two questions: gelcoat repair and caulking

[rmilavsky]

I have an 88 Oday 240. This fall I had the marina sandblast off years of dead paint. I went to the Marina today and I can now see the bottom. There are some clusters of "pitting". they are small- about 7 -10 small pits in a cluster and not too deep. there are only a handful of these clusters. I am guessing that in about an hour I can fill all these pits. What product should I apply to fill in the pitting before I repaint the bottom in April? Any detailed suggestions would be appreciated.

#2- I now see that there is some old cauling towards the bottom of the wing keel. I never saw this caulking before, but with all the dead paint remove, I see this cauling that is really looking like it should be cut out. Is this like removing dead caulk on a window or door? a sharp knife too cut out? If so, what product should I re-caulk with that will be long lasting and durable?
A dumb q, but why is there there is seam that is caulked? Why did Oday manufacture the keel this way?
Thanks
Ray

 

[Bikes-n-Boats]

Ray
There is a product called "VC Watertite" a waterproof epoxy made just for this purpose you can get from West marine and you'll find it real easy to use. Also if you sand blasted the bottom it should be resealed with Interlux system 2000 barrier coat which will also prevent further blistering. I have done both of these to my O'Day 23.

There was probably a chalk between the keel and the glass which has dried out, today we use 3M 5200 for this. If it doesn't leak I'd probably tighten the keel bolts and forget about it. The repair is to drop the keel and re-bed it with 3M 5200, which is not too hard if you have access to the required tools to lift the boat and ease the keel down.

Good Luck

Clark