Bottom job - wear layer

Does anyone have experience using Cabosil filler mixed in the resin on a bottom job?

I read that it 'sands like a brick'....Makes me think that it might reduce the wear from dragging.

It's certainly harder than gel coat. But without a UV inhibitor, resin will yellow badly (even on the bottom). The pigment in gel coat serves this purpose.

If you don't mind the side effects, then it's OK.

My thought was to gel over it...

If your hulls are worn down into the glass layers, then you should rebuild using glass fabric and resin. The glass is a structural material and if you rebuild the hulls with just resin (even thickened resin) it will not be anywhere near as strong as if you use glass too. Plus, using glass allows you to much more easily build up the thickness. Without glass, the thickened resin will be a mess to work with and very difficult to build up a consistent thickness.

sm

Although my hulls are painted with a urethane light blue, I have a black (racing stripe) on the bottom edge of them to protect them from the sand. I used layers of fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin similar to: "The Bottom Job - This Old Hobie" by Rick Buchanan on pages 12 & 13 of the Sept/Oct 2008 Hotline.

http://www.w1dm.com/projects/hotline/08-09-10%20HOTLINE.pdf

Instead of putting on a final coat of gelcoat, I used more epoxy resin with West System 423 graphite powder. It helps the hulls to slide better over the sand and gives a shiny black protection strip.

If you ever painted your hulls with any color other than the original gelcoat white, you will be able to easily tell where you need to protect the bottoms of the hulls (and paint) from the sandy beaches.

_________________
Tim
84 H16
82 H16
87 H14T
Tortola Sails: 115222
Blue Prism Sails: 88863
Clearwater, FL

smear on a layer of marine tex on the wear layers this is quick easy and works great
former hobie admiral gary

Getting the supplies ready to do a bottom job on my H16. Following most info I've found I plan on using 3 layers of FG tape and polyester resin.

Would adding a final layer (or using it for the 3rd layer) of kevlar tape help in reducing wear in the future?

Would I still need/have to gel coat? Would it mess with gel coat application?

or could I just use a pigment in the final coat of resin?

aesthetics are not that important, but I don't want it looking really crappy either

/I know this is an old thread, but the subject is correct

I have a friend that added a layer of kevlar to the bottom of his G-cat hulls and it did not really help with wear.

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Tim
84 H16
82 H16
87 H14T
Tortola Sails: 115222
Blue Prism Sails: 88863
Clearwater, FL

I would not recommend using Kevlar. It will get all fuzzy as the hulls wear down. Plus it soaks up water. Just use glass and call it a day.

sm

Fiberglass. Don't worry about UV, the sand will abrade away the resin before the sun does, and then you can glass it again.

I made a template out of a kid's beach sand bucket, and it worked perfectly for Many bottom jobs. I believe I used the paper template provided by Hobie. Heat the working edge lightly with a propane torch to smooth it out.

If you lay up layers of glass cloth to start with, babysit it, and catch it just right before it sets all the way up, allowing you to slice it close with a sharp knife, or bunch of single edge razor blades. If you let it set all the way up, you end up having to sand it. I try to leave sanding out of fiberglass repair.

It had just the right amount of flex to follow the hull sides, and shaped the final layer of thickened resin almost perfectly, leaving little sanding to do.

Another really important help was a set of four little saw horses that held the hulls upsize down, at a comfortable level for working.

Are you able to cut through the glass cloth with the razer blade method, or is this just effective at trimming the firm jelly state resin?

Tip (not to be done on a humid day): Use an ice bath to keep your pot of mixed resin cold. The cold resin will take hours to gel, but once applied to the hulls it will cure at a normal rate. This allows you to use the same batch of resin for multiple applications of glass. Personally I have a hard time keeping the bottom layer of glass from moving around as I pile on more layers, so letting it partially cure first helps.

Hi everyone.
I am new here.
I just acquired my first Hobie Cat 16. It's a 1981 complete in good enough shape but with obvious worn out areas. It seems ready to sail but I want to restore the whole Hobie to it's best possible condition at the most accesible price, including painting it.

I have 2 questions if you can please give me advice:

1) The bottom seems pretty worn out. I don't know the original shape of the bottom in order to know how bad is it. What would be the step by step procedure in order to restore it?

2) I want to do a full paint job and I don't know the A, B, Cs on how to go about it yet. The top looks very much stained by moss.
How can I clean up the whole surface without ruining its rough anti-slip surface?
After cleaning it properly what are the step by step instructions to paint it?

Here are 2 links to see both pontoons:

https://youtu.be/4WE5plFGiFw

https://youtu.be/UAMBV6U9mPs

Thank you very much in advance for your help!
Josh

Don't paint it. (search the forums, there is plenty of discussion on this)

Clean it with a hull cleaner formulated to take off the mold and mildew. Then pressure wash it. Pressurewashers are the best way to clean the nonskid.

That repair in the first video looks like one of my shabby patches. The glass was likely not sanded and tapered properly prior to the repair, so sanding it flush now may weaken that spot on the hull. My recommendation is to sand it a little so it isn't rough and obvious, then hit it with gelcoat or if you are as lazy as I am a quick shot of rattle can.

To really make the rest of the hulls shine, wet sand. Start around 220 grit and go up to a thousand. Finish with polishing compound.

Also, your bottom isn't that worn out. That is just roller abuse/scuffing. If you cant see the fiberglass rovings your still fine.

I've seen lots of people sink hours into prettying up boats like that just to learn that they don't enjoy sailing them or have them break in half the first time they're loaded up. You're talking about a ton of work on a very rough 40 year old boat....particularly for someone who doesn't already have the knowledge, skills, equipment, etc. Make sure the boat is safe (that patch looks iffy) and doesn't leak. Clean it up enough so that it doesn't ruin any of your nice clothes/gear. Learn to sail it, and sail the crap out of it.

If you really take to the sport, you're going to want to move up to nicer boat. If not, or if the boat implodes, you want be out much.

I know I didn't answer your questions, and it's probably not what you were hoping to hear, but please don't be offended. I've help run our local cat club for ~25 years, and this a common theme. Lots of early 80's boats still out there.....not very many worth prettying up.

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Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16