As with any hazardous chemical, take extra care to protect yourself and those around your workspace while working! If your boat requires extensive repairs, or if you have any questions, please contact us and we’d be happy to help get you back on the water.
Basic Materials to Keep in Stock:
- 5-10 min 2 part epoxy (West System)
- Filler to thicken epoxy (we recommend Cabosil)
- Wood wedges or other stirring tool
- Masking tape
- 6 oz fiberglass or carbon scrap for patches
- Bondo (Evercoat)
- Sandpaper (60 and 80 grit)
- Touch-up paint (Kylon Indoor/Outdoor 10 min Spray Paint, white, #51501)
- It may be necessary to use something to hold the shape, like a plastic sheet stapled to the outside.
- Avoid any high spot on outside.
- Try to replace with proper glass, Kevlar or carbon.
- Avoid Kevlar on the outside skin from coming through as it will not finish.
- Try to have a 3″-6″ of overlap into good glass.
Repair a Major Puncture or Torn Skin:
Emergency Repair:
1. Ruff up skin with sandpaper- 60 or 80 grit.
2. Glass over outside.
‘Back at the Shop’ Repair:
1. Cut away a portion of the deck in a way that it can be glued back on. (You want to get to the outside skin from the inside).
2. Remove the inner skin and any damaged core.
3. Sand area and mask off area to be overlayed.
4. Glass over damaged area from the inside:
5. Replace core: Make a syntactic resin mix with fillers to a frosting like consistency. Use a squeegee to spread it into thickness desired.
6. Replace inner skin: Sand area to be overlayed- 60 or 80 grit. A single layer of 6oz glass is usually enough. If carbon are missing, try to replace with carbon, otherwise use layers of glass.
7. Put the deck back on: Glue in at the gunwales with syntactic mix. try to line up with seams so that it is flush at all points (avoid high spots). At cuts across deck, sand heavily about 2″ on either side. Sand very heavily at cut and lighter as you move away. Overlay with 4″ glass tape, and sand down flush with block.
8. Fill any low spot with bondo and finish sanding.
9. Apply touch-up paint.
Reattaching a Bow or Stern:
1. Clean up torn edges: On both parts, clean up torn edges and remove inner skin and core down to outer skin from 3″-6″ on either side of fracture. (Wider cleanout as the fracture approaches the middle of the boat).
2. Hold the pieces in place: Align the broken piece, screw on strips of wood at the gunwale edge (½”, 1″, 3′). Slip in the broken off portion and line up. Use anything that will help, but eyeing it is usually sufficient.
3. Screw in the broken portion.
4. Remove deck portion to access inside.
5. For the remainder of the repair, follow Repairs for Torn Skin instructions listed above.