I am sure someone else has gone through this,I have hull damage in the side of my cat .It seems I will have to go through the deck to get to the damage I am going to use a 4 1\2 hole saw to make the opening and was wondering about placing the 4 inch plug back in the hole (with proper support of course).It is in the textured surface so I was going to lay a masked off square of 6 oz cloth to maintain the texture. Thoughts?

--
Carl

Dart 18x2
Nacra 5.8
Acat
Windrider Rave x2 for sale
--

Carl, To make the hole, drill in the center with 3/8" drill, then use jig saw to get over to the circumference. Now angle the jig saw at 45 degrees to cut out the 4 (or 5") plug. The plug is now like a pumpkin lid when you put it back together. Pete

Good one 99
I was thinking of supporting it from below,but the pumpkin concept will work too



Edited by onekiwi on Mar 11, 2015 - 10:32 AM.

--
Carl

Dart 18x2
Nacra 5.8
Acat
Windrider Rave x2 for sale
--

Either way, you still need to add a fiberglass backing inside the hull and reinforce the outside with fiberglass as well. If you just epoxy your "pumpkin lid" into the opening, it will be nowhere near as strong as the original construction. If you cut through structural fibers, you need to repair/replace them. Also, if you make the cut using a hole saw, you may want to spin the saw in reverse, otherwise you risk chewing the deck to hell. I did this when installing access ports in my boat and going in reverse worked much better than forward.

sm

Is the damage forward of the front crossbeam? If so the removal of the deck is pretty easy. Behind the crossbar you have the dagger board trunk which makes it harder. Why can't you fix it from the outside? Do you have a picture?

--
David
Nacra 5.5SL
Nacra 5.2 (sold)
San Diego, CA
--

David,the damage is alongside the dagger board truck on the outside of the hull.It will be fixed from the outside ,but I have to seal the inside as it is a foam sandwich and you do not want to let water into the foam

--
Carl

Dart 18x2
Nacra 5.8
Acat
Windrider Rave x2 for sale
--

In that case I would seal it too. Check out this Foam you could put on the decks when your done. You wouldn't have to worry as much about how the patch looks as long as it's strong. It's similar to what the new Nacra's have on them. I just got some for mine and plan on putting it on this weekend.


http://hydroturf.com/prod…%2B_Boating?page=2&feat=

--
David
Nacra 5.5SL
Nacra 5.2 (sold)
San Diego, CA
--

That foam is way too soft for that kind of repair.

I don't know for your cat but mine has only one layer of I would say a 6 oz cloth as the exterior skin so the foam has to be rigid enough to take compressive loads and have a shear strenght high enough to play it's structural role.

Look in my photo album named Andre Bourgault, you will see how I repaired my cat.

The foam I used is divinicell. Expensive but made for that job.



Edited by coolhead on Mar 12, 2015 - 09:16 PM.

--
AB
--

I think the foam David is talking about goes on the deck for grip and or comfort.It is used for jet-skis a lot



Edited by onekiwi on Mar 13, 2015 - 09:09 AM.

--
Carl

Dart 18x2
Nacra 5.8
Acat
Windrider Rave x2 for sale
--

You're absolutely right. English is not my mother tongue. After reading your last post I re-read David post twice and now i got the meaning.

Sorry about that David and Carl.

--
AB
--