The boat is almost ready!

Spring time last year I did a rather failed attempt at repairing and sealing some damage on my boat. It was a crack that went from one side of the keel to the other, and it took in more water than acceptable. I used glass fiber trowel as an attempt to seal it. It worked for a while, but not permanently. Especially towards the end of the season it was getting pretty bad. When we attended the Nedre Glomma Gjeddefestival competition, we had to empty out water every half hour. No fun! So, I decided that next spring I'll have to do some more serious work on this crack to get it sealed.

It's next spring now and I'm almost finished - in other words, the boat is almost ready to be put on the water and help Team Riverpigs haul in the big mamas and give us some exceptional experiences out there.

I bought a sanding tool and a bunch of extra sanding pads and started sanding around the crack. I sanded down a big area around the crack, all the way down to the glass fiber through the gel coat. Then I washed well with alcohol and put on 2-component polyester goo and lay a blanket of glass fiber on top of it. I repeated this about 3 or 4 times and made sure all bubbles were gone.

It turned out great! The next day the patch had dried and hardened and I started to sand it a little to get it smooth.

I also sanded the rest of the boat (on the outside) so it could be repainted. In the end it turned out OK. Not the most beautiful finish, but I don't care. As long as the boat is sealed, I'm happy.

The next thing to do is to get the boat on the water and book time for a fishing trip!