TOPIC: Need some help/advice for my keel repair...

The gel coat is worn off the keel from beaching and trailer rub. It is translucent, and you can see the fiberglass.
The cloth isn't exposed, it's under resin.
What is the correct way to repair this?
Thanks,

Oct.

Probably the best thing is to build up new resin or epoxy and then paint over it. The try to eliminate the trailer rub issue and don't run the boat on the beach.

If it's not into the cloth you could put new gelcoat on it. The difficult part would be to match the color.

Assuming you can get the color to match good enough to suit you, roll or brush on a number of coats, spray with PVA (poly Vinyl Alcohol), let cure, block sand with maybe 120, 220, 400, 600, then polish. It'll shine like a new silver dollar. If it's not thick enough, just sand, then repeat. You can put on numerous coats before the PVA, and numerous repeats until it suits you.

Cabosil is another product that is strong enough to withstand the pounding a bottom takes and paint the repaired area.

Cabosil just thickens whatever resin or gelcoat you are using. I don't understand what it would be used for or do.

I would just get a quart of gelcoat and apply it with foam brushes or rollers... and after building up a few coats, then wet sand it between final coats. If its something that you can see, then I would polish it up. Color matching goes without saying... most important if you can see it. I did this on my 32' flybridge boat, where I lost a fender and a metal piece on the dock rubbed through the gelcoat well into the fiberglass resin layers. Can't even tell where it was.

Dean

I had the same problem with my San Juan and I jacked the boat up and put it on styrofoam blocks. Sanded the worn spot down a bit and layed some resin over it then a few strips of Fiberglass cloth then more resin and a little bit wider piece of cloth. Let it kick real good and repeated the process. When it was hard I sanded the edges and you can never see it ? My worn spot was in the middle of the Keel . For beaching I added a keel guard to the bow section.

Would not let me edit to add a picture - so I'll try it this way? If you don't see another picture I guess it's broke ??

I once filled the hole with shoo goo for a temporary repair and I had it in there for around 5 or six years. When I repaired the same area last spring because the the hole was wearing larger than the shoo goo repair I made a keel skid out of 1/4 inch steel and installed it. So far after all the summers use it still looks great. I'll take a pic later. I put fiberglass in the hole this time. After all the repair I did with shoo goo was to be temporary but after that season it still looked like it had when I put it in. It lasted a long time. You can see the holes on the keel.