while the site was down i got a lot done. My friend totally repaired the hull, including a nasty spot and a horrid crack I did not see (hidden by multiple layers of bottom paint) He ground everything down and did multiple (like 6 or 7) layers of fiberglass. Now the boat looks better and stronger than the manufacturer probably made it. He made everything look great and put some bottom paint on it. He took 20 pics with a film camera and I have yet to scan them in so I will upload them asap.
Update: After yesterdays flooding rains i went out to check on my boat. I was surprised to see that I only had about a cup of water in my boat. Its such a releif to not have a leak in the hull and also an automatic bilge as well. Even after a month without use, my motor started up with only a second or two of cranking. As I was leaving the harbor I noticed my friend's most unfortunate Whaler was swamped and about an inch from being underwater. I pretty much sat there for 2 hours with a hand pump because his battery was underwater so his automatic one surely would not work. The harbormaster is out for the season as well so I was on my own. Turns out his float lever went faulty and the pump never turned on. Then his battery got wet and all was lost from there on. When he gets home from vacation he owes me a drink or two
Then I took out my 22-2 and sped across some flat waters (those post-storm waters are amazing). Maybe its because Ive been off the water for so long, but she was handling beautifully. I could take turns tighter than my body could handle and hit speeds I deemed unsafe, I was quite glad to be back out on the water. I am glad I payed somebody more professional than myself to do hull work because I am much more confident with the fix. I will learn to fiberglass eventually, but It will be above the waterline.
Again, I will post pics of the fix once I figure out this darned scanner
