Anchor Damage To Bow - How To Fix?

[fallingeggs]

Had a mishap the other day, resulting in the anchor gouging the side of the boat:





No actual holes through the fiberglass, but it is more than just gelcoat. Nothing below the waterline. The black should come off with a little scrubbing as it is just tape on the anchor to reduce glare.

How should I go about fixing this? I don't think this is structural, so can I just fill with thickened epoxy, sand level with the fiberglass and then gelcoat? Or do I need something more extensive?

[Pete7]

Ouch, sorry to here about that.

Gelcoat won't stick to epoxy, plus the hull is flexible, it would just crack and fall out. I recon the professionals will grind it back to a shallow dish shape, then fill with GRP and top off with gelcoat. Getting a colour match on old GRP is really difficult.

I watched a 30ft powerboat have the front 4 feet of hull replaced with a new bow and you couldn't see the join. A year later I had the transom repaired on a previous boat under insurance by the same people. They actually painted the white transom but you wouldn't have known and couldn't see the join between paint and GRP. But that level of skill costs, thankfully I wasn't paying.

Pete

[Terra Nova]

Hire a professional.

[fallingeggs]

Originally Posted by Terra Nova

Hire a professional.

It's likely that I will if I haul out and find someone in Gernada. Still interested what the process should be.

[model 10]

I think you could fill in the damage with epoxy and try to keep the sanding to a minimum. It looks like a good surface for filler to me. Gel coat can be tinted and then buffed out.

[JPA Cate]

Part of that gouge is down to the fiberglass. The trickiest part is matching the color. You'd think white is white, but no, there are, for instance, 600 colors of white available in automotive LPU paint. Part of what you will be paying for is the eye and color matching skills of the professional.

I am not a fiberglass repair expert, and I think if it were me, i'd have to ask around about them, and find someone to do it for me, as you suggest doing.

Sorry your boat got hurt.

Ann

[Scaramanga F25]

Mix matching gel-coat with talcum power to putty thickness.
Tape close to the edges of the gouges. Fill gouges with the mixture.
Cover with cellophane, like cigarette package wrapper. (nothing else)
Smooth filler the mixture under the cellophane with a credit card.
Let cure.
Even the edges with 400 then 600 then 1000 wet and dry.
Buff. Wax.

[Cadence]

I think in your original post, you had it right. Use microspheres for thickening. Matching the Gel-Coat will probably the hardest part. I'd vet a professonal if you go that route.

[Sailorbob8599]

What little I can see of the hull looks very nice so, if you love your boat ... & if you are like trhe rest of us, I'm sure you do ... get it repaired by a professional shop. It's only money, & you can't take it with you. Besides which, it will save you from having to embarrassingly explain exactly what happened, every time a 'dock-walker' makes a comment about the "different" shade of gel-coat. This becomes even more painful if you don't have a first-mate to blame. Also, it will prevent you from having to reduce the sale price dramatically to a cheapskate, haggling, would-be, may-be possible purchaser, when time comes to let her go . . . And if you read about boat selling / buying from the experts on this forum, you'll know just what kind of cheapskates will come a-callin' to try to cheat you out of the true value of your vessel.

[stnick]

You did this to your 38 Sabre ! I used to own a 28 sabre. Do you have a anchor roller ?
Get a quality boat yard to fix this. You just dont want a patch that shows. You will need some glass and resin to make all this whole again and re gel coated. The best of luck

[thinwater]

Are we sure we are not looking at core? My understanding is that the Saber 38 used foam. If so, this is structural and not just filler. Not a tough fix, but important to do right.

[fallingeggs]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Are we sure we are not looking at core? My understanding is that the Saber 38 used foam. If so, this is structural and not just filler. Not a tough fix, but important to do right.

It is possible that the brown spot just below the blue stripe on the second picture (the close up) is 1/4" "basla core panel" that my manual says is used "in the forward sections of the hull."

[fallingeggs]

Originally Posted by stnick

You did this to your 38 Sabre ! I used to own a 28 sabre. Do you have a anchor roller ?
Get a quality boat yard to fix this. You just dont want a patch that shows. You will need some glass and resin to make all this whole again and re gel coated. The best of luck

Had the anchor propped up on the roller as I was on a mooring and with the anchor down, it rubs on the lines. Didn't put the anchor down before beating into 20 knots of wind. A wave popped off the anchor and it took me 30 minutes to figure out what that knocking was (normally is just my centerboard).

:-(

[fallingeggs]

General question, can this be fixed with the boat in the water? I was considering hauling out at a place that might not have the best professionals to fix this correctly. I could then move the boat near a better professional, but would rather not haul out again. Or I could rejig my plans and haul out at a place with a suitable professional.

[Terra Nova]

That repair does not require a haulout. It can be done in the slip.