A newbie question about fiberglassing my boat

[namrufmot]

I just picked up a cheapie 8' dinghy to use at my local pond. I'd like to add some "pole holders" on the side of the boat (we often use multiple poles at the same time).

Would it be possible for me to get some 2" diameter steel tubes, hot glue them into place (just to hold them in place), then wrap fiberglass around them to hold them permenantly?

Hope that question makes sense...thanks, Tom

[alan white]

Yes, but I'd recommend 2" PVC schedule 40 pipe, which is easier to cut and cheap. Then do as you mentioned. Are you using epoxy?

Hey--- another idea---- today I was putting up some gutters with 2" round pvc downspouts. They attached with pvc hangers that looked neat and used one single screw per attachment. First a supplied plastic block was screwed to the wall, and then the pvc band attached to that with a single screw crosswise. If you used two downspout clamps per holder and a short section of downspout, bingo. You would have to drill through the hull two small holes and use ss 10-24 screws and nuts, but this whole job would take about a half hour and be CHEAP. The company that makes that gutter system is plastimo.
The standout of pipe-to-wall, by the way, is about an inch, which would clear any gunwale, etc..
Alan

[namrufmot]

Thanks for the quick reply..

I havent picked up any materials yet. I will be picking up the fabric and epoxy tomorrow.

Will the standard epoxy also adhere to wood?

[johnnyv]

Epoxy should adhere nicely to most wood types.
You should overcoat your fibreglass job with a pigmented topcoat or clear coat with UV absorbers as epoxy degrades when exposed to UV fairly quickly.
If glassing around steel or pvc pipe, a sand to rough up the surface your bonding to can be a good idea.

[namrufmot]

Ok I picked up all the materials today...it was suprisingly cheap!

Whats the best way to cover the keel of the boat? Down the middle with one looooong piece of fiberglass or a few overlapping pieces?

[alan white]

Could you describe your keel? It is a skeg, I think. Is it ground down a bit?
Is this a FG boat or wood?
A photo would be helpful. Do you have a camera?

[namrufmot]

I can get pics tomorrow but yes it's a skeg...about 2" wide running the entire length.

The guy I bought the boat from CAKED resin on the bottom of the boat. I'm sanding it down and reinforcing the bad spots.

And its an all FG boat