That sounds like the best way to fix it.I'd start with fiberglass to get the repair going and a solid fill for the hole. Then I'd finish the surface off with a layer of marine gelcoat, (marine resin in a tube with some matching coloring mixed in with the hardner). Sand it out smooth and you're done.
Rob B said:I don't like the West products. I've not had success with them and thought they were difficult to work with.
Merrily said:What do you use then? I've been using it to coat wood before the spar varnish goes on, and I keep getting an orange peel effect. I'm wondering if I'm putting it on too thick or if it's something else.
Tempting. I'm getting tired of not being able to sail the laser. But, I think I'llGiven the size of the hole, you could probably just fill it up with
any old gunk and go sailing...(heck, duct-tape might even work!)
I am with you. vtgent49's suggestion of including a patch piece of deck isIf it were on my boat, I would probably fill in the hole and put a
couple of layers of glass over it. Nothing fancy, just a basic fiberglass hole repair.
That makes sense. You probably got some "real" gelcoat (the stuff designed to be sprayed into a mold as opposed to the stuff for repairs). I just checked the West Marine catalog (no recomendation, I just knew their URL...) and noticed that they sell both kinds of gelcoat ("Non-waxed" and "Waxed") - you learn something new everyday...jimmy said:The gel coat I used would not cure in the air. That is why I used the wax paper. This is probably why I had to wait a week for the gel coat to cure.
GeoffS said:Wax paper is a good idea, but the usual way to seal out oxygen is to spray a thin layer of PVA over the surface (no need for fancy spray-guns, a hand spray-bottle works OK). PVA is water soluble, so it washes right off when the gelcoat has cured.
Merrily said:What is PVA and where do I buy some?