Help i have a hole in my boat

[bwingler]

I noticed some water dripping out of the bottom of my boat up front by the bow, i poked and what i thought was a crack is now a hole. what do i do to fix it?

pictures at www.captnbarry.com/hole

[KnottyBuoyz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N7YMr6E564

[PAR]

It would be helpful to have more information about you boat. Year, model, engine, general condition, things you (or others) have done to her, etc.

I blew up the photos and took a look, but couldn't see enough to make more then guesses. Clearly you have some laminate damage, likely an impact that lead to moisture getting into the internal structure, furthering your difficulties.

It would be wise to have a good look from above the hole as well. It's possible you have more damage (likely) to wooden components as well as the hull shell, because water has been living in there for some time. This may mean cutting an access hole, but watch what you're doing so you don't make holes where you don't want them, like through the hull.

In a nut shell you need to grind back the laminate until you're back to good stuff. You'll be able to tell by the color and texture. then feather the edges well back and make a 'glass repair.

Of course this is an over simplification. There are literally hundreds of previous posts on this site addressing hull and laminate repairs. Use the search tool and start your research.

[diagram]

I would add that a structural repair typically is glassed from both sides if possible. The C/L can have a great deal of load focused right on this area when loading on a trailer and suffers with beaching - could be your cause. Any fractures or delam need to completely ground out to good glass and then as West notes 12 to 1 bevel is nice - both sides. Match at least the original thickness - rule of thumb. In this area of the boat I would not hesitate to make it thicker.

[the1much]

is it fiberglass? it looks like a wood boat to me,,but i've only been awake an hour.

[bwingler]

it is all fiberglass

[the1much]

i'm almost willing to bet your damage goes pretty far from the hole, each layer that you can see is like a river between them,, between layer 2 and 3 water might have only gone a few inches, but between 5 and 6 it may have delaminated and traveled a foot.like par has said, you need grinding until you get to good solid stuff, no matter how far it goes

[bwingler]

The boat is a 1973 thunderhawk, it was built in ga. full pictures is at www.nature-powered.com/boat. This weekend i will cut the floor to gain access, it may end up getting parted out it the damage is to intense for me to repair.

[the1much]

doing fiberglass repair is about the same for fixing a small crack as it is for fixing a major hole,, just a little more material. if you think you could fix a small repair , you can do a big one. it just a few extra precautions for a major repair.