Suggestions on small hole repair...

[TECH159]

I bought a boat a little while back, and had to swap trailers on land. The guy that did it jacked up the boat with a hydraulic floor jack, and poked a small hole (1/2 x 1 inch maybe) right in the "V" of the keel towards the front. The boat was floated in the water for a short time, and there is water dripping from the hole.
What would be the best way to repair this? Would a fiberglass patch be needed, or can such a small hole be plugged some other way? Small sprit of expanding foam (probably not good...?) I'm not sure if that area would ever be in contact with a roller, but it may be on loading/launching, which I haven't done yet.
Any help appreciated. It's a 20' Bayliner Cuddy, 1993.

 

[SgtMaj]

Re: Suggestions on small hole repair...

Well the best way to patch it would be to apply a good fiberglass patch on the inside, then after that cures, fill any remaining voids on the outside with a good epoxy, then sand and paint and all that jazz.

That's the best way, but it's not necessarily the most practical. If this is in an area where you have no easy access, and that is the only problem with the boat (meaning that you wern't already going to need to tear out the deck and replace it), then it may be more practical to patch it from the outside. If it were me, I would use the best marine epoxy patching compound I could find.

Another thing to keep in mind, if it was floated since then, then there will likely be water trapped under the deck now, which can ruin your patch job. So make sure it's dried out well before beginning to patch it.

 

[redfury]

Re: Suggestions on small hole repair...

You'll want to make sure that is done properly as the potential for it to take abuse on the lake makes it a priority to be done right, or even over engineered a bit. You don't want to just "patch it", you'd want to grind/feather an area out from the hole and lay up a good number of layers of glass. If you just plug it up, the first time you hit something just right, you'll just end up with mess again.

 

[Solittle]

Re: Suggestions on small hole repair...

Check out Marine Tex. Cures harder than steel.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Suggestions on small hole repair...

let's see how bad, pictures http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=224951

 

[Lone Duck]

Re: Suggestions on small hole repair...

Dry it out . Even if you have to use a hair dryer or a heat gun. feather edges. Plug with j. b. weld the kind that is like a putty that you squeeze to mix, they have all types one is made for marine use can even be applied under water. Then put a layer of cloth over it. then make a putty from resin and fiberglass shaveings and microballons. You can buy them at your fiber glass suppliers. Use epoxy not poly. epoxy will stick to anything poly will not stick as well to an epoxy hull. trowel the putty on like bondo and sand smooth. Use a good epoxy paint of proper color. When you feather the edges to start, make sure you sand all the color out down past the primer. Your patch should end up about 6 or 8" big.