delamination of fiberglass in bottom of the boat

hello, i have boat that have explosion in cabin, and i found a scar in the fibreglass of the bottom of the boat, its about 2m long. Closer inspection reveal that pressure that build up inside cabin, flex the bottom of the boat and make delamination of few layers of fibreglass, i don't know how far it go since, i see only scar . My idea is to pour resin between this delamination skin and rest of the bottom layer to glue this two pieces , and then make few layers of fibreglass on top to improve strength. question, what resin to use to pour and fill broken layers, epoxy or polyester? boat is polyester. In my opinion epoxy should work better, but after a call to few boat repair company they told me to use polyester resin, because boat is also maked from polyester. Who are right, me or they?

 

First, you need to grind out all the old damaged glass, don't grind all the way through the hull though. Leave some glass so you still have the correct shape. Apply enough glass so it will hold its shape, then grind from the other side and glass it. This should remove all the fractured glass.

As for which type of resin to use.
The short answer is both will work.

Epoxy is stronger in just about every way, but this type of repair doesn't really require that added strength.

 

Get a marine surveyor to have a good look at it, and pass judgement on whether it is practicably repairable, and get some advice on "how", if it is feasible, while they are at it.

 

I agree. It may have major structural problems.

 

You really ought to do some pushing on that area to see if it is badly damaged or get a sirveyor to check it.

It may require adding more laminate as damaged or cracked laminate is weak alone and resin only is not strong enough. Two meters of a crack is quite a lot and I would not think shooting some glue in there is enough.

 

with pour resin i want only fill this air pockets, and hope that it glue together layers, i know it will be not strong like before, after apply layers of fiberglass on top , but maybe it will be too risky

 

Two metres says it has suffered a significant event, definitely get a surveyor to examine it. Sounds pretty bad.

 

epoxies advantages make it a wise choice here

if you have lost some fiber strength; a stronger adhesive can help a bit

if you have a crack; epoxy is less brittle under elongation

the bigger concern is how will the boat perform in rougher conditions or hitting a large wake

if you have access to the inside; you can do a pretty good repair, but you really need to know if the fibers are destroyed across the crack

 

Wait a second, did I read “explosion”? And all of you just started talking about epoxy and getting a survey. I want to know about the explosion.

 

yeah, we are old guys and no fun, bring some party beans, see if he spills em

 

it was leak of gas bottle , and one spark thats all

 

Had that happen to my cousin about ten years ago. It blew up when he ignited the stove to make Breakfast. Life hasn't been the same since, a year or so in a hospital being treated for severe burns and broken bones can leave you rather depressed. He is severely disabled.

 

Plenty have finished up "brown bread" from leaking gas bottles in confined spaces.

 

Not to be an ***, but wouldn't one smell it?

 

Apparently not. They woke up, his wife was still in the bunk, he went over to the stove to make coffee and boom.

The bilge was full of fumes, when it ignited the sole flexed upward which hit him on the way up, then the ceiling instantly stopped his upward motion. This broke his legs, neck and back, plus many other things.

The flame spread was instantaneous, but luckily brief. He was burned over 90% of his body. His wife was still in the bunk and wasn't as affected as he was, but her clothes were on fire.

This is the odd part of the story.
I hadn't seen my cousin in decades, he'd moved to another state and I lost track of him, I had no clue he had a boat and made long trips to Canadian waters to fish.

I did know that my best friend was going to this location with another guy, and they were going to meet up with the other guy's father in law.

When my friend got back from the trip he was very shaken up and told me the story of meeting up in a remote bay with the other guys father in law and anchoring next to them.

In the morning my friend said he had just started to make breakfast when the other boat exploded. Then went into the details of what they had to do to save the father in law. It wasn't pretty, it had a huge affect on my friend.

At a family reunion about one year later I overheard a conversation about my cousin and how his boat exploded when he was in Canada.

After a couple of questions it was clear that my best friend had saved my cousins life.