drilled holes thru my boat!

[theraider41]

Just bought a 2005 boat. Came home and even though I cant fish for 2 months I was in a hurry to get it ready. I started by drilling holes completely thru my hull while mounting a rod holder in the bow storage locker. Now I have 3 drill holes all the way thru the hull and several chips in the gelcoat where I didn't break all the way thru. I've been reading some posts and plan on using Marine Tex to fill the holes from the outside. Will that work or do I need to cut out carpet in rod locker and put some fiberglass cloth on the inside. Any advise would be great, I need to fix it because I cant stop thinking about it.

 

[alumi numb]

Re: drilled holes thru my boat!

Just bought a 2005 boat. Came home and even though I cant fish for 2 months I was in a hurry to get it ready. I started by drilling holes completely thru my hull while mounting a rod holder in the bow storage locker. Now I have 3 drill holes all the way thru the hull and several chips in the gelcoat where I didn't break all the way thru. I've been reading some posts and plan on using Marine Tex to fill the holes from the outside. Will that work or do I need to cut out carpet in rod locker and put some fiberglass cloth on the inside. Any advise would be great, I need to fix it because I cant stop thinking about it.

how wide of an area?
would keel shield or MegaWare keel guard hide it.
keel guard is 5" wide protective overlay about any length you want.
then again you could custom make your own width.
5" down the middle then split a section and put half on each side for a 10" covering.
something like that.

 

[theraider41]

Re: drilled holes thru my boat!

Thanks for the thought but the holes are not close enough to the keel. They are fairly far apart also.

 

[Al Bee]

Re: drilled holes thru my boat!

I may have a solution for you and your holes... I work in the autobody industry, and we use a product from 3M that is made for SMC repairs, but works on Fibreglass as well. I have used it for years, and the product performs quite well and is relatively easy to use. I would suggest a "V" on the inside and the out side of the hole, and then put aluminum tape on the inside and then fill up the hole with THIS Scroll down to the 4th page, the Duramix SMC repair product is 4186. Hope this helps.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: drilled holes thru my boat!

Where on the hull are these holes, are they in a place where they will be seen, meaning the repair needs to blend in and match, or are they out of sight and just need to be made water tight?

 

[theraider41]

Re: drilled holes thru my boat!

they need to be water tight. Cosmetics is not a big issue however as I said this boat is new to me so I dont want it to be an eye sore.

 

[Mark42]

Re: drilled holes thru my boat!

You didn't say the size of the holes, but assuming they are from a 1/4" drill or so, take a 1/2" drill and chamfer the holes from the OUTSIDE of the the boat. Put masking tape over the hole before chamfering. It will help reduce any further gel coat chipping and let you sand without messing up the surrounding area. If possable, put tape over the hole from the inside. Then fill the chamfered holes with Marine Tex. If its too thin, it can be thickened by adding some plain old wheat flour. Smooth and let harden, sand and add second coat of marine tex if needed.

If the hole is above the water line, I think the marine grade epoxy available at the hardware store in the double plunger dispenser will work just fine too.

Its important to chamfer the holes for two reasons: 1) it gives a larger mating surface for the epoxy to stick to. 2) once hardened, it can't be pushed through the hole to the inside.

I have used this method to fill holes on my MFG Niagara back in 2003, and they are still holding up fine.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: drilled holes thru my boat!

Good thing it wasn't a saw-zall!
If the holes are above the waterline just make it a thru hull mount with stainless hardaware. Use sealer and some pretty finishing washers on the outside.

 

[Robj]

Re: drilled holes thru my boat!

You should post pictures of this. If this was my boat, being that it is only 4 years old, I would do a better repair than using Marine Tex. I would be more inclined to do a proper patch with fibreglass or epoxy. If the repair is poorly done, it will cost you much more in the long run.

Have a great day,

Rob.