Hull repair in a tight spot.

Advice
#1

I have a carbon/kevlar kayak. Somehow i managed to ding the narrowest part of the hull right where it meets the skegbox. Theres a chunk of gelcoat that’s cracked and loose but has not fallen and a steady leak is coming from the area.



I can’t quite tell if it’s a crack or a flaw in the layup. But the leak is relatively serious.



The repair would be simple, if not for the location of the damage.



My amateur guess is that it needs attention both inside and outside.



From the outside, I worry about removing the loose chunk, in fear of making the layup damage/leak worse–not to mention the nightmare of trying to rebuild the area neatly. So I could just dremel and fill it along the crack.



As for the inside: working in such a tight area, I’m wondering if just pouring in some epoxy and filleting it would be ok versus trying to glass such a hard to reach and narrow area.



Any ideas?

#2

I had a chunk knocked out once. I

– Last Updated: Oct-19-07 1:03 PM EST –

epoxyed it back in with a normal mix(no filler). Glued it in place and taped over it with duct tape until it hardened. Worked nicely.
Can you pull it off and restick it or get a thin blade to hold it open and push some epoxy in?

#3

Repair
You should definitely repair both sides if it leaks, IMO. If you can dremel out the chunk on the outside, I’d fill the void with marine-tex, shape it, and gelcoat over the top. That much will solve your leak. You can get away with a fillet on the inside (I’ve done it, and it works fine), but glassing over the fillet would be even better in case there’s a next time.

#4

Do it right
If it’s leaking, it means that the underlying Kevlar is damaged and must be repaired (you don’t have to use Kevlar for the repair). Mickey-mousing it doesn’t make sense on an expensive boat. I have instructions for doing repairs at:



http://community.webshots.com/user/brian_nystrom-reg





BTW, if the boat happens to be an NDK, it’s possible that there isn’t any kevlar or fiberglass in the area, as they are notorious for that type of defect. If that’s the case, you’ve got serious problems that probably should be repaired by a professional.