Any recommendations on how to repair the keel. I was loading the boat back on the trailer and the left front bunk broke away from the support bracket and it appears the support bracket gouged into the hull. Most of the damage appears to be down to the gel-coat but 2 major spots are down to the glass. What steps would I need to take to make the necessary repairs.
That’s just a mere flesh wound 
Nothing to it.
First step is to sand off the paint around the damaged area and determine the full extent of the damage. Grind out any cracked or shattered glass, don’t sand deeper than you need to though. From here it doesn’t look like the glass is hurt, so it is more of a cosmetic issue than structural. A little sanding will determine that.
Basically you want to grind/sand a beveled edge all the way around the damaged areas, clean it good with lacquer thinner or denatured alcohol, then fill it with epoxy thickened with wood flour. Sand that down smooth, and then you will probably need to fill it again lightly, this time using an epoxy based fairing compound. Either micro balloons mixed with epoxy, or a product such as Quick Fair.
Then sand that down smooth and re-paint. That is bottom paint isn’t it? No need to fool with gel coat, just use epoxy, fillers and paint.
If after sanding you find damaged glass, re-post and we’ll take care of that too.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
Small craft surveying and repair
Thanks Larry. I knew u would have the answer. Sounds like a good friday proj. And yes that is bottom paint. I guess west marine would carry the needed epoxy and fillers?
28 WA Hydra Sport
Twin 225 4 stoke Yammies
“Fin Loco”
Thanks Larry. I knew u would have the answer. Sounds like a good friday proj. And yes that is bottom paint. I guess west marine would carry the needed epoxy and fillers?
28 WA Hydra Sport
Twin 225 4 stoke Yammies
“Fin Loco”
marinetex
you still have to do the prep work like larry said
Larry I appreciate the good advice you give in this forum
Yes, West Marine would have what you need. As Chris said, MarineTex would be a good choice for the repair also. I rarely think about it because I always keep gallons of epoxy and bags of fillers on hand and mix my own, but MarineTex is an excellent repair product and easy to use.
quote:
Larry I appreciate the good advice you give in this forum
Thanks Peapod. To me forums like this are about sharing information. I get a lot out of it and try to give some back. Everybody here knows something that the rest of us don’t.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
Small craft surveying and repair
Is there an alternative to bottom paint? I bought the boat with it already on there but I don’t keep her in the water. I really don’t want to buy a gallon of bottom paint to cover about 1 square foot, but I will if that’s what it takes to make it right. Thanks.
28 WA Hydra Sport
Twin 225 4 stoke Yammies
“Fin Loco”
If you don’t keep it in the water, Lowes has generic black bottom paint for under $30/qt. We keep it on hand for touching up boats after detailing.
quote:
Originally posted by Reel ExcitementIs there an alternative to bottom paint? I bought the boat with it already on there but I don’t keep her in the water. I really don’t want to buy a gallon of bottom paint to cover about 1 square foot, but I will if that’s what it takes to make it right. Thanks.
</font id=“quote”></blockquote id=“quote”>Bottom paint is hard to recover from. Have you looked through Phin’s thread?
http://old.charlestonfishing.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=119737&whichpage=1
IFly, I agree. If I had my choice,it would not have bottom paint. I bought the boat back in october and previous owner just had it painted so I am not going to try and remove it until it starts wearing off. Other than where I screwed it up it looks good.
28 WA Hydra Sport
Twin 225 4 stoke Yammies
“Fin Loco”
Atlasd, Thanks. Didn’t realize Lowes sold bottom paint. Thats better than having to buy a whole gallon.
28 WA Hydra Sport
Twin 225 4 stoke Yammies
“Fin Loco”
Its such a two edged sword. I didn’t want to bottom paint my boat, but I finally did. The Petit white looks good but there are places that you miss during application that get covered with growth and its a PIA. We picked up some speed…its just an exercise you have to do on how long you keep it in the water. My problem is that we have a boat launch at our house on Murrells Inlet that is usable about 2 hours a day because of the Tides. Sometimes I zip in and out of town to fish and cant wait…so I painted the bottom.
