Fiberglass boat re-finishing

[stillwater97]

Hello,

Late last year, I bought an 8 foot Olympic Pram for fly fishing out of. The interior of the boat is in decent shape, but the exterior hull is a mess.

It holds water, but:
1. The gelcoat on the keel is completely worn down to the fiberglass
2. The guy that owned the boat before me, tried to seal some leaks with silicone sealant.

I was thinking about sanding down the entire hull, patching the worn areas with fresh fiberglass and then re-applying gel coat to the entire hull.

Am I on the right track?

Is this a huge job for a newbie?


Anyone know of any books on the subject that I might check out?


Thanks!

[Chrome Bumper]

Sounds like the right track, I like these guys: http://fiberglasssupply.com/default.asp

8' boat, not a big job at all, probably polyester resin, sand, make repairs and paint with polyurethane.

Google 'repairing fiberglass boats' http://www.yachtsurvey.com/Paint.htm

[Bandy76]

How bad is the Hull?
are their cracks down into the glas?
is it only surface checking?
you said it holds water, but also they used silicon to patch leaks?
Yes I have done some glas work & depending on the job it is time comsumming. Give you a great feel when done though.
if you have cracks you need to grind through them & feather out so as to be able to lay new glas back in with increasing size per layer.at least 1 " bigger per layer.
be careful as tghe heat of summer will set-up your resin very quickly if you get it to hot.
a light layer of resin over any open glas will seal th ewicking off then you can apply the gel coat.
Hope this helps