Do you need to repair fiberglass on your boat?
If you own a boat, chances are you are going to have to be repairing fiberglass at some point. We certainly have had to. Most modern (post 1975) have a cored fiberglass structure meaning some parts of it are skinned over a core material. In many of the non-performance boats that material is plywood and in our case there is a lot of it on SVDreamChaser.
What Plywood to choose for your fiberglass repair
One of the first things you will need to determine is what kind of core material you want to use. If you are going to use fiberglass you will likely want to stick with Marine Grade Plywood. We did a blog post and a video on this topic and I would highly recommend taking a look at them before making your choice. It will give you the information to help you make an informed decision. as like most things it is a trade off of pros and cons to consider.
Preparing for the Repair
We also prepared the new surface of the Coachhouse wall for the port replacement. For those that have been following our recent adventures, you know that we had a leak on the coach house after electing to take the easy way out on a repair (those rarely pay off by the way).
Fiberglassing and Fairing
I had the boatyard come fiberglass and ultimately make sure the job would be completed correctly, but like most work, we shared some of the responsibility. My job was to trim the fiberglass the yard laid for the port installation. I also had to build up the thickness on the inside of the coach house wall where the old wood had rotted from all those previous years of a leak.
This had to be done before preparing fiberglass. I had removed the rotted wood a year ago and it was finally time to get new wood and epoxy in place and fair it all smooth to get ready for painting.
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Tools and supplies
Tools and supplies we use regularly can be found here:
- Jet Band Saw
- Sanding Tape 120 Grit – 1 inch wide
- Sanding Tape for Spindles (220 Grit)
- Small Sanding Cord for Spindles (150 Grit)
- Screwdriver with nut ends
- Pry Bar Set
- Oscillating Multi-tool (about $35)
- The Best small wood cutting blades
- Great “plunge cutter”
- ABSOLUTE Best metal cutting blade (for cutting bolts, etc.)
- Safety Glasses
- xActo Blade Knife
- Ryobi Variable Speed Jigsaw
Video and Camera Equiptment we use
Video equipment used is: Canon Vixia G40
Our Lifestyle Cruising and living aboard.
See how we go about living aboard and sailing with kids (Grandkids 4 and 12 years of age). We are in the middle of a huge sailboat refit. Our Boat is designed by Bill Garden and built in Taiwan. See how to become a liveaboard whether you stay in a marina or are a cruiser. #boatlife #saillife #SVDreamchaser
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