Alright, well I had a less than fun evening yesterday. After taking the boat out to get fueled for Sat. fishing trip I scratched her comming into the slip.
Nevermind the details--- However lets say I should have had a bit more momentum to overcome the wind I was powering into. The wind caught and pushed my bow over to the slip "roller" fender. None the less there was a loose bolt under that roller that ROLLED down my hull near the bow for about 6".
Of course it's been about a week since I had the whole hull sanded/buffed/waxed! (Side note--If it was still dirty none of this would have happened)
Ok, so now I'm looking to fix the scratch (gouge?) in my fiberglass hull. The scratch is about 2mm-2.25mm deep and about 6-8" long.
I was reading the " GELCOAT REPAIR " thread at (
http://www.boatered.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=61741,
however I have quite a few questions as this article assumes I know too much about hull repair.
The first sentance throws me:
" The first thing to do is make sure all of the mud work is straight (base fiberglass & roving)."
I'm assuming he is talking about some kind of putty/resin I use to fill the scratch in with. What should I use? Brands?
So, once I have the depth of the scratch filled- he says to block the mud work. Which I assume means using a sanding block to take out any dimples/ridges etc...
From there it seems pretty straightforward. I've never done any of this gelcoat work and have a few other questions...
Is gelcoat white? (Or is it clear--meaning I'll have to paint my "mud work" before putting on the gelcoat?
Do I need professional compressed air sprayers etc to put the gelcoat on? Or do they make some that can be applied by hand either with a brush/roller or can?
Finally, the scratch is at my dock level---which is about 16" above the water level. Will I need to pull the boat out of the water to do this touchup---or can I simple add extra cure/dry time? (The marina is VERY calm, and short of getting a raging storm---it should NOT get wet at all.)
Thanks all so much for your help, and advice. This is the first time I have put a scratch on this baby and I'm not feeling good about it---so take it easy on the bashing.
Thanks!
Nevermind the details--- However lets say I should have had a bit more momentum to overcome the wind I was powering into. The wind caught and pushed my bow over to the slip "roller" fender. None the less there was a loose bolt under that roller that ROLLED down my hull near the bow for about 6".
Of course it's been about a week since I had the whole hull sanded/buffed/waxed! (Side note--If it was still dirty none of this would have happened)
Ok, so now I'm looking to fix the scratch (gouge?) in my fiberglass hull. The scratch is about 2mm-2.25mm deep and about 6-8" long.
I was reading the " GELCOAT REPAIR " thread at (
http://www.boatered.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=61741,
however I have quite a few questions as this article assumes I know too much about hull repair.
The first sentance throws me:
" The first thing to do is make sure all of the mud work is straight (base fiberglass & roving)."
I'm assuming he is talking about some kind of putty/resin I use to fill the scratch in with. What should I use? Brands?
So, once I have the depth of the scratch filled- he says to block the mud work. Which I assume means using a sanding block to take out any dimples/ridges etc...
From there it seems pretty straightforward. I've never done any of this gelcoat work and have a few other questions...
Is gelcoat white? (Or is it clear--meaning I'll have to paint my "mud work" before putting on the gelcoat?
Do I need professional compressed air sprayers etc to put the gelcoat on? Or do they make some that can be applied by hand either with a brush/roller or can?
Finally, the scratch is at my dock level---which is about 16" above the water level. Will I need to pull the boat out of the water to do this touchup---or can I simple add extra cure/dry time? (The marina is VERY calm, and short of getting a raging storm---it should NOT get wet at all.)
Thanks all so much for your help, and advice. This is the first time I have put a scratch on this baby and I'm not feeling good about it---so take it easy on the bashing.
Thanks!