thirdchildhood

iTrader: (6)

Look at pic 2, first post and squint a little..........

I'm at work and a customer said "is that what I think it is" lol

gellis11

If it was that, I would not need any help from this forum.

Keith Atlanta

Cant he just hit the inside with a disk and then fill the whole thing with a good epoxy with glass reinforcement then cleanup the outside with a couple heavy coats of glass and sand? I would assume it would be better than factory and last thru another 15 years of beaching.

Gellis - for what its worth you might think about this for your next boat.

gellis11

Now That's Funny! I was thinking about putting some resin in the hole and laying some glass over it to build the keel back up and doing the same from the inside. Sand it and Gel it to make it look good. After thirdchildhood's comments everything sounded kinky.

Griff

I would say the first thing you need to do is make sure that the hole is an air pocket in the lay up and is not letting water in. Fill the front area with water from the inside with the boat pointing down hill and see if any water comes out the hole.

c_deezy

iTrader: (1)

If it is indeed a lay up void, I would just grind out the bubble on the outside and build it back up with CSM to fill the void. After that shape it to match the hull/keel profile and re-gel.

Then on the inside maybe add a couple layers of biax or woven roving since that looks like what the original layup was, to tie it into the surrounding area.

It may not be the 'correct' way to fix it, but for a 24 year old boat, I'm sure it will last plenty long. Especially if you were already running the boat the way it currently is.

glassdave

iTrader: (1)

Yep, looks pretty basic. I might do the outside first in vinylester and gelcoat. Then after plenty of cure time rough up the inside and level out the area a bit but use an epoxy with a matless 18oz bi-ax cloth. Not really necessary to switch to an epoxy for the inside but i like the added strength in an area like this where the surface and integrity has been compromised. You could use the vinylester inside as well if ya want though.

gellis11

Where is the best place to get the stuff I need? Is there a Temperature restriction for cure time and setup? Is there a need to put any glass on the exposed fiber on the outside of the keel?

tcelano

You can get the materials through US Composites, or find a local composite supplier.

I like Glassdave's idea of doing the outside first. I was thinking you might first cut out the inside back to decent glass, scarf the edges, then make a rudimenatry mold from a piece of thin polyelthlene, bend it to follow the keel, and tape it in place. Do the layup from the inside, using bigger and bigger pieces of glass to follow the scarf.

You might let the first laminate cure before going onto the rest, to really give you something to hold some pressure so that you can work the air out of the rest of the stack.

I think this method would work out better than trying to work under the boat, as it puts gravity on your side, and will keep you from fighting with it. Epoxy, unlike polyester, isn't that "sticky" when it's being worked, which I think is a good thing. I can't vouch for vinlyester, as I haven't done anything with it, but I imagine it works more like epoxy, and might be a tough go working upsidedown.

thirdchildhood

iTrader: (6)

Listen to GD.