hull bottom repair, please advise

[jam1ej20]

I have a 1995 dixie V19 that has some hull damage on the bottom keel. The hull appears to have taken a hard blow to the trailer axle at some point prior to my ownership of the vessel. The fiberglass and gelcoat are cracked and the stringer is visible from the bottom (or, what I believe to be the stringer is anyway.) My questions:

1.) What is the best way to fix this without turning the boat over?
2.) What material should I use (polyester or resin followed by gelcoat? or can I do it all with gelcoat? resin jelly?)
3.) How do I get the resin or poly or gelcoat thick enough to stick upside-down?

I know I have to grind the stress cracks to stop them from running further, I'm just a little unsure on all the details such as what to use and how to use it.

Thanks guys

Also: for reference, the main section of damage is roughly 4-5 inches in length.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: hull bottom repair, please advise

Hello Jam..

You need to grind all of that out to glass ( it " appears " to be an old repair.. " appears " to be )

Glass it with 1.5 oz mat and poly resin ( no thickining required..it wont drip out unless you have too much resin )

Shape it after it cures .. re-apply more smaller bits of glass if needed to build to shape ( dont use bondo or other fillers ).

Prep your area and Gel it. ( Loads of info on gelling with search feature )

YD.

 

[jam1ej20]

Re: hull bottom repair, please advise

Thanks Doc. Previous owner patched it with some sort of silicone. What are the odds that this is the culprit of a water leak issue i'm seeing?

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: hull bottom repair, please advise

Dont know m8..

Ill tell you that after you grind out your bad glass .. and if that crack goes through the bottom..that IS a good tell tail.

There could be other leaks.

Just FYI.. grind ALL the bad glass out.. ( and the silicone too )

YD.

 

[jam1ej20]

Re: hull bottom repair, please advise

Is the gelcoat necessary? Is the poly good enough and gelcoat for cosmetic purposes or does the gelcoat serve some other purpose (seals the poly or more resilient?)

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: hull bottom repair, please advise

on the bottom.. gel is semi/cosmetic..

If you really want to leave it with resin coats.. its just like sand rash .. does no damage into the glass..just looks like butt..

YD.