Tore the skin right off my bottom!

[Billybob]

Thanks for the replies.I don't think I'll be getting to it this year, unless I can find a heated space.
I'll try to get some pictures.It does look like a good application for vacuum bagging, but I have no experience with it and a long strip like that would be a tough one.
It looks like there was some delamination there for god knows how long and I just never noticed it because the bottom was intact, and then I hit something, it cracked, and the water pressure did the rest.
I'll keep you posted.
Bill

[Billybob]

Thought I'd bump this up and give you guys an update.I didn't want to touch the boat until the insurance adjuster saw it.
I took it to a very reputable yard for an estimate.These guys work on really big boats and weren't too interested in doing my little 23', but the manager is a friend of a friend.
Their opinion was that there was a delamination and when I hit something, the strip just peeled back.The manager said he has seen similar problems on other boats, and they refer to these as "Friday boats" he even said some builders won't layup boats on Friday's.But you gotta wonder how it lasted 30 years if it was a layup f-up - so I don't know.
So, he gave me an estimate for $3000 and the adjuster came and looked at it last week.I also found a friend with some warehouse space that he said I could use gratis - So I could be getting to it soon.
The yard recommended I use polyester and "fabmat" which sounds like some kind of stitched chopped strand.
Once I get it in the barn and off the trailer, I'll take some pics as I go.
Any opinions on what to order for the cloth? I'll probably order it online, but I'm not too sure of the weights and codes for the product I want to use.
Have a good holiday guys,
Bill

[Ed]

Heyh Billybob-

According to the original lamination schedule on this site...your Seacraft is made up of the following layers:

3/4 oz mat
1.5oz mat
1.5oz mat
1.5oz mat
22oz roven
1.5oz mat
22 oz roven
1.5 oz mat
22oz roven

With that in mind after the hull is grinded and prepped, I would lay up two layers of 1.5oz mat and then follow with alernating layers of 1808 biaxial & 1.5 oz mat until you reached the height of the original laminate. I think the maximum chemical bond window is about 72 hours with standard resin (layers 2 through whatever. Obviously, layer 1 will be a mechanical bond because the hull is 30 years old hence my reason for suggesting that you start out with two layers of 1.5oz mat which will offer good adhesion for the subsequent layers)

[Bigshrimpin]

Billy Bob - sorry to hear about your troubles. If you have a digital camera I'd love to see some pics.

Ed - do you have a perfer method when working with 1.5 oz mat? is there any tricks that you know of to keep the fibers under control when you wet it out?

[Ed]

Hey Big Shrimpin-

With all fiberglass (especially mat) the key is not to "handle" it too much. Measure what you need (sometimes even making a paper template for complex layouts will help), cut it and then set it aside in a clean, dry place. You definitely do not want to contaminate the fiberglass with dust, water or dirt. Usually, if you wet out the surface area first with some resin and then lay the mat on top of it and run a somewhat damp roller over it...the mat will quickly soak up the resin and won't get too many fuzzies. You really run into trouble with fuzzies when you start tearing the mat, instead of cutting it. Another thing is to make sure you change your gloves often and keep all your tools, rollers, etc in a 5 gallon bucket with acetone so that they are constantly kept clean.