While sanding the cabin yesterday, my husband and I uncovered several small holes in the centerboard housing. I've included a pic of the largest of them -- it's the black hole just up and to the right of the dark gray rectangle in the middle of the screen. These seem to have been simply painted over in the past. Can we just epoxy these holes or do we need to do something more drastic like a full-on fiberglass patch?
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Patching small holes
Meg, I'd get a small epoxy putty kit and use that if they are just small holes. Use an epoxy and not a Polyester filler. Polyester resins will not stick to a boat made with Epoxy. I found that out the hard way. Epoxy will stick to Polyester and epoxy hulls. A Dremel Tool comes in handy for this kind of work. The area around the holes needs to be roughed up and then cleaned with Acetone. It's a good idea to wear a good respirator and safety glasses when doing any sanding of fiberglass. You never want to breath the dust from it. There are a lot of kits on the market like West System epoxy with micro-balloon fillers that you would need to mix with it, and this stuff is OK if you are working on a flat surface. Otherwise, the stuff would run. This is why I suggest a putty type of filler. When you get the patches finished, you'll need to protect them from the sun's UV rays by painting them, and that's about it. Check out "Sailboat Hull & Deck Repair" by Don Casey in your library. I'm giving you a link to a web site that may help you in understanding fiberglass repair. Joe
Meg, I'd get a small epoxy putty kit and use that if they are just small holes. Use an epoxy and not a Polyester filler. Polyester resins will not stick to a boat made with Epoxy. I found that out the hard way. Epoxy will stick to Polyester and epoxy hulls. A Dremel Tool comes in handy for this kind of work. The area around the holes needs to be roughed up and then cleaned with Acetone. It's a good idea to wear a good respirator and safety glasses when doing any sanding of fiberglass. You never want to breath the dust from it. There are a lot of kits on the market like West System epoxy with micro-balloon fillers that you would need to mix with it, and this stuff is OK if you are working on a flat surface. Otherwise, the stuff would run. This is why I suggest a putty type of filler. When you get the patches finished, you'll need to protect them from the sun's UV rays by painting them, and that's about it. Check out "Sailboat Hull & Deck Repair" by Don Casey in your library. I'm giving you a link to a web site that may help you in understanding fiberglass repair. Joe
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