I have 2 areas on the bottom of my Skeeter that are in bad shape after hitting a concrete bridge abutment. September 2020, I hired a fiberglass shop to make the repair, they did it to "like new condition" for $3000 Cash. Had I know it was going to be $3K, I would have turned it into insurance. Anyhow, The repair came apart in August 2021. I called them and asked that they schedule me so they could take a look at it. After 5 months, they said sorry, no warranty. They never even took the boat in for an analysis. Anyhow, here I am. Fixing it myself.
Step 1: Thoroughly dry the inside of the boat and make sure it's 100% Dry.
Step 2: I purchased West System Epoxy Resin 105, 205 Hardener, Fiberglass Mesh, Black Color Pigment, and the pumps from West System. I feel like the correct ratio between Epoxy, Hardener, and color is critical to the success. That's why I bought the pumps.
Step 3: I used my dremel tool to sand the damaged fiberglass out. - I think I have sanded all the cracked fiberglass out and now into a to good fiberglass. FYI - It's not all the way thru at at either spot.
Step 4 Tonight's Project - Clean the area again with acetone. Layer of Epoxy, Hardener, and Pigment mixed up per directions. Then build up the fiberglass patch with smallest piece down first, feather each layer out until the crack is filled and the repair is just past flush. This may take a lot of layers...not sure. I bought 12' of fiberglass mesh so I should have enough. Then let it dry overnight....I will probably have a small heater going full blast under the boat.
Step 5 - Wednesday Night: I will sand it to a nice smooth finish.
Step 6 - Thursday Night: Clean it again with acetone and start the process of clear coat.
Both cracks are on the bottom of the boat. No one will see the repair.
First priority is to make the repair structural and to stop any further damage. This time if year, I am very concerned about getting the cracked fiberglass wet, then freezing, and delaminating the hull so this repair needs to be done before I go fishing next....
Since I am using the Black Pigment, it should match up fairly well after sanding. The clear coat is another sealer that will help it stay good.
Do you guys want to give me advice or modify my plan?
I extensively use West Systems to quote, "Pull a Rabbit out of my Hat" but in your case looking at the pictures polyester would be easier to work with. Do not build it up past flush using epoxy, mix a fairing mix with the epoxy after structure is repaired. As long as the epoxy is tacky you can re-coat and get a chemical adhesion but if it cures sanding is required between coats. After you fair you can coat with straight tinted resin. Also give the guys at West a call, their tech support is fantastic. Their advice to you will be gold.
Can't tell with your pics if there's any indentions. If so, I would mix up some peanut butter (polyester resin and filler) and fill in those spots, let dry, sand, clean with acetone, then go with your layers of sloth n resin. Course, all of this work is very difficult without the proper temperature. Your heater(s) could assist you, but a well controlled ventilated garage or wait till spring would be ideal. Good luck.
I would have used polyester resin. Gelcoat doesn't adhere real well to epoxy. I never tint my glasswork either. I'd do the fairing with vinylester over the epoxy, then just spray it with black gelcoat afterwards, using wax or duratec in the last coat. Everything needs to stay above 60 degrees for a good cure.
Guys, Thank you so much for the advice. I waited and didn't not start last night.
The hull is a lot thicker than I ever imagined. I fully expected to be all the way thru after sanding, so the gauge is deep. I did see the West System Epoxy Fillers on the shelf. They had the fairing fillers 407 Low Density and 410 Micro Epoxy. Is that the polyester you guys are talking about?
The front gauge went fairly well, I think.... I did grind it back a lot farther than the original photo so it's closer to that 12/1 pitch. I bet I put 30 strips of fiberglass and a bunch of West System Resin + Hardener. The final coat of resin had the black pigment so it's looking good. I will need to sand it smooth next weekend. Fingers crossed it works out.
The back gauge ate my lunch and gravity kicked my butt. I had to grind a bunch more fiberglass out and end up getting into a layer of foam. The bottom of the boat was maybe 3/8" thick then there's a 3/4" layer of some sort of foam. That layer was holding water....not good at all. So, I dug as much foam out as I could and a fan on it over night. The next morning, my work area was a dry but I am sure the entire layer of foam is still holding water. That's not good and I have no idea how to fix that problem.
Removing the foam left an open void. I ended up stuffing the void with bondo to block the moisture and give my resin and fiberglass repair a solid surface to bond. The bondo appeared to work great. It hardened up solid and sanded nice and smooth. I then applied my resin and started layering the fiberglass patches. Unfortunately, after 3 hours or layering and working with the patch, I could not get it to hold tight. Gravity kept pulling the patch away from the boat. So, at 5pm on Superbowl Sunday, I scraped all of my work off and threw it into the trash can.
At this point, I have the void filled with Bondo and no fiberglass patch....3 weeks before my first tournament.
When you start have the surface sanded with a 40-80 grit. Put on a light coat of neat epoxy and let it tack up. Put plastic down on a table and lightly wet out your first layer of fiberglass starting with your largest piece of fiberglass first. I suggest using 12oz biaxial. it should stick to the tacky coat. When the first layer tacks up repeat with the second layer of fiberglass. Continue adding glass layers as they tack up. I wouldn't put down more that 5 layers in a session to prevent building up to much mass and have the epoxy get too hot. As mentioned you can come back within 24 hours and keep going with out sanding. Again use a neat coat of epoxy and let it tack up before adding additional layers letting it tack up between additions. You can use a sharpy to draw rings representing each layer to keep your additions centered. You need about 8 layers of 12 oz biaxial to build up 1/4".
That's really helpful information. Last time I had way too may layers and should have stopped and let it set up. I also think I had issues with West System 205 Hardener. The pump was very inconsistent. One pump would be a dime size and the next time it would be the size of quarter so my 105 Resin wasn't setting up. Next week, I am going to do a session each evening until its all built up.
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