I went to repair a small dent on the bottom of my early-1970's fiberglass sailboat and found some dark spots in the fiberglass



I believe its where the putty-like stuff they used as filler between the bottom and the inside layers got wet. What I'm curious about is whether the spots are likely to spread, and if its going to cause me headaches later if I just leave it alone
Or should I goahead and cut it out now while I'm doing patches anyways?

5/22/2009 1:24:46 PM

Does it feel soft if you push on it from either side? If not I wouldn't bother.

[Edited on May 22, 2009 at 1:39 PM. Reason : l]

5/22/2009 1:38:44 PM

looks like water penetration, what kind of boat is it? some boats use two thin layers of fiberglass with foam in between, if the foam is damaged, then you lose the structural rigidity

5/22/2009 1:48:13 PM

She's a Windmill-class sailboat, ~15' long and weights somewhere around 300lbs. My registration says 1971, so she's got some age on her. The spots had a layer of paint over them, and this is the first time I've had her rolled over, so I haven't a clue how long they've been there.

Example Windmill -


Edit - That particular spot in the picture appears to have no structural damage, I pushed and knocked on it and I cant tell the difference from the area around it. There's a worse area on the other side that I can actually push in, I probably will goahead and cut it out and redo it. I'm just a little worried that the not-bad spots will deteriorate if I leave them

[Edited on May 22, 2009 at 2:11 PM. Reason : ...]

5/22/2009 2:06:22 PM

just slap some jb weld on it and let it roll

5/26/2009 11:51:28 AM