There is a beat up single outrigger canoe for sale. I've done simple repairs with fiberglass, but nothing this extensive.

The second problem is I will probably only have access to the outside of the hull.

Does anyone have links or how-tos on fiberglass repairs on hull similar to kayaks or surfskis?

Here is a pic of some of the damage. These are some failed repairs...ie they leak.



Once repaired what's the best way to finish it...just paint it?

Here what it should look like

I've done some fiberglass repair on boats, but we always did the repair from the inside with a form applied to the outside, so you could get a good gelcoat finish and just clean up any oops in the gelcoat with gelcoat paste. You'll have to use some kind of backup in the hull to backstop the repair whatever you do. Some expanding urethane foam might help. I'd be sure you got it real clean to remove any wax and mold release agent, and bevel the repair out wide, since the first bond is mechanical, not chemical.

In any case, I'd pass on that one. I hear Puakea designs are a little fragile..

Thanks for the response.....yeah...was trying to figure out how to patch it w/o access to the inside...but thought someone here with a kayak might have done this type of repair.

We have this OC1 in our club fleet and it's held up well. The Kaku I'm looking at is from another club and they are a little harder on their canoes.

If it's been in water with that much damage you could be looking at a bit of osmosis in the fiberglass (F/g cancer).

Best bet is to take a fairly wide cut around the damaged area and replace the section completely with three laminations, the outer one onto the scraped down outside/middle of the fg ie undercut by 1/16" deep x 2" wide around perimeter to retain outer profile, the middle layer to the remainder of the thickness of the fg from the inside, and another layer overlapping the whole area by 4" from the inside.
____________________________
........| New outer
.Old...|____________________
......./...2"....|
.................| New second
___________|______________

New third
_____4"____|_________________

If you are not worried about looks or smooth flow, then it is easy. Just sand or grind it down all around the damaged areas and into the good material about 1" or so. A smooth taper (scarf repair) is probably better than steps as the previous post shows, but the principle is the same. Use glass fabric rather than mat, and S-glass (for strength) if you can find it. I prefer epoxy resins and U.S. Composites sells gallons pretty cheap compared to West Systems. The slower curing types will give higher toughness. You may be able to find details in the http://home.iitk.ac.in/~mohite/Composite_Repair.pdf
or just google "composite repair". You can repair it with a surface build-up then go back and sand it smooth and paint to get a nice finish just like any body-work.

^Ditto ^

It's a canoe, not a racing hull. Use a grinder and rough it up for a foot or so beyond the damaged area, stuff the hole with fiberglass matting and apply several layers of fiberglass cloth over the area, each a little larger than the preceding one. Sand it to blend the edges, then use micro-balloon fillers and sand that for finish blending to fair it all into a smooth transition. Paint it with a roller and tip the paint with a nice ox hair or hog bristle brush. It'll float and paddle just fine - and you'll be happy - so long as you don't pay too much for it to begin with.

Frank

Thanks guys,

I found this video on how to do a blind patch

Paint vs Gelcoat....most water craft have gelcoat...is there specific tech reason or just for looks.

Gelcoat is sprayed onto the plug before wet layup of fiberglass. In effect you paint the boat before you have a boat. It adheres far better to the fiberglass than any paint would.

Gelcoat can be applied over a patch, then sanded and buffed to a shine - but it's probably not easy to do over a large area.

Frank

web page

these guys have helped me tremendously over the years! Great group of folks.
the first thing you'll learn is to use epoxy for the repair!