Help! Damaged DW15

B

Bob Collier

Active member
I had a bad encounter with a wingdam on the Mississippi and did some significant damage to my Duck Wrangler 15. I am not having much luck finding someone local to repair the damage. I will attempt to post pics of the two areas. The first is a full breech in the port bow. When on plane no water comes in but doesn't work so well when not moving. The second area is along the port side about mid ship. This isn't leaking but will soak up a ton of water.
I got a quote from the nearest repair shop of $1600, I don't know much about fiberglass repair but this seemed kind of steep. I am contemplating trying to repair myself but don't have a lot of experience with fiberglass.
Any advice would be appreciated.
I can't get my pics to upload I can send them if someone wants to take a look
Thanks
Bob
 
I think we have conversed before on another forum!
I appreciated the pool 9 advice you shared, unfortunately the weekend we hunted we were battling 30+ mph wind and tangled with the wingdam and lost big time. Man the cans were in thick though! It was a spectacular sight watching thousands of them on Winnisheck, unfortunately our hunt was cut short,as I hit the thing coming in on the first day, unfortunately I didn't realize the extent of the damage until we were set up the next morning and couldn't figure out where all the water in the transom was coming from. At first I thought I forgot,to,put the plug in but a quick check revealed a much bigger problem.
 
Good morning, Bob~

Without seeing the damage, I can only wonder about the complexity of repairs. You've gotten good advice thus far. My big concern is always how difficult it might be to get sufficient access to the damaged area - especially inside enclosed boats. Grinding through the gelcoat (the colored outer "skin" on most factory boats) and fairing a few inches around each "wound" is usually easy on the outside and challenging on the inside. Thorough jobs usually require working from both sides.

I also wonder if weater has made its way into any flotation foam.

You will need a good disc grinder with 20 or 30 grit - and thus eye and dust protection (and I ALWAYS wear ear protection before turning machines on.). I would imagine youtube could help re 'glass repair generally.

Replacing any 'glass and resin will probably include a variety of materials. I am guessing the staff at u s composites can help.

One decision will be whether you go with epoxy resin or polyester. The boat most likely was manufactured with polyester resin but epoxy could be handier for a repair. Either way, you will need heat for a good cure. This can be an inside space or a small plastic enclosure over the repair area with a light bulb etc for heat. I prefer to work with polyester resin outside - to avoid both trhe health risk and the lingering smell from the fumes.

I'll send a PM so you can e-mail me some photos.

All the best,

SJS
 
Bob~

This looks fairly simple as the areas are quite small: 5" x 6", I believe.

Collier%20Hull%20damage%201_zpsn66ljgmt.jpg



Collier%20Hull%20damage%202_zps0knwg55z.jpg




Here is how I would approach it:

Materials (from U S Composites et cetera):

Epoxy Resin - probably want "fast cure" if you are not working in a heated space

Fibreglass Cloth - 7 oz or 10 oz - one yard is more than enough

Fairing Mix

NOTE: You could also use polyester resin and make a "sandwich" of alternating layers of cloth and CSM (chopped strand mat). Most mat is chemically incompatible with epoxy resin.


Supplies

Foam brushes

Graduated mixing cups

Latex gloves


1. Grind each area about 2 or 3 inches beyond obvious "wound". 20 or 30 grit on a disc sander is best.

2. Build up void with layers of saturated cloth. For jobs like this, I often make up and saturate the several layers on the bench - on a piece of plastic sheeting (at least 6 mil).

3. Press "sandwich" into/onto wound. Make sure there are no air bubbles. Poke with brush to remove any bubbles.

4. Coat area with a thick paste of fairing mix. For a small area like this, I often cover it with plastic sheeting to smooth the area before it cures - and to minimize grinding and sanding later. "Peel Ply" is the actual product made for this purpose - which lets excess resin escape. The best matrices of 'glass and resin have the least resin needed to saturate the cloth.

5. Keep repair warm throughout cure time. I usually cure epoxy overnight - with ample heat.

6. Once cured, grind and sand down - starting with 30 and working down to 150-grit.

7. Paint on a final coat of epoxy.

8. Sand with 150 or 220 then paint with oil paint. Un-painted epoxy will break down from long-term exposure to UV light.

9. A "perfect" repair would include restoring the gelcoat. This is a specialized technique requiring air-free curing and additional materials. Not warranted on a duckboat, in my opinion, but would get the vessel back to "factory new" condition. U S Composites can guide you I imagine.

Again, I recommend you watch a few youtubes on 'glass repair.

And, not sure if your flotation is wet - but you should dry it as well as you can before any repair.

Hope this helps,

SJS

 
Awesome
Thank you all
I will keep you updated on the repair.

Since my season is basically over would I be better off waiting until spring to do the repair? Gets pretty cold here in Mn and I wound spend more in natural gas than the boat is worth to keep the shop warm.
 
Since my season is basically over would I be better off waiting until spring to do the repair? Gets pretty cold here in Mn and I wound spend more in natural gas than the boat is worth to keep the shop warm.
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I haven't done a lot of glass work in the last few years but have always believed it is best done above 60°. At a minimum you should ensure the boat and area around the damage is completely dry during storage.
 
Is that foam inside that larger hole? If so, I'll echo what others have said, need to try to dry out that area before patching. Don't want to trap a pile of moisture inside a sealed area.
 
Is that foam inside that larger hole? If so, I'll echo what others have said, need to try to dry out that area before patching. Don't want to trap a pile of moisture inside a sealed area.
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I can't reach up in the hole but there doesn't seem to be any foam. The floor is solid so short of cutting a hole in the floor not sure what is underneath
There are seat mounts in the floor, I could pull the plates off and see if I could tell by looking in the mounting hole for the seat?

The puncture is at the bow but I noticed my bilge well in the stern filling up with water when we were set up for hunting. So there must be a dead space under the floor?

Short of cutting the floor would running a fan of some sort thru the crack be enough air movement to dry it out?

Sorry for all the question but this is making me sick every time I think about it. I just got the boat last year, it was kind of my"dream rig" and it took me a long time to find one here in the Midwest.
 
Wait until it's warmer. preferably 70 or higher. I would go with polyester resin which will let you use heaver weight glass say 17 or 18 oz. woven roving or biaxial glass. If you can repair from inside and out that would be best. I'd use mat first then woven or stitched glass on the inside and mat on the outside. When you grind outside surface taper it out so you can taper the layers of glass out. Be sure to grind with 36 or 24 grit. Also try to remove as much of the white area which is delaminated glass. If you can't locate the heaver glass let me know and I'll send you what you need. I have a lot of pieces laying around. Tom. Go through the floor if you want it to last and no the fan won't work.
 
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Ok
I have been doing some Utube research and I think I can handle this project,
I would like to even fix the gelcoat (what the hell if I am going to do this might as well go all the way). It sounds like epoxy resin is the way to go but I have read mixed messages about gel coating over epoxy?
Any advice one way or the other regarding this step?
 
Ok
I have been doing some Utube research and I think I can handle this project,
I would like to even fix the gelcoat (what the hell if I am going to do this might as well go all the way). It sounds like epoxy resin is the way to go but I have read mixed messages about gel coating over epoxy?
Any advice one way or the other regarding this step?
Click to expand...

Why gelcoat over the repair verses just painting the repair area? Unless you have experience with gelcoat sprayed on top of a repair, the finish will most likely not be the same (orange peel, etc....). I'm sure you kjnow this but when they built that boat it was built from the outside in. The gelcoat was laid down against the mold with subsequent fiberglass and resin laid down on top of this. The gelcoat could then cure as it was not longer exposed to the air.

You repair is going to be from the inside out so the gelcoat requires modification by incorporating some type of air barrier into it - typically a wax. Because of this, the repair area CAN look different from the area next to it.

Just pointing out what could happen and to be aware of this going into the repair.

Mark W
 
I agree with Mark. Why would you want to go to the hassle of gel coating? I agree with the epoxy.Why would you want to go to the hassle of gel coating. The paint or gel coat is just a UV protecter over the glass and epoxy and something to blend into the environment so FME would be a great choice of paint a lot quicker, probably cheaper, and certainly easier.


( wow the voice recognition on my phone was very bad!
 
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