Fiberglass repair in Sarasota FL

[ledfoot]

Hey guys, great site.  I have just recently moved back to Sarasota and am in dire need of a quality fiberglass guy that can come to my house for a small but important repair (through-hull tore out).  The boat is on davits and I don't have a trailer.  Thanks in advance!

-Jeff

[LilRichard]

I saw that on classicmako.  You're not interested in doing that yourself?

[ledfoot]

I'm just now starting to get some responses that might help.  I have posted some more pix of the area viewed from the aft bilge maybe folks can understand what's happening.  If anyone would be willing to come take a look at the problem and make some suggestions I would consider tackling it myself.  The pix are also posted over at classicseacraft.com.

Thanks!

[LilRichard]

I am torn on that one - hence why I have not commented on the CM site.  It's just in a crappy spot all around.  I think you really need to pull the drain "patch" and evaluate from there.  

I see two routes that could go - you could epoxy something into the hole (big dowel, etc) but I don't really like that.  

Option two, and I am not suggesting this (yet) would be to carefully cut out an over-sized hole in the baitwell (circular piece of glass) so that you can access the bottom of the boat from the inside.  I would cut it with a roto-zip or similar.  

You would then be able to bevel the edges of the hole, and lay a few layers of 1808 over that hole in increasing diameter.  Then you would glass the part back into the livewell that you cut out.

This fix would take more effort, but would make me MUCH more comfortable.

Anyone else agree / disagree?

[slippery73]

Was there water intrusion into the hull? Is there access to get into between the livewell and hull bottom as the one shot shows? It looks like you may just be able to just replace the thru hull with a brass or stainless pickup and not worry about all that extra work. I would have to say that its a pretty crap design in the first place to go through both the inner liner and hull bottom and just have that adhesive in between, makes for a possible leak point. But if your comfortable with the factory design and dont want to do all the extra work I'd just replace it with a brass pickup and 5200 the hell out of it.

[ledfoot]

LilRichard- I will work on pulling out the drain patch on Thursday.  Problem is, if I tear into this on the davits, I can't move the boat by water to a repair shop if necessary.  So I would be committed then i guess.  

As far as your suggestion, why would it be preferable to make the hull patch from the inside of the hull?  Is that a strength or cosmetic decision?  It is very tight in that livewell area because it drops down for the drain.  I'm not sure I could get a saw down there...  I'll look when I go to the boat tomorrow.

Please let me know if you have any revelations...

Slippery:
There was water intrusion back before the cheesy PVC "fix" was done.  I could see daylight through the hull next to the old brass fitting.  There really isn't access to that space from inside the hull.  Only the camera can go there!  I am not comfortable just replacing the brass sleeve- I think there is too much flex between the hull & the livewell (deck).

[LilRichard]

Well you could go from the bottom, then patch the livewell from the inside.  I was just recommending going form the inside because doing glasswork upside down (over the water) might be a real PITA.  

Either way, if you're not going to use that pickup for the livewell, I would patch the hole.  The more holes you have in your hull, the more likely it is to sink.

[slippery73]

Either way you will want to patch the hole in your hull, its just a matter of you wanting to tackle it or a shop. If you've never done anything with glass before this might not be the time to learn on something like this, tight quarters, kind of critical area as its below the waterline. Prep work would be key, and properly grinding back the area for the patch.

[RickK]

There is a fellow that has a shop right across from Fiberglass Services in Sarasota and he's also mobile - met him but never used him.  He's been there a long time though-long enough to have full access to Fiberglass Services on the weekends so .....

[ledfoot]

Thanks Rick!

He is coming over Saturday to take a look. "Jeff's Fiberglass" is the name of the place.  Nice guy, we'll see what he has to say.  I have a few small projects for him.  I'll update with photos as we progress.