Hole Repair With No Deck Access?

[dpatterson]

Greetings,

Newbie here and I wanted to throw something out there and see what you guys would do in this situation.
Firstly let me mention that I'm quite familiar with fiberglass construction & repair.

My wife forced me to purchase a used boat for her. It's a cat hull style deck boat and long story short the previous owner tried to put it on a trailer with rollers and punched a hole though the bottom. :facepalm:

I do not believe the area would actually sit in the water because it's between the two V hulls.

Typically I wouldn't even ask for advise how how to go about this but the issue is that I have no access to this hole from the deck and the gas tank sits right above it with about 3/4 inch clearance.

My thought was to get some thing marine ply. Resin it well to seal it and try and get it up in the hole possibly using 3M 5200 to attach it to the floor. This would be used only as a backing plate so I can begin my repair.

If you had no access from the inside how would you go about this repair.

Again, I'm pretty good with fiberglass but I've never been faced with not having access to both sides of the working area below the water line.
__________________
2013 Chaparral Xtream 244
99' Cape Horn 17.5
96' Bayliner Rendezvous 23.6
95 Bayliner Jazz 14

 

[Georgesalmon]

Re: Hole Repair With No Deck Access?

Your idea is good, just don't use 5200 to hold the piece in place. It will take a week to dry and resin won't stick to it. Just get something up in the hole as a backer. Heck, even a piece of cardboard will work. Resin it and use a string tied to a rock to hold it down until the resin gets hard. Then grind a 12:1 scarf around the edges of the hole (grind the scarf first) and put layers of CSM on it until almost flush then a layer or two of cloth, 1708, WR, etc. for the last layers. Grind it nice and flush and a couple layers of gelcoat, wet sand and done. The cardboard will turn to mush in a short time, but who cares?

 

[Bomber Goober]

Re: Hole Repair With No Deck Access?

It also might be helpful to PM Woodonglass, He has posted a diagram with instructions for doing exactly this. I searched around for it but can't remember where I last saw him post it.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Hole Repair With No Deck Access?

Here's an illustration of what George was saying.

I use wax paper and a Layer of CSM, 1708 and another layer of csm and another of 1708 to make my backer plate. Once it cures. I cut it to fit about 1" bigger all around drill a 1/8" hole in the middle put some string in the hole then flex the backer so I can stuff it in the hole. I try and sand the back side as best I can using sand paper and my fingers then wipe it down with acetone. Mix up some Thickened resin in goop in in on the back side then pull the patch in place and use a putty knife to smooth it all in place. Twenty minutes it'll be set up enuf to walk away Next day I cut the string and then do the normal grind down and patch. Works Great!!!

 

[Georgesalmon]

Re: Hole Repair With No Deck Access?

Seems like every time I say something Woody backs it up with an easy to understand drawing. I guess all I can say is,,,,,,,,,,THANKS. I'm kinda illeterate with computer stuff, and spelling.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Hole Repair With No Deck Access?

Yea .. I have done 2 repairs like this .. and to this day I regret that.

Now One of the 2 repairs I still feel is sound when I did it .. but the other one was one to save my job .. I dont like it.

If you have a through repair then the Only way to fix it is from the Inside AND Outside... I know it cost more to remove things and to get access .. but it is the ONLY way to Insure a Proper repair.

I will NEVER do an inside Job from the outside. .. NeVER ! .. Nor would I recommend it again.

Its just NOT Right.

Sorry but Morales have play ..

Good luck on your repair mate .. get to the inside..

YD.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Hole Repair With No Deck Access?

Based on your description of where this hole is located, that it will probably NOT be below water level and not be susceptible to a lot of banging and thumping I'm very confident that the repair methods described for you to follow are more than adequate for you to have total success with. YD is a PRO and has liability and other issues to consider in his answers. For a DIY'r this repair method will yield very good results IF you take care with sanding and cleaning the interior as best as you can gain access to it. Even it you have to cut it open a bit larger it won't significantly affect the strength our outcome of the final repair. Just make sure to get plenty of the thickened resin on the backer patch and a 2-3 inch overlap.