Re: [Paddlewise] Hull Repair

Hi Doug,
I'm not really a professional boat repairer, but I play one on TV. 
Actually, I'm a "paid amateur" with plenty of opinions, but I'm always
looking for others' ideas on repairs.

Doug wrote:
>1. Deep hull scratches  -  I normally use a gel coat filler (this is the
>paste variety, not the thin stuff),<<snip>> Does anyone use
>any other product?

I use the thin stuff and squeegee it into the scratch.  It keeps the
excess off the top, and usually only one or two coats will fill a deep
scratch to the level of the surrounding hull.  The advantage of the
squeegee is that you avoid about 95% of the sanding necessitated by any
other method.  I usually use a squeegee cut from the side of a plastic
yogurt or ice cream container.

>2. Excessive keel-line wear (usually near the stern)  -   I will either
>use thick multiple layers of gel coat fill (thick stuff), or add cloth
>impregnated with resin, then perhaps top off with gel coat fill. Does
>anyone do it differently. I know one fellow who uses the thinner gel
>coat resin, and works it right into the cloth, rather than using the
>clear resin with the cloth. Any thoughts?

I've used gel coat resin for wetting out cloth.  It seems a tad slower
to soak in, but seems to be work just as well.  Its main advantage is
that a deep penetrating scratch will show the same color, albeit with
some protruding glass fibers.  I don't think the pigmented gelcoat has
much less adhesion than the clear resin--it's just more expensive. 
Someone may correct me if I'm wrong here, though.

>3. There was a discussion a while back, with reference to a product one
>could apply to the wear points on the rear keel area. Anyone remember
>the name of the product. It wasn't part of the normal fiberglass repair
>product "family".

All I can think of is kevlar felt, but you'd have thought of that.  Oh,
wait, was it Dynel or some other polyester fabric?  Polyester wets out
clearer than kevlar, but not nearly as clear as fiberglass.  It's just a
little translucent.

>4. Anyone have ideas/suggestions/experience with glassing-in thigh
>support within the inside diameter of the cockpit opening?

Start with some kind of shaped mold--make it look just like the desired
thigh support should look.  Wood, styrofoam, minicell--just something to
provide a shape for the glass.  You could either make it permanent or
just a temporary mold for the glass.  Hot glue it in place and place
glass over it. If you want to remove your mold later, cover your cockpit
and the mold with wax or plastic wrap.  Glass, let cure, remove the
glass and mold from the boat.  Then, peel the mold out of the glass and
epoxy in the thigh support.

>5. If you were attending a seminar, what would you like to see
>covered/explained/demonstrated?

Hull repairs, custom outfitting (your Nordkapp should be a poster child
for outfitting!) such as deck rigging, under deck rigging/storage,
cockpit (seat/hip pad/knee hook-thigh pad/foot rest) customization,
storage options (drybag options, canisters, Pelican boxes, trash
compactor bags), sea socks, bulkheads, dry/wetsuit maintenance (303/sink
the stink!), fixing dinged fiberglass paddle blades.  Of course, I think
all this stuff is fascinating, but it might bore others!  To each their
own.

Shawn

-- 
Shawn W. Baker          0                                    46°53'N
© 2000            ____©/______                              114°06'W
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^\  ,/      /~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^
baker_at_montana.com    0        http://www.geocities.com/shawnkayak/
***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not
to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission
Submissions:     paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
Subscriptions:   paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************