When it comes to the repair of damaged hulls in marine vessels, be the vessel in question a 14’ fibreglass runabout OR a 50’ fibreglass yacht, the repair scenarios follow the same set of problems. For instance:
- Inspection: can the damaged area be accessed both inside and outside of the hull? Besides a visual inspection, what other methods may be required to determine the true extent of the damage, tap testing, moisture meter testing, ultrasonics or infrared scanning?
- Moisture Removal: simply using a heat lamp to dry out a water-soaked balsa core or a plywood transom, may not provide an adequate result. Vacuum Bagging the area in addition to the use of temperature-controlled heating blankets could provide the best or only solution.
- Access: what if the hull has been punctured 100% through outer and inner fibre layers and there is no access to the inner laminates? What repair methods & techniques could be used to effectively restore the strength of the damaged hull area?
- Material Selection: the days of just slapping on layers of chopped glass matt & poly resin are in your past (or they should be!). Most of today’s manufacturers are using ‘oriented fibre laminates’ of glass, with higher-end designs using epoxy resin systems. You can’t (or you shouldn’t try to) fix an epoxy hull using polyester resin! What if it’s carbon fibre? Can I fix carbon fibre with glass fibre?
All of these questions and more can be answered by enrolling in ACT’s new 5-day MCGR – Marine Composite and Gelcoat Repair course.
For course, details go to:?
