Repairing a scratch in the hull

[Samoddie]

I keep a trailer sailer in NW Scotland. I scratched the hull on the trailer getting her out last winter (engine failed on last pull of the season!). Am going up north in a few weeks, and the plan is to look how deep the sratch is, and probably apply some epoxy to fill any actual fibreglass damage. Hoping wont need any fibreglass, but if it does, I have this to hand. My question is whether epoxy (West) is a suitable base for antifouling, or is that a terrible idea? The area is going to be small, but the scratch is long FWIW. Thoughts?

 

[Stemar]

If it's just the gelcoat that's damaged, I'd fill it with the polyester or epoxy filler that's the closest match I could find to the original colour; in NW Scotland, I'd probably go for polyester as it will go off in colder temperatures, while epoxy probably won't. If it goes deeper, I'd open it out with about a 12:1 taper and put as many layers of glass cloth as common sense suggests, going from smaller to bigger, then make good the finish with filler as above. Epoxy would be strongest, but would need at least 10 degrees. Poly or vinylester resin is more forgiving.

There's plenty on YouTube on such repairs - Boatworks Today wouldn't be a bad place to start.

 

[MontyMariner]

Might be useful http://montymariner.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/GRP-REPAIR-MANUAL.pdf

 

[Samoddie]

If I fix scratch with epoxy, must it have polyester filler on top? Or could I just apply antifoul direct to epoxy?

 

[Stemar]

Straight to epoxy will be fine.