How would you fix this hull gouge caused by the bow eye?
The boat I bought last year had a bent bow eye and it was also loose and I figured it was time to fix it.
I took it off and see that the small metal backing plate it had created a crater through the fiberglass and also the wood beneath the fiberglass. I cleaned it up and the wood looks to be in pretty good shape, but there is about a ¼” deep groove in the wood. See photos.
How would you fix this? I was thinking of just filling the void with epoxy and then putting some fiberglass over it. Then to add more strength, add some backing like a composite board and a metal plate on top. And then secure the bow eye on top of all of that.
Or am I overthinking this and I should just add the backing/metal plate?
I used a carbide bit to clean out the holes then filled with thickened Epoxy. After curing I re-drilled the holes but backed the holes with a 1/4in thick piece of aluminum plate. I epoxied the plate in place, it was pre-drilled on a drill press. When drilling the holes the plate acted as a drilling fixture. Finally bedding the new bow eye in black 5200 on the install.
A word of caution if the fiberglass on the inside is not at the same angle as the fiberglass where the eye actually sits drilling from the inside make the eye sit wrong. Put your eye in the existing holes and dry fit your backing plate to ensure the holes are centered thru the backing plate. Some bows have thicker glass on the bottom hole than the top which will throw your new holes off on the wrong angle or plane. The eye holes must be drilled parallel but exactly perpendicular to the outside of the hull so the buttresses both come to rest at the same time on the hull when the eye is inserted. I hope this makes sense to you, kinda hard to explain in writing.
How would you fix this hull gouge caused by the bow eye?
Reply With Quote