to good fiberglass.

This seemingly harmless hole not much bigger than a pen:
Hole

Actually had this much damage:
Damage Removed

It was roughly the length and width of a forearm.


Here it is after I sanded back the gelcoat.

sanded

The yellow color is delaminated/damaged fiberglass. The grey is the good fiberglass. You may have more damage than you can see until you start sanding.
 
The west marine 101 epoxy repair pack did the trick. I used the whole piece (2"x8"?) of cloth that came with it and stuck it down. Next is gelcoat for the UV. It wasn't as bad as I remembered and a friend who has worked on boats before actually did it.
 
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