James78 Posted October 10, 2023 Share Posted October 10, 2023 (edited) Hello, Just looking for a bit of advice from some sage sea dogs. I’ve recently moved to the west coast of Scotland & my new house has come with a small fishing boat with a GRP hull. The boat could do with a bit of maintenance & I’m keen to restore it and get out on the Loch for a bit of mackerel fishing. My original plan was to use a 3M compound to remove the oxidation and polish the hull but I fear it’s gone beyond that. There are some areas where the hull has worn through to the fibre. I’ve attached a couple photos showing where the damage is worst. From the bit of research I’ve done, I can deal with scratches and dings but looking for some advice for where it’s worn through to the fibre in particular. Many thanks in advance.. Best James H Edited October 10, 2023 by James78 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordmac Posted October 10, 2023 Share Posted October 10, 2023 Has the gellcoat gone there or has someone added a layer of csm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James78 Posted October 10, 2023 Author Share Posted October 10, 2023 57 minutes ago, Gordmac said: Has the gellcoat gone there or has someone added a layer of csm? Hi, thanks for your reply. It’s actually my father in laws boat originally, have asked him & yes he carried out a patch on this area of the hull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintly Fish Posted October 10, 2023 Share Posted October 10, 2023 @Geoff is your man!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted October 11, 2023 Share Posted October 11, 2023 Agree with @Gordmac, that looks like a patch has been added over the top of, presumably, a split or hole in the grp. It may be smart to remove the patch and reapply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James78 Posted October 11, 2023 Author Share Posted October 11, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Andy135 said: Agree with @Gordmac, that looks like a patch has been added over the top of, presumably, a split or hole in the grp. It may be smart to remove the patch and reapply. Hi Andy, Yeah it was patched after the boat broke free from its mooring and ran aground, presumably as you say there’s perhaps a hole underneath. Advice on how to best remove the patch would be appreciated. It would be nice to do a fix that is a little nicer than CSM which while functional, doesn’t look great. Cheers.. James Edited October 11, 2023 by James78 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted October 11, 2023 Share Posted October 11, 2023 3 minutes ago, James78 said: Hi Andy, Yeah it was patched after the boat broke free from its mooring and ran aground, presumably as you say there’s perhaps a hole underneath. Advice on how to best remove the patch would be appreciated. It would be nice to do a fix that is a little nicer than CSM which while functional, doesn’t look great. Cheers.. James Hi James, In theory it should be possible to remove the patch, grind back to clean grp then apply some matting and gel coat to the top, but @Geoff would know better than I on all things to do with glassing. 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted October 11, 2023 Share Posted October 11, 2023 Hi James. It is unusual to just patch the outside with CSM. Was there actually a hole, or just a bit of local damage to the Gelcoat? Normally if it was a hole the repair would be done from the inside of the hull unless the damage was very little. If there was a hole in an inaccessible area it may need further discussion. If I can be of any assistance to you please do not hesitate to contact me. Geoff 🙂 JonC and Andy135 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonC Posted October 11, 2023 Share Posted October 11, 2023 9 hours ago, Geoff said: Hi James. It is unusual to just patch the outside with CSM. Was there actually a hole, or just a bit of local damage to the Gelcoat? Normally if it was a hole the repair would be done from the inside of the hull unless the damage was very little. If there was a hole in an inaccessible area it may need further discussion. If I can be of any assistance to you please do not hesitate to contact me. Geoff 🙂 Surely you will be far two busy with launching the Fenlander? Very kind of you to offer your help though, I’m sure you can give the best advice on such matters. Geoff 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzook12 Posted October 11, 2023 Share Posted October 11, 2023 I would be tempted to knock that out with a grinder and go again.... Boatworks today on youtube, loads of info and how to's on that channel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James78 Posted October 14, 2023 Author Share Posted October 14, 2023 (edited) On 10/11/2023 at 7:16 PM, Geoff said: Hi James. It is unusual to just patch the outside with CSM. Was there actually a hole, or just a bit of local damage to the Gelcoat? Normally if it was a hole the repair would be done from the inside of the hull unless the damage was very little. If there was a hole in an inaccessible area it may need further discussion. If I can be of any assistance to you please do not hesitate to contact me. Geoff 🙂 Hi Geoff, Thanks for your response. I don’t think there was a hole in the hull as I don’t remember seeing evidence of this on the inside. I’m not actually at home at the moment so can’t check. I’m thinking there was probably just localised damage to the gel coat. As I mentioned in the thread, the boat was my father in laws and it would be great to restore it as it holds some memories for him & the family. There’s no issues of restricted access, it’s just a fairly small fishing boat. It would be great to restore it and do something with this patch that doesn’t look great. Your advice on this would be appreciated. I’ve attached a couple of photos of the boat now and also one from the past. Many thanks & best regards James Edited October 14, 2023 by James78 Andy135 and Geoff 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James78 Posted October 14, 2023 Author Share Posted October 14, 2023 On 10/12/2023 at 12:01 AM, suzook12 said: I would be tempted to knock that out with a grinder and go again.... Boatworks today on youtube, loads of info and how to's on that channel Thanks.. I’ll check out that channel on YT. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James78 Posted October 14, 2023 Author Share Posted October 14, 2023 1 hour ago, James78 said: Hi Geoff, Thanks for your response. I don’t think there was a hole in the hull as I don’t remember seeing evidence of this on the inside. I’m not actually at home at the moment so can’t check. I’m thinking there was probably just localised damage to the gel coat. As I mentioned in the thread, the boat was my father in laws and it would be great to restore it as it holds some memories for him & the family. There’s no issues of restricted access, it’s just a fairly small fishing boat. It would be great to restore it and do something with this patch that doesn’t look great. Your advice on this would be appreciated. I’ve attached a couple of photos of the boat now and also one from the past. Many thanks & best regards James On 10/11/2023 at 7:16 PM, Geoff said: Hi James. It is unusual to just patch the outside with CSM. Was there actually a hole, or just a bit of local damage to the Gelcoat? Normally if it was a hole the repair would be done from the inside of the hull unless the damage was very little. If there was a hole in an inaccessible area it may need further discussion. If I can be of any assistance to you please do not hesitate to contact me. Geoff 🙂 Hi Geoff, Just following on from my previous message. I just noticed on one of those pics you can see the patch done from the inside of the hull, see below.. Cheers.. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted October 14, 2023 Share Posted October 14, 2023 Hi James, the inside repair looks to be quite good. but the outside glass mat spoils the job. As Zook said grind/sand back the glass mat on the outside (some of it on the edges of the repair may chisel back to the original gel coat) and paint over with new gel. You will need to thoroughly clean the area and lightly abrade the edges of existing gel to ensure good adhesion. Go steady with the gel, no need to apply too much. Cover the newly applied gel with shrink wrap and gently smooth over the gel through the wrap and leave to dry. In cold weather it is worth wafting over the repair using a heat gun or hair dryer to assist curing. When dry remove the cling film and gently sand over and blend. It is very unlikely that you will have a perfect colour match, but should get somewhere close. That dinghy will look very nice if you can manage to get the woodwork sorted. Good luck. Geoff. Andy135 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James78 Posted October 16, 2023 Author Share Posted October 16, 2023 On 10/14/2023 at 2:14 PM, Geoff said: Hi James, the inside repair looks to be quite good. but the outside glass mat spoils the job. As Zook said grind/sand back the glass mat on the outside (some of it on the edges of the repair may chisel back to the original gel coat) and paint over with new gel. You will need to thoroughly clean the area and lightly abrade the edges of existing gel to ensure good adhesion. Go steady with the gel, no need to apply too much. Cover the newly applied gel with shrink wrap and gently smooth over the gel through the wrap and leave to dry. In cold weather it is worth wafting over the repair using a heat gun or hair dryer to assist curing. When dry remove the cling film and gently sand over and blend. It is very unlikely that you will have a perfect colour match, but should get somewhere close. That dinghy will look very nice if you can manage to get the woodwork sorted. Good luck. Geoff. Hi Geoff, Thanks for the advice.. I’ll have a go and let you know how I get on. Many thanks.. James Geoff and Saintly Fish 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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