1984 O'day 28. Just beginning to refit after a few years of neglect. Down below in engine compartment the fiberglass is really thin. I hope there is a fix for fix. See pics.
Why can I see the boat lettering through my transom?
- Thread starter greeneyedjack
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- fiberglass repair
Glass Reinforced Plastic, aka, fiberglass, is normally translucent. Gelcoat reduces light transmission, but on old boats the gelcoat begins to oxidize and through polishing and buffing it gets thin and allows more light to be transmitted through the hull. The thicker the original fiberglass, the more opaque the hull is. Coring, such as end grain balsa or foam also increases opacity.
As Ned said, painting the interior of the hull will hide the translucent areas.
Hull thickness also varies, low stress areas will have thinner fiberglass and allow more light transmission. You can see this at a big box hardware store, take a look at the corrugated fiberglass roofing panels, or the roof of a UPS truck that has a fiberglass roof.
As Ned said, painting the interior of the hull will hide the translucent areas.
Hull thickness also varies, low stress areas will have thinner fiberglass and allow more light transmission. You can see this at a big box hardware store, take a look at the corrugated fiberglass roofing panels, or the roof of a UPS truck that has a fiberglass roof.
Thank you all for the quick response with great info. So clean/ prep for painting, a little 3m 5200 on the spots that are through to the gel coat and paint. Thank you all again.
There are some very small holes that go through to the gel coat. If you enlarge the pic you might get a look st what I'm trying to fix. Also, What's up with the 5200?
It's something we've been conditioned to avoid if at all possible. In your case, I don't think it'll be too big a deal, but you could just slather on some epoxy to set the scaredy-cats at ease.
I like that idea! They are small holes, but they bug me. Especially, if I'm going to do some cosmetic painting.
if you just need to cosmetically repair some small holes why not use MarineTex?
The white would be a close match to white gelcoat, and it is also available in gray.
Forget abut 5200 unless you want to permanently stick a swim plaform onto the transom.
The white would be a close match to white gelcoat, and it is also available in gray.
Forget abut 5200 unless you want to permanently stick a swim plaform onto the transom.
5200 is an adhesive and sealant. It is absolutely tenacious in its holding power, being nearly impossible to remove. It should only be used to secure things that will never need to be separated. On a boat, the only application that seems reasonable is to attach the deck to the hull. Some might argue that it is appropriate for the keel, but sometimes keels need to be dropped.
MarineTex or a gel coat patch kit can be used to fill in the chips. Unless the repair is going to be painted or otherwise protected from UV avoid epoxy it will degrade with exposure to sunlight.
MarineTex or a gel coat patch kit can be used to fill in the chips. Unless the repair is going to be painted or otherwise protected from UV avoid epoxy it will degrade with exposure to sunlight.
If the voids are inside in the fiberglass, use thickened epoxy to reinforce and fill them. It will stay in place on a vertical surface. If they go through the fiberglass and gel coat, you should fill them inside with thickened epoxy and then apply some gel coat outside. Leave a little dimple on the outside in the epoxy, so you have a small dimple into which you can dab the gel coat. You could also use Total Fair, AwlFair, or 3M Marine filler in place of the thickened epoxy. Those are 2 part thickened epoxy fillers. You can also tape them inside and apply the epoxy from outside, leaving a little dimple. No 5200 needed in this situation!
I have a friend who sailed a Top Hat 24 from Australia to Vancouver Island. I swear you could read a newspaper through that hull. It is glass, as per Squidd, but it looks a little thin to protect you from that big mean ocean.
Marine Tex is also an epoxy. Totally agree on no 5200- that's NOT what it's meant for
If you are going to fill holes from the inside I would us West Epoxy. As for the thin fiberglass, painting will help you forget it, but it still will be thin. ODays are decent coastal cruisers and if that is what your going to use the boat for, you will be fine painting it. If you want to beef it up you will need to add more fiberglass cloth from the inside.
Hi greeneyedjack, We owned an Oday 272LE. Loved the boat and looked at an Oday 28 as well. Shallow draft and light weight were a plus where we sailed. If the boat is new to you plan to have the thin fiberglas of the hull become a concern during placement of jack stands. The hull is thin and flexes because it is not always a simple task to place the stands at a bulkhead. The yard we used helped solve my concerns by renting us extra stands for the duration of the storage. We placed two stands at the transom to support the long distance from the aft end of our wing keel to the aft end of the boat. The 10Hp Westerbeke was an acceptable engine for that boat.
I've got a friend with a O28 that looks just like that. I know it's thin and light, but we sail the living hell out of the boat and haven't broke it yet. He just recently sailed it from here to down island..
Fiberglass is a lot stronger that it looks and it does not take much if you get it all working together in a hull.