Oops, cut a huge hole in my hull! (pics)

[swire]

I'm so glad I went with a project boat for my first boat. If I had bought something really expensive and done this I probably would have been really upset, but in this case when I saw what I did I just started laughing.<br /><br />I bought this 1972 15' Larson tri-hull the other month and have been working on it ever since. The floor was soft and had a complete hole in one spot so I decided to replace the floor. I was using a sawzall to tear out the old floor when I came to a section where the wood turned into foam that was higher than the floor that I was tearing out. I wondered why this did this and almost posted a picture of it here to ask why it was that way. But I decided to keep on working because I wanted to get the old floor out. I tried every possible way of getting the foam out but it was very hard and dense, so I decided to cut under. I wasn't cutting any lower than the wood that I had been removing and had already pulled out several inches of foam behind where I was working so I thought I was safe...I thought wrong. I've got the boat patched now, so enjoy the pics.<br /><br />Pictures of hole and repairs<br /><br />

 

[swire]

Re: Oops, cut a huge hole in my hull! (pics)

I confident that the patch on the boat makes that area even stronger than it was originally. Luckily when I cut the hole the saw was at an angle so the piece that I cut out laid right back in place. The only problem was due to the pressure and twisting of the hull which caused one side of the piece not to line back up.<br /><br />The patch inside the boat consisted of 17oz biaxial cloth and epoxy resin. I sanded the entire area down to make it as smooth and level as possible. Then I put a 4" strip of cloth down follow by a 6" strip of cloth on two sides of the cut. I let that setup over night. I came back the next day and had to use some cement blocks to push part of the hull down to get the third side to line up. I put down a 4" strip and let that setup. The blocks helped but still didn't get the parts to line up perfect. I then sanded the entire area again to rough the previous patches back up. I put a 6" strip on the third cut and then came back and put one large piece over all three cuts. <br /><br />On the bottom side I used a 4" grinder and ground down the entire area. Since the hull didn't line back up I made filler to smooth out the surface. I mixed micro-ballons in with the epoxy. After filling in the entire area and letting it setup I came back and sanded everything to make it smooth. I put two layers of thin cloth on the outside of the hull just for some added strength and to provide a smooth finish. If I learned one thing that is making fiberglass repairs on the bottom of a boat really sucks. I wasted quite a bit of fiberglass cloth before I got it in the shape I needed and to stick to the boat. I ended up with epoxy resin all over including in my hair. After everything dried I sanded it down once again just to produce a smooth finish. I plan on painting the boat later this year so I just did a temporary paint job for right now. I used a can of epoxy appliance paint which is supposed to produce a very hard shell. <br /><br />Since I spent all floor money repairing the hole that I made, I ended up just putting in an uncoated piece of 1/2 BC plywood. Plus I want to make sure my patch holds and that there is nothing else that needs to be fixed before I fiberglass back in the floor.<br /><br />So far everything is holding well...now if the motor would just stay running.

 

[Catchem]

Re: Oops, cut a huge hole in my hull! (pics)

Well no harm done ,but valubale experiance gained.Looks real good and i dont think you will have a strength problem with it,but....hold your foot over the patch when driving it the first time.Lol.

 

[DJ]

Re: Oops, cut a huge hole in my hull! (pics)

You are not the ONLY one that has done that, or something similar. <br /><br />You just happen to be one of the few that will admit it.