Hull Repair - Part 2

Ok, I messed up a little with the pictures, what else is new? In Hull Repair Part 1 we left off with the glass applied from inside the hull. The next little bit did not get photographed but what happened was we sanded the hull to form a bevel that extends about two inches around the cut out. After the bevel was sanded some filler was used to avoid air pockets and then a couple layers of glass was applied.


Sanding the glass smooth and flush with the hull



Another view of the sanded area


Sanded and ready to fill the inevitable small voids


The filler applied is 3M Marine Filler which sets up quickly and sands well


Sanding the filler smooth


Sanded smooth and papered and ready to spray the gelcoat


Gelcoat being sprayed


More spraying


Almost done with gelcoat


Here we have the gelcoat finished and curing, once cured the paper will come off


We sanded the area with 600 grit to knock down the overspray and finish the repair

We spent little time trying to match the gelcoat because it would have been impossible anyway. The existing gelcoat is old and has tiny crackes everywhere so matching the texture would be impossible. So we sanded it to 600 and called it good. At that point it only has a slight gloss which helps it blend. Ordinarily you would sand to 2000 then buff for a high gloss but that would have looked silly against the rest of the old boat. I figure a few outings at the club with some dock rash from the rubber bumpers strategically placed and you will never spot the repair.