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Explore the latest Repairing Major Damage articles
By Ken Wilson After burning out my engine coupler and being towed home to Kelowna Yacht Club (KYC) (by a sailboat, no less), I knew my boat was going to need some work. We hauled the boat out of the water and removed the engine to determine the extent of repairs required.
Getting started on any project is half the battle. This could not be truer when it comes to an unexpected fiberglass repair. Every crashed boat is different; making every repair a bit different. Some repairs are straightforward, textbook repairs. The damage occurs on a flat area of the hull that is a solid fiberglass laminate. […]
By Don Gutzmer – GBI Technical Advisor Investigating the Damage As with any repair, determining the extent of the damage is paramount. One must embody a marine surveyor’s mindset to determine the underlying issue, then devise an effective repair that will also prevent the problem from returning. The first step I took was to “sound” […]
By Don Gutzmer – GBI Technical Advisor The advantage of repairing a keel with G/flex Epoxy is that it is a toughened system that has a tensile elongation of more than 30 percent, which would prevent cracks from reappearing in the fairing compound. A local boat owner called our technical line and asked about repairing […]
by Rich Simms, NMSC Above: The US Customs fiberglass boat that was damaged while interacting with suspect violators and repaired with WEST SYSTEM Epoxy. Vessels used by the Bureau of Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) can be subjected to severe conditions during law enforcement operations. Occasionally, the intense interaction between law enforcement vessel and suspect […]
