Hole in fiberglass hull, need repair advice

Ken Cross · Sep 7, 2020

I had an uncle lose a boat in the middle of the road when he left a stoplight. I had an issue years ago where the eye started pulling out. I added a second bow eye while I was in there. One for the winch and one for my safety cable. Any boat that has a single bow eye pull out risks coming off the trailer while under tow if it fails. I always felt more secure not relying on a single point in this critical area.

Ken

usrowboy · Sep 7, 2020

Whatever method you choose, consider before, during and after the repair, backing plates. There should be a good one, glassed in place that exceeds the hole created by several inches, and it should be thick, to help prevent distortion. This is a very high stress area and it is worth every cent to have a proper backing plate made to form fit the inside. I would also consider a plate on the exterior, holding the eye, that can be overlaid, drilled and bolted to the inner plate.

dlochner · Sep 7, 2020

Gerald Jarreau said:
I have increased the backing plate size to 5" from about 2"... I may even make a bigger one, now that you mention it. I see no advantage of an exterior plate, if the fiberglass work is done correctly.

The advantage to a plate on the outside is to protect the gelcoat. Eventually, the gelcoat will get chipped from the trailer hook being inserted into the eye. Structurally, not that important, cosmetically, reasonably important.

williamtl · Sep 7, 2020

dlochner said:
Andy on Boatworks Today, just released a video about patching a hole in a hull.

@dlochner this response and its frustration is not aimed at you, but at the professionals that put on these videos from their workshops.

I want to see one of these videos where the hole isn’t laying at waist level on a nice surface oriented in the easiest possible way so that the repair pools instead of running. It’s one thing to do this on the hull where the 12 to 1 makes sense. How do you do this on the bow, “upside down” if you will. How do you get it to lay up, without sagging down? Mix it thicker, tried that. Wait for it to kick more, oops, too late, grind that off and start again.

Do you treat it as two half circles? If so, that doesn’t seem like it would be structurally sound. Bend the glass, again, how to get it to lay up, structural integrity at the bend?

The Hunter owner/757 captain detailed it on a hull that was still right side up. I guess you need to do what he did and make a “mold.”

shemandr · Sep 7, 2020

In almost every instructional video I've seen, on almost every subject, the work is usually on a bench at a comfortable level. The lighting is good and there is evidently an octopus to hold all the tools and work implements. As we all know a job done on site is a whole different animal. My best answer is that the better you can set up access, provide light, and plan and organize the work flow the better the outcome will be. Basically that means taking the boat apart more. It's scary but it works better.

Davidasailor26 · Sep 7, 2020

williamtl said:
@dlochner this response and its frustration is not aimed at you, but at the professionals that put on these videos from their workshops.

I want to see one of these videos where the hole isn’t laying at waist level on a nice surface oriented in the easiest possible way so that the repair pools instead of running. It’s one thing to do this on the hull where the 12 to 1 makes sense. How do you do this on the bow, “upside down” if you will. How do you get it to lay up, without sagging down? Mix it thicker, tried that. Wait for it to kick more, oops, too late, grind that off and start again.

Do you treat it as two half circles? If so, that doesn’t seem like it would be structurally sound. Bend the glass, again, how to get it to lay up, structural integrity at the bend?

The Hunter owner/757 captain detailed it on a hull that was still right side up. I guess you need to do what he did and make a “mold.”

The boat Andy was working on in that video was specifically chosen to demonstrate the steps of the process. For somewhat more real world examples he has other videos where he’s working on “real” boats. For example this one - Fiberglass Repairs ~ Fixing Old Holes In The Hull | Boatworks Today. That’s not around a bend like the OP’s fix will be, but it does address some of the challenges you describe. I’ve seen him make other fixes too with different challenges, and the Sail Life YouTube channel has some examples of that as well.

Ken Cross · Sep 7, 2020

I've done one on the bottom (glassing over a removed 1 1/5" removed through hull) and had no problem. I used cyanoacrylate to tack (just in a few spots) the edges of the first layer of glass in place. Once epoxy is added, let it tack before adding the next layer. It turned out great, but I used about 15 layers of glass.

Fortunately for me, I didn't need gellcoat. I used barriercoat then bottom paint.
Ken

dlochner · Sep 7, 2020

williamtl said:
@dlochner this response and its frustration is not aimed at you, but at the professionals that put on these videos from their workshops.

I want to see one of these videos where the hole isn’t laying at waist level on a nice surface oriented in the easiest possible way so that the repair pools instead of running. It’s one thing to do this on the hull where the 12 to 1 makes sense. How do you do this on the bow, “upside down” if you will. How do you get it to lay up, without sagging down? Mix it thicker, tried that. Wait for it to kick more, oops, too late, grind that off and start again.

Do you treat it as two half circles? If so, that doesn’t seem like it would be structurally sound. Bend the glass, again, how to get it to lay up, structural integrity at the bend?

The Hunter owner/757 captain detailed it on a hull that was still right side up. I guess you need to do what he did and make a “mold.”

When glassing vertical surfaces, first paint a very thin coat of epoxy on the repair area. Lay up the patch on a sheet of plastic and wet it out. Use a fin roller or a squeegee on the glass to get the air out and to remove all the excess resin. Then lay up the patch as one piece and don't overwork it. If the excess epoxy has been removed the patch should stay put.

Recognize that even after the patch is applied, it will be necessary to sand it and fair it into the hull. It is here that you worry about what it looks like. And it will likely take multiple coats of fairing compound most of which will end up as dust. Sandpaper is your friend and don't spare it.

A mistake I made when learning was to try and get the final fairing done on the first try. It won't happen. Now I just try to get it good enough and then sand and fair again. As Mads on the SailLIfe YouTube channel is fond of saying, "Oh glorious, glorious, sanding.."

The value of Andy's video is the dimensions and how he laid up the glass, it is the same whether the patch is horizontal or vertical.

As for the joys of working on boats, I refer you to:

There Ought to be a Law | Good Old Boat

goodoldboat.com

shemandr · Sep 8, 2020

Your article would be funny if I didn't have the bruises, cuts and aching from boat projects that make the article oh so true. In fairness to the boat builders I don't think they ever considered that their boats would be still on the water 40 years later.

dlochner · Sep 8, 2020

shemandr said:
Your article would be funny if I didn't have the bruises, cuts and aching from boat projects that make the article oh so true. In fairness to the boat builders I don't think they ever considered that their boats would be still on the water 40 years later.

I feel your pain. The article was the result of a particularly frustrating summer spent cramped in the bowels of my boat. While the photo was staged, the sentiment was not. Humor is a good way to dissipate the frustration.

The very early builders had no idea about the life span of their boats. However, by the 90s it was beginning to become clear that FRP boats were going to last a long time. The truth is the first thought is about build costs, not repair or refit costs.

williamtl · Sep 10, 2020

Thanks folks for the very constructive replies. Frustrated with life right now, all 1st world problems. In March found out I have a wonderful slip off Sarasota bay. Haven’t had the boat in up here because the floating docs came loose and didn’t get reanchored until late July. Decided then to make it a summer of boat projects. Found out about a month ago that I now have a spot for the trailer to go with the slip. Planning to head down near end of furicane season. Then ended up having rotator cuff surgery 2 weeks ago. All projects on hold, elbow cannot leave my side, nothing in the hand heavier than a coffee cup (which does me no good anyway because I can’t get it to my mouth). No handling the lines for at least six months.

Aaaaargh, I sound like such a whiner.
.

Timm R Oday25 · Sep 10, 2020

As someone who also had rotator cuff surgery this past spring . DO YOUR PHYSICAL THERAPY ! We kept our boat
on it's trailer for the second year in a row . I had thought a month after surgery I would be up to finally getting the boat "to do" list shortened considerably . It was not to be . 4 months out and I'm finally ready to replace the port bulkhead . It's been in the low 50s and raining for the better part of a week .Yeah first world problems

shemandr · Sep 10, 2020

Rotator Cuff surgical Vet here. Hope for you for a speedy recovery! Mine was for some reason I thought that riding trails in woods was healthy thing to do. Until I hit a root and was launched over the handle bars and met an unyielding tree. Hate when that happens!