This little cracked area beneath the bow seat and at the edge of a cross rib just came to my attention today. The hull feels stiff when pushed on from below and above. Is there any need to go with cloth and resin on something this size (the coin is a quarter) or can I just sand it, clean it up and use marine filler?
I don’t like the looks of it !
If it was my boat, I would sand it, wet out a piece of fiberglass tape, with epoxy and tape a piece of stiff clear plastic (like a page protector) over it while it is still wet. This makes for a nice glass like finish. the next day I peel the tape and plastic off, lightly sand it and give it another coat of epoxy with once again the taped plastic over that. When it is all said and done, a coat or two of spar urathane over that.
That is just me though, thinking more about strength than looks
Cracks at the edge of ribs and foam cores are common because of the stress riser caused by the stiffer rib or core. And because of the stress riser effect, they tend to propagate. I would definitely apply a patch.
First, sand off all of the grey paint until you clearly see the fibers of the fiberglass. Continue until you have gone 2" past any disrupted fiberglass fibers in all directions. Then apply your patch and it would be best to align the fibers of the patch so that they run at a 45 degree angle (bias cut) to the line created by the edge of the rib.
I would probably protect the repair with some grey paint that matches the interior of the canoe when you have finished.
Oops, I didn’t realize that the boat was gray, so cancel my “spar urathane” and paint per pblanc
Thanks a bunch, guys. As always, the expertise is much appreciated! JackL, I was reading between the lines of your “spar urethane” suggestion, no problem.
The inside is spray painted sort of a putty/khaki color that isn’t too far off from what natural kevlar would look like. Based on the weight of around 63 lbs. I think this is the Tuff-Weave layup and so has probably always had an interior paint job. The current coat was applied recently by the previous owner.
Wenonah listed the 16’6" Sundowner in cross-rib construction at 53 lbs for the Kevlar version, and 66 lbs for Tuf-weave. All of the Tuf-weave hulls that I have seen have had a painted interior, usually and off-white putty color.
Thanks, pblanc, that is helpful info.
