So, the dock looked good, but there were 20k winds pushing the bow into it and BLAM BLAM... turns out there was a hidden bolt (I should know better).
I know there have been multiple posts on glass repair, but wanted some opinions (mainly on how to do the gel coat part of it or at least make it white). This picture is after dremeling out the crushed fiberglass (as you can tell, it is through the hull completely and I had to take the gelcoat off below due to it being cracked). I figure I would use West System epoxy with silica to thicken it and put that in first then just use a boat load of epoxy and sand it down to level. But how to make it white?
ps sorry about the poor image- don't have my card reader and this is from my cell phone.

Hi,
That looks like it needs some glass cloth, not just filler. When you do glass it, West Sytem is fine, but so is regular polyester resin. If you do plan to gelcoat over an epoxy repair, don't use anything other than West, as gelcoat will not stick to most other epoxies. It will adhere fine to polyester. You will most likely need some "bondo" fairing putty between the glass step and the gelcoat. I find Evercoat Formula 27 to be great.
The best gelcoat around is from Minicraft in Florida. They sell it with wax added so it will cure in air. They also sell reducer so you can spray it. (DON'T use acetone to thin if spraying). They also sell tints if you want to do an exact color match (which I have done very often very sucessfully, using all their products). They also sell a good faring putty called "A-Putty". Slightly better than the Evercoat formula 27 stuff, but more expensive. When done, wet sand with 400 grit and then buff with 3M Finesse-It and a high-speed buffer.

As far as how to do the repair - consult the West System book. http://www.westsystem.com/

Good luck!

Steve
Hobie Fx-1, Sail #211

PTP,

I know two guys that do professional glass / carbon work that live withing 15-20 minutes of you. One in Navarre, one in Ft. Walton. You need professional help. You'll be better off and the cost will probably be a lot cheaper, better results, etc. Send me a private e-mail if you want their names and numbers.

after looking at the pic- it looks bigger than it really is- the actual penetration through the hull (after dremeling) is only about 1-2cm long.

I crunched the port bow of my P-19 in a very similar fashion a couple years ago. I used a puppy grinder to take out all the crushed glass, then tapered back the edges at roughly a 4:1 ratio. Yes, it looked huge! and felt plenty weird to be assaulting my boat with an industrial grinder. Working one side at a time, I used cardboard inside the hole, pulled to the outside with a couple of snug threads. After laying one layer of glass cloth, I cut the strings and laid a couple more layers to complete the structural repair, then smeared filler over it and sanded, and sanded, and sanded. For coloration, I shot some white Krylon spray paint over it and went sailing. Good luck!

If anyone is interested-
here are some progress pics. I used west system with some of the west white pigment. I initially screwed up and used the wrong filler (looks purple) and that made it difficult to cover up that color with the subsequent coats of epoxy. It needs one more sanding and maybe one last thin coat but I think it turned out well - not professional per se but you can't really tell unless you know exactly where/what you are looking for. Of course, since I was at it I looked under the hulls and SURPRISE.. a bunch of hack marks which I also quickly touched up and also built up the port centerboard (which always seems to be the one that you think is up but really isn't when heading to the beach)

another, mid way

almost done, but looks good

last one

Only you - and all the reasonably-attentive Catsailor readers! - will ever know. It looks really good.