Reparing my Boat's "Keel" or Cutwater

[DukesFin]

The person I bought my boat from apparently would put it on the trailer by dragging the cutwater across steel (so it seems) as it is not rounded anymore. The gel coat is gone and instead of a nice "rounded" edge, it has been worn flat and the glass shows. I know I need to be sure it is absolutely dry before I repair it...

Here's a picture (sorry for the MS Paint) of the problem:

The top picture is what it should look like and the image on the bottom is what mine looks like. The problem area or "flat" area is about 3 feet long and the flat area is about 1 inch wide.

How should I repair this? Do I need to just use "peanut butter" or cabosil or do I need to add matt/cloth to do it right?

The boat is a 1990 Cabo 20' center console off shore fishing boat. Pretty heavy for it's size...

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Reparing my Boat's "Keel" or Cutwater

For that repair what I'd do is mold the hull to the shape I want using peanut butter inside sections of plastic sheet or aluminum angle then put a couple thin layers of cloth on the outside overlapping the rest of the hull, then paint or gelcoat.

A neat trick would be to mold a new edge by filling a 2 inch aluminum angle (waxed) with a mix of fibers and resin, when it hardens pop it out of the angle and attach it to the spot needing repair with peanut butter and fair it. You could even coat it with gelcoat this way.

A quick repair might be just some peanut butter to seal it followed by installation of a keel guard product.

Probably the "standard" way for inexperienced people to do a repair like this is to thoroughly clean out loose fibers and dirt, make sure it's dry, then use white marine-tex to fill any holes and coat it, then sand smooth.

But to repair the hull to its pointy original shape will require either molding or some artistic work with peanut butter and cloth or mat, and securely attaching that part to the rest of the hull will require overlapping tabs at the joint at least.

This is pretty much a cosmetic repair unless you're holed through the gelcoat, so the marine-tex repair will perform about the same as the full professional repair.

Erik

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Reparing my Boat's "Keel" or Cutwater

Without an actual pic its tough to say what it looked like to begin with, some keels are sharper than others and some are very round. If yours is sharp and a great deal of glass is worn off, then more glass is needed to build the area up.

If you can get to the inside the repair is easy, build up a few layers on the inside and then do a cosmetic repair on the out side. If you need to do it all from the outside then its a little more involved, but not much.
From the outside, sand an area a little wider than the damaged area to allow the new glass enough of a surface to get a good bond. Rebuild it with strips of glass as needed to return it to the original shape, with a light over lap to cover the sanded area. Now you can sand it to the correct shape and apply paint or gel coat, a Keel guard type product will also help to protect the area from future damage.

If the trailer needs to be modified, do it right away or you'll back in the same spot soon.

 

[DukesFin]

Re: Reparing my Boat's "Keel" or Cutwater

It's going to be work from the outside for sure. It wasn't "razor sharp" to begin with, in fact, it was about as round as 1/4 of 1" pipe.

Trailer is being worked on now, that's why I am into the Q&A phase of the boat repair. I don't want to do any repair work more than once!

Thanks for the tips. I'll get home and look at it a few more times before I decide how to tackle it, but you two have certainly provided me with much needed information! Thanks!

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Reparing my Boat's "Keel" or Cutwater

Hello Duke..

I agree that without pics its impossible for anyone to say one way or another.

YD.

 

[DukesFin]

Re: Reparing my Boat's "Keel" or Cutwater

Hello Duke..

I agree that without pics its impossible for anyone to say one way or another.

YD.

Ask and ye shall receive!

I hope I did a decent job of taking these for you to help me! Thanks again...

Finger for "scale":

And last, but not least!

NOW, what do you think?

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Reparing my Boat's "Keel" or Cutwater

Minor and normal damage.

It looks like it could be built up with Marine Tex and then sanded into shape.

I don't normally recommend Marine Tex, but in this case it will be easy to find, strong and simple.

If I were doing it myself, I'd use resin, mat and gel coat, but it will be easier for you to just use M/T.

 

[DukesFin]

Re: Reparing my Boat's "Keel" or Cutwater

I was thinking I'd build it up just a bit with cabosil, then cover it with a strip of chopped mat, then finish with some new gel coat.

I've got a couple of "dings" I could use the filler for anyway and gel coat over...

???

MarineTex sure does sound a LOT easier!!!!

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Reparing my Boat's "Keel" or Cutwater

Hello again Duke..

Thanks for the pics

From what I can tell .. its been repaired already..( or has some kind of fire-retardent putty ) not likely..

Get a Freash razor knife ready

Grind all that crap off... all the white glass has to go m8. Then mask tape the repair parimeter and glass with mat strips. ( do not cut..but tear your mat into strips) about 10" long .. keep building it up with mat till you get your thickness.

Soon after it starts to gel up ( without pulling glass up ) take that razor and cut along your tape line.

Your glass is going to be "built up" at that tape line..but on a sharp radius like that wont be a problem to grind/sand till shaped..and will be ALL glass and no "putty".

Then put some gelcoat over that. ( step by step for apply and finish gel repairs are already posted by me).

YD.

 

[DukesFin]

Re: Reparing my Boat's "Keel" or Cutwater

Yacht Dr.:

That is EXACTLY the kind of direction/instruction I was hoping for!!!

I just got the boat back from Florida (home to Atlanta), so I'll gather materials over the weekend and start on it next week!

The other "spots" I have to repair are those with that same putty "stuff" in them... I don't know what that putty is, but I don't like it! I cannot take it off with a finger nail as it is too firm for that, but it is "soft" when any hard tool is taken to it (such as a screwdriver)... I'm going to get all of that stuff off while I'm doing the cutwater work!

Thanks!!!