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PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 9:15 pm 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2010 2:13 pm
Posts: 18
Location: Port Tobacco, MD
I know soft spot repairs have been covered extensively in these forums, but I haven't seen a solution to my problem yet so I am creating a new post. I have two soft spots on the deck of one hull of my new 1981 H16 I am restoring. Started going through the steps of a typical soft spot repair, ie drilling injection and ventilation holes through the first layer of glass and the foam. I did the first soft spot with no problems, and gave the drill to my dad so he could do the second spot. I shouldn't have done that - the first ventilation hole he drilled, he went straight through both layers of glass. So now, I need to figure out how to fill the spot without the Git-Rot flowing straight into the hull.

I know the "proper" solution would probably be to install an inspection port so I can put a few layers of glass inside the hull. However, I will do anything to avoid doing this for a little 1/8" hole - it would probably prevent me from sailing this season. Given that, does anyone have any ideas for an easy fix? I have thought of 2 possible solutions, but want to see if anyone can think of something better.

Solution 1: plug the hole with something (maybe a wooden dowel or something similar) while I fill the spot. Once everything is done, I could remove the dowel and cover the hole with tape, then quickly flip the hull upside down. At that point, I'd use a small injector to puncture the tape and inject a lot of Git Rot up into the hole, and leave it upside down while the Git Rot dried. Then the hole in both layers of glass and foam would essentially be filled with pure Git rot.

Solution 2: Plug the hole with cotton or a rolled up layer of fiberglass tape or mat. Proceed with Git Rot injection as normal; when it got to the cotton/glass, it would saturate it but the cotton/glass would stay in and act as a plug to keep the Git Rot from flowing to the inside of the hull. I would still turn the hull upside down to dry, and the cotton/glass would end up acting as filler.

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Washington, DC/Port Tobacco, MD
1981 Hobie 16


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PostPosted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 4:44 am 
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Joined: Mon Jul 14, 2003 7:11 pm
Posts: 5197
Location: Detroit, MI
The fix is much easier.

Take a bit of polyester resin and mix with fumed silica (Cab-o-Sil or WEST 407) until it's the consistency of peanut butter. Use a small applicator and fill the hole.

Done.


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PostPosted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 6:50 am 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2010 2:13 pm
Posts: 18
Location: Port Tobacco, MD
Seems almost too easy...

Thanks for the info.

_________________
Washington, DC/Port Tobacco, MD
1981 Hobie 16


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PostPosted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 10:39 pm 
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Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 12:07 pm
Posts: 51
be aware the glass on the inside can really be bad sometimes. on my cat we were injecting tons of epoxy then realized it was dripping out inside the hulls. fortunately it just kinda leaked around and fixed itself many many conservative injections and holes later. I had to reach in through the inspection ports and rub the leaking epoxy around to kinda help patch the deteriorated straw like fiberglass layer.

in retrospect, i wish i would have just used gorilla glue. prob would have outlived the boat, saved me money and time, and worked a lot better at patching a really funky old boat. i don't know why i keep using these million dollar yacht products on my hobie 16 lol. it worked great though can't complain there.


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PostPosted: Sat Sep 11, 2010 2:35 pm 
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Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2007 11:23 am
Posts: 599
Location: Lake Norman NC
marine tex quick and easy should be ready in ten minutes


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PostPosted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 8:03 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2005 9:47 pm
Posts: 614
Location: San Diego
Marine Tex is ok if you are injecting epoxy, but if you are injecting laminating resin, there can be issues with cure. You can put epoxy over anything, but you can not put polyester over epoxy. Just a heads up.


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