Hull repair question

[Will D]

Hi all, I am a newbie to hull repair and maintenance and the bottom of my 1972 Oday Daysailer II which I bought last year and sailed 4 times is worn pretty badly. Maybe it was beached or ruon aground a lot. How might I go about protecting my hull

from further damage, given what you see in the pictures? I have a gelcoat scratch/gouge repair kit and some fiberglass sheets and epoxy. I don't have power tools except a drill, and I don't have a gelcoat sprayer. Thanks for your compassionate and cost-effective suggestions.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Will
There is an O’Day forum on the website as well and suggest going there. It would be helpful either or both you could advise length of boat and model.

Cannot tell hull to keel joint. Basically you would fill in scrapes and small voids with two part epoxy with or without fiberglassing sanded smooth and on the bottom of the hull below the water line of course prepped as well, I would advise 4-6 coats of barrier costs

 

[Jim26m]

Hi all, I am a newbie to hull repair and maintenance and the bottom of my 1972 Oday Daysailer II which I bought last year and sailed 4 times is worn pretty badly. Maybe it was beached or ruon aground a lot. How might I go about protecting my hull from further damage, given what you see in the pictures?.

If you are planning to run it aground on riprap, I don't know. Geez that hurts to look at!

There are hull protectors that can be affixed to protect from sand abrasion, but what your boat has been subjected to is well beyond that.

https://www.wholesalemarine.com/kee...MIgNLhm7nI4gIVF6SzCh0gGQMaEAQYBSABEgLiXPD_BwE

 

[Will D]

My LOA is just under 17'

 

[Jim26m]

Will, you can probably do the necessary repairs without taking out a mortgage. Can you get back further from the damage and get more of the boat in the pic so we can get some sense of scale? Also, it would help to know exactly where on the boat the damage is.

I get the impression that the big gouge is 1/2" to 3/4" wide, up to 1/4" deep, and 2-3 ft long. Almost looks like it goes completely through the hull in spots. Is that correct?

 

[Will D]

Jim, your guess is quite good. The area of worst damage that would require reforming the point of the keel is 3 feet long, 1 inch wide, and depth is hard to estimate but I would say 1/8" to 1/4". Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Jim26m]

There are several ways to go.

Ideally, you would grind the crevice to about a 1:12 slope to make a nice wide repair with fiberglass. Then, you would put in about 4-5 layers of glass in the crevice - starting with a piece that covered the full width of your new grind. Then, each strip would get slightly narrower as you go, such that the edges have one layer, and the center (deepest point) has 4 or 5. Fully saturate each layer with resin before adding the next layer. Work all of the air bubbles out of each layer before adding the next. Once this has cured, sand off the high spots. Fill low spots with epoxy product, thickened resin or marine Tex, etc. Use 220 grit to final sand the repair and filler. Since you already have a gelcoat repair kit, follow the instructions and apply it over the entire repair, extending out over the undamaged area. This will allow you to feather the edges of the repair into the undamaged area.

Look on the West System site for numerous videos on fiberglass repairs if you are a visual learner. Here's one that someone posted on the Macgregor board that's similar.

You can get it as smooth as factory, if you want, by wet-sanding the first coats with 220 wet paper, then go to 320-400 for final coats. This is probably more than you might want to do, and certainly more than necessary. You can stop after you get a couple of layers of gelcoat on it - up to you.

Small scratches and gouges that are simply cosmetic can be "puttied" with thickened epoxy, marine Tex, etc. Then sand smooth and gelcoat.

Buy a sanding disc kit for your drill and some 60, 120, and 220 grit discs. Get some wet/dry paper for hand-sanding if you want a high quality finish. Get some gloves and good dust masks. And use them when glassing and/or dry sanding.

Quick and dirty: fill the crack with thickened epoxy, marine Tex,etc. Sand it flush. Paint it with a good hull paint. Go sailing.

When applying putty, don't pile it up beyond the level you seek. It's better to sand a little and add more than to pile it up and spend a lot of time and discs grinding it off. I use gelcoat as the final filler layers, sanding between coats, then final polish when it's done. But I like a shiny bottom (on the boat).

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

With the deep cut on the leading edge of the hull beneath the waterline should be repaired by fiberglassing as it is structural not cosmetic. Jim26m was correct in the beginning to include fiberglassing and then applying epoxy to fill in pours and small voids. I would suggest removing the bottom paint around the repair if that is bottom paint. You can either come back with gel coat or barrier coats if reapplying bottom paint. Most yards would apply barrier coats if putting on bottom paint. Just an opinion from a former dealer

 

[Will D]

Thanks so much for taking the time to analyze my issue, and I like knowing what the quicker fix would be as well as the more thorough repair!

 

[BobbyFunn]

The ultimate cheap fix, duct tape over the gashes.

This might be good too...Go to lowes or home depot and pick up a few tubes of Loctite PL3X (in the paint section). Fill the gaps, then smooth out. The next day, take a razor and trim tbe excess. PL3X is sticky, barely expanding foam in puddy form.

Hit it with 120 grit paper, 220 if you can spring for it.

Youll basically have a new protective wear surface that will be pretty durable, yet removable for better repairs later.

This repair will cost about $20.

If you have epoxy, use that with thin strips of cloth over the PL3X gap filler.

Sand with 120, 220.

I wouldnt bother painting it unless, you are passing this off to some craigslist chump.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

There is an old saying. Do it right the first time or don’t do it at all.

 

[Will D]

After sanding, I applied glass cloth and epoxy to the area of worst damage. After that had set, I added another layer. I then applied West Marine "Marine Rx" epoxy putty to a taped-off section over

the entire damaged area and sanded it. And then did so a second time. Then I put on a layer of topside paint just for looks. I was pleased with the result. Here are a few photos of the process: after initial sanding (with a drum attachment on my drill), after first application of fiberglass, and after first application of Marine Rx.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

@Will D
Thank you for sharing.
Dave

 

[Project_Mayhem]

This might be good too...Go to lowes or home depot and pick up a few tubes of Loctite PL3X (in the paint section). Fill the gaps, then smooth out. The next day, take a razor and trim tbe excess. PL3X is sticky, barely expanding foam in puddy form.

If you continue beaching it Loctite will wear away faster than epoxy. It's surprising how fast epoxy can wear away when beaching

 

[DrJudyB]

For owners who want to repeatedly beach their boats or who run into docks a lot, there are sacrificial strips to protect the bow.

KeelGuard or KeelShield are two examples. They are self adhesive strips of plastic to protect the V of the bow and bottom of the hull.

I looked for them in the SBO store but didn’t find it.

 

[BobbyFunn]

If you continue beaching it Loctite will wear away faster than epoxy. It's surprising how fast epoxy can wear away when beaching

For sure. My centerboard has to be touched up every year for all the sand and bottom it rubs out while at 5knots, and thats with epoxy replacement. I would hire a professional mourner and rip my shirt off if my boat got left beached.

Im impressed with the posters work. Its good policy to have a complete epoxy or gelcoat repair kit ready to go on site so bad repair options are eliminated. It is super easy to fill in and laminate damage, just not easy to do a great job of it.