please help quickly - fibreglass repair question

[roodypoot]

I am trying to assist a young man in the caribbean with his boat. He has very little money and depends on me for good advice. Today, he dashed his 1990 4 winns 21' against a dock and it left a gash about the size of a person's hand in the exterior. A local man has offered to repair it, but crime and dishonesty are rampant where he is and he asked to me go online to get information about how such a thing should be repaired because he's afraid the dude may be misleading him. I would be so grateful for a brief explanation of how such a repair should be done properly and how long it should take. The damage is far above the water line. Thanks very much for your prompt reply...time is of the essence here.

 

[Solittle]

Re: please help quickly - fibreglass repair question

Well you haven't given us much to go on. What do you mean by "gash about the size of a hand print"? Has the hull been penetrated? How far above the waterline is the damage? Is the area behind the damage accessable? What does the local plan to do & how much? Does your friend plan on comming back to the states any time soon? Is your friend handy?

The more you tell us the better info. you are going to get. Can you post a picture?

 

[brodie6]

Re: please help quickly - fibreglass repair question

Seems "crime and dishonesty" are rampant everywhere these days. Shame:'(

 

[roodypoot]

Re: please help quickly - fibreglass repair question

Well you haven't given us much to go on. What do you mean by "gash about the size of a hand print"? Has the hull been penetrated? How far above the waterline is the damage? Is the area behind the damage accessable? What does the local plan to do & how much? Does your friend plan on comming back to the states any time soon? Is your friend handy?

The more you tell us the better info. you are going to get. Can you post a picture?

 

[roodypoot]

Re: please help quickly - fibreglass repair question

i'm sorry for the lack of detail....i'm doing all of this by phone, and I don't have pictures. I am very new to boating, and I was just hoping for some basic information about how fiberglass is normally repaired. I'm not doing this for myself, I'm just trying to help a friend and hope you'll forbear my ignornance. Please respond if you can. thank you.

 

[zuke1]

Re: please help quickly - fibreglass repair question

without a pic its hard to say what your options are, i would just glass the inside, then the outside, then paint... but that is, i think the easy way to to do it, granted there cant be any structual damage to do it this way... if you search the forums, you will find great pictures of guys who have had to fix holes already...

but a picture would really help... i know you probably cant get one, but hope i helped...

zuke
out

 

[Solittle]

Re: please help quickly - fibreglass repair question

Can you get the answers to the questions even if you can't get a picture?

 

[flashback]

Re: please help quickly - fibreglass repair question

if this is truly a daylight hole in the boat, then you need to remove all the ragged edges and get rid of the fractured broken fiberglass. then grind the inside and outside of the hole so it has a feathered shape (thin at the edges going back to the original thickness) . then lay up some glass cloth on the inside 3 or so layers, then go to the outside and start laying glass cloth in as many layers as it takes to get to the original thickness with each layer being smaller than the last.. eventually you will build it back up to a flat surface that you can sand and finish ........please know that this is a way of patching the hull and without seeing it I cannot say if it is the best way.......but it will work .......good luck........

 

[roodypoot]

Re: please help quickly - fibreglass repair question

I'll try to get answers. communication is somewhat difficult. thanks for your interest and concern. it's for a good cause.