Put a hole in my hull

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Marshall Wright
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Put a hole in my hull

Post by Marshall Wright »

Greetings,

I decided to cut out my leaking built-in watertank below my sole and replace both. Bought a 12A Milwaukee recip saw, cut off the top, and as I started in on the tabbing, shot that blade right through the hull. Even I would like to have a photo of my face as the water shot eight feet through the air and hit the cabin roof.

Now I have a perfect hole the size of the x-section of the blade in my hull. It looks exactly like what you would have if you stuck it into a chunk of butter (or my thigh).

I know. I know. Measure three times and cut once. Don't use power tools unless you're licenced. Don't let boat owners drink and work. And so on and so on. God, I still can't believe I did it.

On the dry now. The panic is over. I might consider fixing this myself? Never used expoxy before BUT I do own lots of good books and, as demonstrated, I'm willing to try and then pay someone else to fix my mistakes.

Can anyone tell me how big a repair I should make this? The blade hole is only 3/4". Carve it out on the inside of the hull approx. 8x the hole size? Or is this too much? To little?

Advice is most appreciated.

Marshall
Tim Mertinooke
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Re: Put a hole in my hull

Post by Tim Mertinooke »

Ouch! Don't worry about admitting mistakes here on this board, we've all done it and a quick search of the archives will expose many an underwear. Live and learn. With that said, pictures of the damaged area are a must so you can get good advice from the knowledgable folks on this board like I did prior to my own hull repair. If you feel comfortable trying the repair I say do it. It is far less complicated than one might think and very feasible for most who take there time and plan carefully. If it is a cut slit the width of the blade, I imagine you will need to bevel out a ways from the cut area with a grinder and then lay down some layers of glass from smallest to largest and then fair with thickened epoxy. Others, please chime in and correct me if I've lead astray.
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Ceasar Choppy
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Post by Ceasar Choppy »

This shouldn't be a big deal... of course it IS a boat so maybe it is a big deal.

A picture would be helpful. You will need to bevel out the laminate around the cut to leave sufficient room to lay your fiberglass.

Oh, and you'll want to lay those layers largest to smallest so you don't fair away the integrity of the fiberglass.

Do a search on the forum-- there are LOTS of threads on hole repairs.

Good luck!
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Post by Figment »

Wow.
That is one impressively stout sawzall blade. I gotta get me a pack of those.
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Post by Triton 53 »

Figment, I know what you mean. I have a nice collection of S shaped blades.

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Tim Mertinooke
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Post by Tim Mertinooke »

Ceasar Choppy wrote: Oh, and you'll want to lay those layers largest to smallest so you don't fair away the integrity of the fiberglass.
Correct. I remembered it backwards. My repair started with the largest and worked up to the smallest.

Here are the prepared cutouts showing what the final order was on my reapir.
Image
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Marshall Wright
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Patch Hole

Post by Marshall Wright »

Thanks for the responses. I've checked the archives but I have three questions.

1. Given the small size of the puncture, can I just just cut back the fiberglass on the inside and replace with the big to little patches, as suggested?

2. Or do I have to cut back on both the inside and outside of the hull and then patch both sides?

3. And finally, given the small puncture size, how big should I make the patch. Say 2 - 3 inches? Or larger?

Finally getting to the boat this weekend. Will take some photos then.

Marshall
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Ceasar Choppy
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Post by Ceasar Choppy »

I think you'll find reading through past discussions that you can either pick a side or do both. Doing it from the inside should be just fine.

I can't remember what the Gudgeon Bros. (West System) recommended bevel area is... 15:1 maybe... meaning the bevel should be roughly 15 times wide as the hull is thick. I'm going from memory here and CRS has set in-- maybe its 7:1?
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Post by Tim »

The recommended bevel is 12:1. The ultimate width of the bevel is based on the thickness of the new material being installed, not necessarily the overall thickness of the laminate. For example, 1/4" of new laminate requires a 3" wide bevel in order to install the new material at the appropriate overlap.
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Marshall Wright
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Hole in Hull

Post by Marshall Wright »

All fixed. Thanks for the advice.

Marshall
Tim Mertinooke
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Post by Tim Mertinooke »

Pictures!
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Rachel
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Post by Rachel »

Yes, photos!

A simple "All fixed" just doesn't satisfy us :D

Rachel
Marshall Wright
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Pre Puncture Photo - Test

Post by Marshall Wright »

Here's a couple of photos before I tried to sink Sunset.

Image

Image
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