Gel coat gouge in keel

B

bayite

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Aug 11, 2013
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I am new again to the boating world after a 15yr abscence so I am learning the lake again, the hard way. I was out the other day and at very low speed I ran my 20foot Glastron on some submerged rocks. I took out a gouge in my keel gelcoat right down to the fiberglass. The gouge is about 2" wide and 4" long what are my repair options. I have been reading different views on the gelcoat repair kits and they seem to be mixed. Will a gelcoat color matched repair kit do the job for me. The gouge did not penetrate the hull so can I still use the boat.

Anxiously waiting for some good quick repair hints.( before my wife finds out )
 
Texasmark

Texasmark

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Re: Gel coat gouge in keel

I had a Caravelle and the same thing happened. Contacted Caravelle with the boat SN and got a 2 part gel coat kit. Matched perfectly. Look in the restoration area for how to work with it.

Mark
 
tpenfield

tpenfield

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Re: Gel coat gouge in keel

You could do a bit of searching and get the right color match, or just get a half pint of white and a color matching kit and come close. Since it is on the keel, who is going to notice a slight mis-match.
 
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Chris1956

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Re: Gel coat gouge in keel

You don't want the fiberglass to absorb water. Get the fix done soonest. Grind the glass back until it is clean and dry. Wipe it with Acetone. Now it you removed any cloth, you need to replace it with new cloth. Lastly is gelcoat. Remember gelcoat will not harden in contact with air. It must be covered.
 
Texasmark

Texasmark

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Re: Gel coat gouge in keel

Chris1956 said:
You don't want the fiberglass to absorb water. Get the fix done soonest. Grind the glass back until it is clean and dry. Wipe it with Acetone. Now it you removed any cloth, you need to replace it with new cloth. Lastly is gelcoat. Remember gelcoat will not harden in contact with air. It must be covered.
Click to expand...

Man you and I are on two different sheets of music. I had a skin such as his as I said, it cut the JC off down to the FG matt around the forward keel area on a deep V tri hull. I had the boat out of the water for about a week, in the summer in TX. waiting for supplies. Cleaned the parts with a spray chemical cleaner, roughed up the GC around the gouge with some fine sand paper, mixed the JC and spread it with a putty knife. Came back with several grits of sand paper on a block of wood and polished to finish it out. Never had a problem.

So what's all the fuss?

Mark
 
S

salty87

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Aug 12, 2003
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Re: Gel coat gouge in keel

how old is the boat? where on the keel?

white marine tex is great stuff.
 
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Chris1956

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Re: Gel coat gouge in keel

Mark, If the cloth is exposed, it can absorb water. it can even allow water into the wood framing of the boat, and that is really bad. If the cloth is not exposed, a gel cote patch is fine. The type of fix depends on how deep the gouge is, and I don't know that answer.
 
B

bayite

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Re: Gel coat gouge in keel

Hey guys thanks for all the replies to my thread. The gouge has not exposed any fiberglass threads it just peeled of the gel coat. So I will try the Match and patch gel coat kit and cross my fingers. I researched a bit and the kits come with all the necessary materials to get it down right and quick.

Thanks again and Mark I was exploring an old river entrance that used to have enough water to cover all the rocks so as I said I am not new to boating just haven't been on the water in 15yrs or so.
 
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