Small hole in hull, what do I do?

[FishBlitz]

I noticed a soft spot about the size of a penny on the edge of my boat where some fiberglass was missing and wood was exposed. I took a razor blade to it and cut the wet wood off it and actually went into my hull where I can feel the foam. I'm not sure how much water is in there, if any is. What's the best way to get any water out that's inside the hull? The foam inside is closed cell so it would repel the water. I plan on using the dynaglass to patch my hole, it won't look too pretty because I have no access from the inside. Was just going to slap it on there. I have a 15ft fiberglass hightide. Any tips on how to approach this repair is greatly appreciated.

 

[tpenfield]

Can you post some pictures as that always helps with responses. Is this 'hole' on the outside of the hull, or inside on part of the structure?

Foam repels water for a certain amount of time (years), but eventually can become saturated. Winter temperatures promote the saturation as the freezing of any water trapped between the cells in the foam tends to break the cells, allowing more water to populate the foam.

So, start with some pictures and maybe check out some of the restoration threads here on the forum.

 

[Grub54891]

Closed cell foam will absorb water as stated. It will not dry out. I removed all the foam from mine during my restoration...in progress yet. Yesterday I removed the foam from the bow area,been in heated shop for 2 years. Still wet! You can drill test holes from the inside in that area and check for water in the foam,just be careful not to drill through the hull,and be sure to seal it back up.

 

[FishBlitz]

No Title

 

[jbcurt00]

sorry FB, no pix attached

Try using the camera icon in the top left corner of a reply window. Or use Photobucket's IMG code to post pix.

 

[FishBlitz]

No Title

 

[tpenfield]

you will need some better pictures, but what it seems to tell is that the hole is on the outside of the hull. There seems to be some crack lines associated with it ???

 

[FishBlitz]

I had other pics but this was the only one that didn't exceed the size limit so i couldn't post them. There aren't any stress cracks due to the hole, the big one above that is from my trailer before I got it repaired. I guess my main concern is just how to get water out of the hull, if it even has any inside???

 

[tpenfield]

Yea, you might have to post the pictures on photobucket.com or similar site and use the "IMG" tags in your message or simply just post the link to the pictures. You could re-size the pictures, as well, so that they are within the upload parameters.


My concern would be how the hole got there. If you can share any information about how the hole appeared, that would be helpful as well.
It appears that the hole is below the water line, so any use of the boat would bring some water into the structure.

For starters, you could position the boat/trailer so that the hole is the lowest point. Give it a day or two and then apply some suction with a shop vacuum.

 

[FishBlitz]

I remember hitting something back in January but I inspected the boat and didn't find anything. So my guess is maybe it finally worked itself into something major. You bring up a point about it being below the waterline, no matter how well I patch the hole, will water still get in? What if I use cloth with polyester resin?

 

[john cole]

i didn't look at the pictures, but no if you use the right product and gel coat it, it will not leak anymore.

 

[FishBlitz]

I pulled the trailer on a ramp so any water inside in theory should leak out. Nothing came pouring out so that's a good sign. Can you reccomend a gel coat material to buy? I'm gonna let it sit tilted for a couple days before glassing it over

 

[Woodonglass]

If it's NOT wet behind the damage and there is Wood backing it up then grinding and feathering and laying 2 layers of CSM and then fillng with Gelcoat paste to finish the fairing process should do the trick.. IF it is wet then none of the above will work.