hole in gel coat below waterline after jetwashing, best fix?

[steve yates]

Kind of flaked off when pressure washing, on the underside of the hull above the keel; whats the best way to deal with this please?

Cheers.

 

[johnalison]

You have only removed what was going to come off anyway. I would fill it with epoxy and a blob of antifoul after removing all the loose stuff and sail the rest of the season. In the winter I would strip the whole surface, or maybe sell the boat!

 

[VicS]

Kind of flaked off when pressure washing, on the underside of the hull above the keel; whats the best way to deal with this please?

Cheers.

Epoxy putty ......... "Milliput" frequently recommended on these forums

 

[jwilson]

It's gelcoat flaking off. Presumably not a newish or high value boat (not trying to be nasty). Scrape, prise off any loose edges, till it doesn't want to come off any more. Get as clean as you can then wipe with acetone, let dry (doesn't take long) then fill with epoxy filler (Plastic Padding do one). Milliput would not be my choice for this. Sand smoothish. Antifoul with the rest of the hull. Go sailing.

 

[steve yates]

ok, she isnt going in the water till next summer anyway, too many other jobs to be done, so I have plenty time to do it properly. Though I wont be stripping the whole hull and re gelcoating, its a 1974 longbow.

 

[Boathook]

As per others but I would grind the surface a bit to get the exposed grp clean and then epoxy with thickeners, etc.

 

[johnlilley]

Quite rare for gel coat/laminate bonding failure, could it be an old local hull repair or perhaps redundant skin fitting sealing that has a surfacing filler failure that has occurred....probably best to explore a bit more to make sure that if it is an old hull repair , the edges of the repair are structurally intact. As others suggest just prepare and use epoxy based surfacing fillers/coatings. Perhaps she has had the gel oat stripped at some stage and it is a failing fairing compound.

 

[wizard]

If the core has taken up water you will need to allow it to dry out prior to sealing again.

 

[steve yates]

If the core has taken up water you will need to allow it to dry out prior to sealing again.

Oh it will be dry, has been ashore for over a year now, and baking in the sun

 

[NotBirdseye]

It's gelcoat flaking off. Presumably not a newish or high value boat (not trying to be nasty). Scrape, prise off any loose edges, till it doesn't want to come off any more. Get as clean as you can then wipe with acetone, let dry (doesn't take long) then fill with epoxy filler (Plastic Padding do one). Milliput would not be my choice for this. Sand smoothish. Antifoul with the rest of the hull. Go sailing.

That was surprisingly useful. (I.e. complete newb like myself understood).

 

[fisherman]

Definitely an old repair, probably not well done in the first place. Good to do while dry, grind back until you find sound edges then fill as above.

 

[viago]

easy job.

flick off the loose stuff with a screwdriver

put a sanding disc on your grinder and take the edges back an inch or two to give good adhesion. try not to go too deep.

fill with some waterproof gunge of your choice. i'd use plastic padding marine. quick and easy to fill and easy to sand to a perfect contour.


here you go. https://www.boatpaint.co.uk/acatalog/Plastic-Padding.html