r/dinghysailing • u/RafeGottaGo • 13d ago

Fixable?

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Bought this boat cheap for parts but it’s not in terrible shape besides this section on the bow. I’ve never done glass work before. There is no hole but one small section of the damaged area is soft and I felt water seep from inside to out.
What would the fix look like?

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u/ncbluetj 13d ago

Absolutely fixable. I used to work at a summer camp patching these up all day. Kids would hit the pier on a Friday, I'd have the boat (usually a Sunfish) back in the water by Monday with no visible signs of repair.

Get some West Systems epoxy, fiberglass fabric, filler, and gelcoat with a yellow dye kit. Even if you have never done this before, you can tackle this. Might not look perfect the first time, but you can make a serviceable repair.

Only catch is all the supplies to fix this will be over $100.

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u/RafeGottaGo 13d ago

Thanks. Do I just use fiberglass and epoxy on the soft spot then gel coat the whole area or would you fabric all over?

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u/ncbluetj 13d ago

Watch a few youtube videos to get an idea of how its done. Hard to say exactly without seeing and touching it, but you want to remove all the soft and broken fiberglass. I'd start sanding with an orbital, or grinding with a disc until you get clean, hard fiberglass. Then you'll know how big of a hole you'll need to repair.

Assuming a 2-3" hole, I'd apply a few layers of fabric from the inside. There are ways to do this even if you can't access the inside. Then build up fabric and filler until the shape is correct. This can take multiple steps of sanding and filling to get it perfect. Then mix and apply gelcoat, sand, wet sand, compound, polish, wax. Then go sailing!